Country: Papua New Guinea
Closing date: 29 Feb 2016
About VSO
VSO is the world’s leading independent international development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries. Our high-impact approach brings people together to share skills, build capabilities, promote international understanding and action to change lives and make the world a fairer place.
Role overview
Healthcare workers in the provincial hospitals located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG), a region in PNG known for the high incidence of gender based violence (GBV) and tribal fights, see injuries related to either transport or violence on a day-to-day base. Hospitals report high admissions of patients with lacerations, abscesses, blunt soft tissue injuries and fractures or dislocations. According to the National Health Plan, injuries account for 8% of total admissions and 11% of the total burden of disease in the country. Many of the injuries reported are believed to be either transport or violence related.
Tari provincial hospital, Hela province, is one of the hospitals in the highlands region that provides surgical care on a day-to-day basis. The surgical ward, consisting out of 40 beds, sees around 130 patients a month. Due to the lack of local capacity in medical specialist services such as obstetrics and gynaecology, general surgery and anaesthesiology, hospitals are reliant on outside partners or international recruitment of medical specialists.
Being located in one the most volatile provinces in PNG, the Tari provincial hospital has seen support from different stakeholders, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Operating in Tari hospital since 2007, MSF has delivered services in the areas of family and sexual violence services, obstetrics and gynaecology, surgical consultation and anaesthesiology support.
With MSF retreating out of Tari hospital in March 2016, a gap in the delivery of specialised medical services such as those provided by surgeons, obstetricians and gynaecologists and anaesthesiologists is anticipated. In light of these gaps in health service delivery in Tari provincial hospital, VSO has been approached to support Tari hospital with medical specialist services. This is where you will come in…
As a surgeon in Tari provincial hospital you will work in a dual role delivering emergency surgery services and capacity building the resident health care professionals and staff through service provision and mentoring on patient management. You will be responsible for:
- Delivering quality health care services in emergency surgery (predominantly trauma and emergency obstetric interventions)
- Providing support to the local staff in the provision of comprehensive emergency surgery care
- Assisting in the development of surgical programming, implementation of national and international standards where needed
- Providing on-the-job training to hospital staff and healthcare students
- Forecasting medical supply needs and managing medical stocks
- Along with the OR case team, participating/leading in preoperative, intra operative and post-operative assessments and procedures
- Engaging in the routine care and management of patients in the hospital
- Providing advice to hospital management on policy matters on standards of care and improvement programmes
Skills, qualifications and experience required
- Medical degree with post graduate qualification (certification) in general surgery and a minimum of two years -experience in managing surgical cases
- Valid medical license
- Experience in general, vascular, orthopaedic and/or obstetric surgery and triage, as well as pre- and post-operative care
- Proven experience in emergency surgical care and ability to work under stress
- Ability to handle a broad range of the most common emergency and general medical conditions requiring surgery, and knowledge of their operative indications (particularly within the areas of orthopaedics, trauma and obstetrics)
- You have experience in training, coaching and supervision
- You have work or travel experience in developing countries
- You are able to cope with stress and to organise and prioritise workload
Additional requirements - Fluent English proficiency
- IT skills (Word, PowerPoint and Excel)
How to apply:
If you're interested in applying for this role, please follow this link (http://www.vsointernational.org/volunteer/vacancies?jobid=a0mD000000Aieop) and download the job description to read more details about the position and the skills and experience we're looking for. To submit your application, click on 'Apply now' and complete all relevant fields on the online application form.
We'll ask you to commit to 12 months to make a sustainable impact through your work. In return, we'll give you comprehensive financial, personal and professional support. We'll provide you with extensive training before your placement, and our financial package includes a local living allowance, return flights, accommodation, insurance and more. VSO in-country team and the network of other VSO volunteers will also support you throughout your placement. When you return to your home country, we'll help you to resettle and many of our returned volunteers stay involved with us long after their placement ends.
Volunteering with VSO is life changing. You can find out more about volunteering with VSO at: http://bit.ly/1H0wQD9.