MSF recruits 01 Point of Care Ultrasound Advisor

Location:                     MSF Spain Barcelona headquarters

Contract:                    Full time

Duration:                    1-year renewable

Starting date:             ASAP

Deadline for the application: 19^th of June 2019

I.              GENERAL CONTEXT

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural disasters. MSF offers assistance to people based only on need and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.

The MSF movement is built around five operational directorates supported by MSF’s 24 sections, 24 associations and other offices together worldwide. MSF OCBA is one of those directorates. The operations are implemented by field teams and the mission coordination teams; together with the organizational units based in Barcelona, Athens and decentralized in Nairobi, Dakar and Amman. The field operations are guided and supported by 5 Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit and other departments supporting operations, including the Medical Department.

II.            POSITION BACKGROUND

The vision of Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) integration in MSF is to ensure that clinicians, both national and expat, have the knowledge, guidance and access to proper and selective use of this diagnostic tool as part of the comprehensive management of patients, in remote and low-resource settings.

The MSF MedOp platform (composed of the medical and operational directors of the Operational Centres) has endorsed a coordinated, intersectional, multi-country initiative to implement field-based POCUS programs across MSF. The objective of the MedOp POCUS Project is to improve clinical care of patients and MSF clinician capacity through the expansion, scale-up and integration of Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) into MSF operations, especially engaging clinicians at the national staff level.

The MedOp POCUS Project will be composed of 5 POCUS integration workstreams to ensure the quality of POCUS projects – Field based implementation, operational research, integration of algorithms into clinical guidelines, technology and telemedicine.

To realize these ambitions, each Operational center will have a POCUS Advisor – both to develop POCUS within the OC, and to coordinate inter-sectional objectives with other OC focal points.

III.           PLACEMENT WITHIN THE ORGANISATION

The POCUS Advisor will work within the Medical Operational Unit in the Medical Department. S/he will be hierarchically accountable to the Head of the Medical Operational Unit and Deputy Medical Director. In addition to this hierarchical reporting line, s/he will also coordinate with the POCUS MedOP platform, through the POCUS Project Coordinator.

IV.          OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION

• To develop a strategy for implementation of ultrasound training within the Operational Centre
• To directly and indirectly assist OCBA field teams with context-specific POCUS training and implementation
• To act as the Ultrasound advisor in medical/public health departments and project staff in OCBA
• To motivate and support health advisors/medical department staff and project teams on the implementation of POCUS in OCBA.
• To collaborate with the Diagnostic Image Working Group, the MedOp POCUS TIC project, medical departments and other sections to improve POCUS usage and advance POCUS research.

V.            MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

• Serve as POCUS Advisor for OCBA – sit in relevant internal medical or operations meetings as relevant, and liaise with key stakeholders in OCBA (Working Groups, Operational Health Advisors, Medical Advisors, BioMed, HR, etc.)
  • To organize and facilitate headquarter level orientations and demonstrations of POCUS usages to key Medical-Operations personnel.
  • To assist in long-term planning for Medical and Operational departments for POCUS implementation, including assisting with annual plans and budgets for those projects which want to implement POCUS.
  • Reports regularly to the OCBA Deputy Medical Director and TIC Project Coordinator on the progress and activities of POCUS, and upon request to relevant working groups
• Develops a strategy to address ultrasound training needs and POCUS implementation in MSF OCBA at different levels:
  • To identify key project sites to implement longitudinal POCUS programs, which fit Operational strategies and objectives
  • To organize and perform field-based POCUS trainings/implementation for MSF clinicians, especially national staff, in collaboration with Med-Ops, tailoring each training/implementation to the individual project’s needs.
  • To facilitate other expat or national staff trainers to perform field based trainings as needed.
  • To follow-up the trainees through organizing longitudinal tracking.
  • Liaises with relevant medical stakeholders to link ultrasound use and exam findings in updated clinical guides and decision-making.
• To develop and implement quality assurance systems for ultrasound in MSF in OCBA
• Establishes link and liaises with POCUS focal points at the other Operational Centres to achieve MSF wide objectives in 5 work-streams: Field based implementation, operational research, integration of algorithms into clinical guidelines, technology and telemedicine.
• Coordinates with the OC BioMedical group regarding any issues with standard equipment in the field, availability of appropriate ultrasound items in catalogue, and when requested, advice fields on appropriate of ultrasound equipment.
• Identify and coordinate relevant Operational Research involving POCUS to further OC objectives in patient care.
• Upon invitation attends medical working group meetings to present and discuss role of ultrasound.

VI.          PROFILE REQUIREMENTS

Professional training

• Medical doctor with certified accreditation or training in ultrasound

Work experience

• Minimum 3 years working experience with extensive experience in performing and reporting/interpreting ultrasound of both children and adults

       Specific skills

• Experience in training medical professionals in ultrasound
• POCUS ultrasound of both children and adults covering EFAST, cardio-pulmonary, basic abdomen, and basic emergency obstetric. Other skills, including for soft tissue, musculoskeletal, neonatal head, etc. are recommended.
• Experience in tropical diseases and working in resource-limited settings
• Familiar with Quality Assurance systems and continued medical education in ultrasound

General skills

• Excellent networking and communication skills
• Ability to motivate and lead medical colleagues andto translate strategy and policy into operational practice in the field
• Flexibility to travel and to spend up to 50% or more of time on work related travel to project sites
• Enthusiastic, motivated and independent; able to work with minimal supervision in challenging contexts
• Experience working in resource limited settings with MSF or with equivalent humanitarian organization
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Computer literacy: Microsoft Office is essential
• Fluent in English and optimally in French (reading and writing)
• Prior research experience is desirable

• Start date: July
• Contract: 12 months at 100%
• Location: MSF operational center location (Barcelona) with frequent travel to the MSF fields and other MSF medical departments (50-70%)

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, all applicants should please send their CV and motivation letter under the reference “POCUS Advisor » to recruitment-bcn@barcelona.msf.org
• Please submit your CV and cover letter in ONE file and name the file with your LAST NAME.
• Deadline for applications: 19^th June
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted
• Médecins Sans Frontieres, as a responsible employer, under article 38 of “Ley de Integración Social del Minusválido de 1982 (LISMI)” invite those persons with a recognized disability and with an interest in the humanitarian area to apply for the above mentioned position.