From managing intensive therapeutic feeding centres during a nutrition crisis, to caring for children struck by cerebral malaria, our paediatricians provide lifesaving care every day.
Being a paediatrician with MSF is demanding and very rewarding. As a paediatric doctor you may be required to respond to a measles epidemic, manage hospital care for severely ill neonates, address the needs of malnourished children, or work with displaced families and refugees.
That’s the key moment in everyone’s life – the first few minutes – and they can have a key impact on your chances of survival.Roberta Petrucci, MSF paediatrician
![Humanitarian Snapshots: Roberta Patrucci - Paediatrician Thumbnail](/sites/default/files/styles/image_desktop/public/video_thumbnails/bDHFOPzEqbA.jpg?itok=ep6RAow2)
Humanitarian Snapshots: Roberta Patrucci - Paediatrician
Being an MSF paediatrician can be a challenging and exciting role. Depending on the project you work in, the role will involve some or all of the following:
Responsibilities
- Apply medical knowledge and skills to the diagnosis and treatment of children in the project
- Manage, train and supervise the paediatric team
- Ensure integrated newborn and paediatric care through emergency, outpatient and inpatient department services
- Treat cases of malnutrition in line with protocols and universal precautions
- Propose modifications to current paediatric care management, implementing them once approved by the paediatric adviser
- Ensure quality of care by giving ongoing training to the multidisciplinary medical/paramedical team, reviewing complicated cases and providing technical advice
- Keep patients and families informed of the treatment to be followed, checking that they have understood
- Ensure that professional autonomy and confidentiality are respected, and demonstrate a good attitude and bedside manner towards patients and their caregivers
- Monitor the proper functioning of the department and its patient flow; provide advice on the organisation of different paediatric wards, including admission, transfer and discharge criteria
- Provide advice on the procedure for referrals from the maternity and post-delivery wards
- Contribute to data analysis, monitoring and reporting with a view to improving quality of care
Depending on our activities and needs, your responsibilities may be adapted and evolve according to the specific projects.
You will not face these challenges alone; other MSF team members (both international and locally hired staff) will provide technical support, including comprehensive guidelines and protocols.
Requirements
- Medical doctor degree
- Paediatrics specialisation or ongoing specialisation, with a minimum of three years’ professional experience in paediatrics
- Recent clinical experience (at least six months within the last 24 months)
- IT skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
- Fluency in English and/or French
- Available for a minimum three months
- Commitment to MSF’s work and values
- Strong team player
- Willingness to work in all kinds of contexts worldwide, including unstable areas
- Adaptable and able to work in a multicultural team
- Flexible and able to manage stress
- Self-driven with a solution-orientated approach
- Ability to train others
Assets
- Fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic or Russian
- Experience working in developing countries
- People management experience
![District Headquarter Hospital in Timurgara, Lower Dir District District Headquarter Hospital in Timurgara, Lower Dir District](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/317745520j68kohx8etne40a46ih3538.jpg)
Voices from the field
At present there is little—if any—basic quality healthcare for the smallest and most vulnerable patients.Aoibhinn Walsh, MSF Paediatrician
![Jobs in the Field](/sites/default/files/files/jobfield-bg.jpg)