Physicians: Volunteer with CMMB in Zambia

Are you a Physician wanting to make a huge difference to women, children and communities in Zambia? Join our CMMB team in Zambia! Physicians are invited to join our community health programs to improve the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable.

Volunteer Position: Physician

Term: 6-12 months

Locations: Mwandi, Zambia

Program Description:

CMMB - Healthier Lives Worldwide is an international, faith-based NGO providing long-term, co-operative, medical and development aid to communities affected by poverty and unequal access to healthcare. Focusing on women’s and children health, our Children and Mothers Partnerships program (CHAMPS) provides effective support-and life-saving medical care-for pregnant women and newborns in eight communities across Haiti, Kenya, Peru, South Sudan, and Zambia. With a commitment to dignity and sustainability, we work at both the community and clinical levels in these targeted communities to strengthen health services and address the leading causes of maternal and child death.

CMMB’s Volunteer Program addresses the critical need for professionals in areas that lack sufficient resources for quality preventive and curative health services. For over a century, our Volunteer Program has placed thousands of practitioners around the world to help develop and implement community health interventions, work at local hospitals and health facilities, conduct clinical training for host country counterparts, and deliver essential medicines and supplies. The ultimate goal of CMMB's Volunteer Program is to support our country teams and local healthcare workers by sending volunteers that are dedicated to strengthening local health systems and supporting a pattern of sustainable development.

CMMB in Zambia

CMMB Zambia has engaged and integrated communities in project planning and implementation in all 10 of Zambia’s provinces to strengthen health-seeking behaviors within families and communities and to improve access to and utilization of health services. CMMB has implemented programs aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable and underserved populations, collaborating with partners to provide life-saving medicines and medical equipment, health services, and health promotion initiatives to better the lives of vulnerable Zambians. Most recently, programs have focused on maternal and child health (including nutrition); community-based HIV prevention, including prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT); child protection, by strengthening systems and families; and voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC).

CMMB’s global strategy strives to improve health outcomes for women and children through its Children and Mothers Partnerships (CHAMPS) program. Each local program site is based at a local health facility and embodies CMMB’s commitment to work in that catchment area over 15 years. In Zambia, CHAMPS got its start in 2014 with a base at Mwandi Mission Hospital, in partnership with the Mwandi District Medical Office. There, activities work to: reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality; improve nutritional outcomes; prevent HIV and provide adherence support to adults and children living with HIV; refer women with chronic illness for care and treatment; improve water and sanitation; increase livelihoods, reducing poverty and increasing families’ capacity to nurture their children and send them to school; and prevent and promote early detection and treatment of common childhood killers: diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria.

Placement Site: Mwandi, Zambia

Rural Mwandi, a district established in 2012 along the Zambezi River, between Namibia and Zambia, is dependent on agriculture for its economy and hard to reach. Farmers live in isolated communities scattered across remote areas, without access to electricity and running water.

The soil is poor, its productivity low, and district poverty pervasive. Yields from the shallow water table are often saline, so women and children must walk long distances to access the scarce clean and safe water.

The two hospitals and 11 health facilities (HF) that serve the district, including Mwandi Mission Hospital, have limited supplies and equipment. Economic opportunities beyond subsistence agriculture are very limited.

Learn More:

http://mwandimission.org/

http://mwandi-mission.awardspace.com/Hospital.html

https://cmmb.org/country-office/zambia/

Position Summary

Physicians will champion CMMB's mission by working within the hospital providing comprehensive care, including inpatient, outpatient, diagnostic services, and supportive supervision to local staff to strengthen the local health system in the community. As a Physician, you will be supporting the responsibilities outlined below, divided into four categories: direct healthcare delivery, capacity building, community-based activities and program support.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Volunteers work directly with hospital leadership and clinical staff on health service delivery, capacity building, on the job training and various outreach projects within the community setting.
• Responsibilities include general surgery, surgical-needs assessment, and training of local staff.
• Provide direct patient care for clinical patients for designated specialty.
• Prescribe preoperative and postoperative treatments and procedures, preparation and treatment of the patient’s operation area.
• Operate on patients to correct deformities, repair injuries, prevent and treat diseases, or improve or restore patients’ functions.
• Monitor patients’ conditions and progress and reevaluate treatment as necessary.
• Function appropriately as part of the care delivery team through efficient use of resources and skills, both their own and those of other providers and staff.
• Utilize quality improvement tools to develop processes that promote continuous improvement in delivery of patient care, patient outcomes or workflows.
• Actively participates in multidisciplinary team approach to case management
• Conduct needs assessment on staff education, develop trainings and deliver trainings to clinical staff within facility
• Create formalized education materials for Hospital staff
• All other duties as assigned

Qualifications & Skill Requirements

• Relevant M.D or D.O
• Current, active license to practice medicine in good standing with licensing body
• Board Certification
• Completion of residency program
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience
• Knowledge of professional and ethical standard of health care delivery and practice
• Capacity to administer treatment to patients while dealing with them in a sympathetic and tactful manner
• Ability to work and live with a diverse group of professionals
• Familiarity and interest in global health issues, especially maternal and child health issues
• Familiarity and interest in public and community health, or preventative medicine
• Willingness to endure resource-limited working conditions and evening/weekend hours
• International experience or experience working in developing countries is preferred
• Experience as a supervisor, manager, teacher, trainer and/or any relevant leadership activities is preferred
• Experience in one of the following areas: Obstetrics, Trauma, Pediatrics, Orthopedics.
• Able to perform Caesarean sections is preferred

Interested? Apply Today!

Benefits & Conditions:Each international volunteer who serves 6 months or longer in the field receives a round-trip ticket to their placement site, housing, a monthly stipend, insurance coverage, storytelling and fundraising training, and the opportunity to contribute to vital community development initiatives for under-served populations while building a longstanding legacy for the community. Volunteers are required to share stories from the field and cover part of the cost of their placement through fundraising ($5,000).

Contact & Application:

Apply online at: https://cmmb.org/get-involved/volunteer/

Email: volunteer@cmmb.org