Working as doctor anaesthetist in the field

Un anesthésiste MSF en RDC.

Your application will be processed by a specific MSF office according to your country of residence. If you are already employed by MSF Switzerland, choose "OCG Field employee" or "OCG HQ employee".

Please notice that some offices do NOT recruit specific profiles. If that might be the case for your profile, please apply via MSF Switzerland.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) anaesthetists often work in conflict settings to provide care to communities that do not have access to functioning health care systems. Surgical cases (paediatrics and adults) include general, trauma, obstetrics, orthopaedic, burns and reconstruction. The role of an MSF anaesthetist is incredibly varied; in the course of a day, you might find yourself training local staff in a refugee camp hospital or managing anaesthesia for complex obstetric surgeries.

1
Job description

Find out more about the position.

2
Testimonials

Read about experiences from the field.

3
Questions

Have questions? Find answers to your questions.

4
Apply

Make sure you’ve read everything before applying.

1. Job description

This is an exciting and diverse role involving some or all of the following.

Responsibilities:

  • Carry out preoperative consultations evaluating the potential risks, providing the patient with appropriate information and deciding the type of anaesthetics to be used, to ensure the best conditions prior to surgery
  • Carry out all anaesthesia-related activities during surgery to ensure safe, adequate anaesthesia, such as preparing the drugs, material and equipment beforehand, administering and maintaining the anaesthetics following the rules of hygiene and asepsis in force, and monitoring patients throughout the intervention.
  • Ensure the transfer of patients to the recovery room, full recovery of patients’ consciousness and determining the analgesic protocol
  • In collaboration with the surgeon, advise on postoperative care both in the Intensive Care Unit and on the wards, including fluid management, oxygen monitoring, airway care and chest physiotherapy, with a special focus on the patient’s pain relief during the recovery process
  • Implement and supervise hygiene rules, procedures, quality of care tools and MSF protocols, to ensure the safety and protection of both patients and staff
  • Supervise the operating theatre (OT) pharmacy (drug orders, inventories, expired drugs, etc.) and ensure maintenance of the OT register, recording of consumption, disposal of empty narcotics phials and maintenance of adequate stock
  • Ensure good functioning and maintenance of OT equipment
  •  Manage, train and supervise the anaesthesia team through activities such as recruitment, defining job descriptions, capacity-building, briefing/debriefing , trainings and evaluation of staff
  • Collaborate with other departments in the project and participate in emergency activities or exploratory missions
  • Ensure proper fulfilment of administrative procedures and documents (filling in of patient files, forms, statistics, database, etc.), and prepare regular reports on results, proceedings, and problematic situations and cases.

Depending on our activities and needs, your responsibilities may be adapted and evolve according to the specific projects: for example, in ER and ICU.

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 doctorr with an anaesthesia specialist qualification
  • Recent clinical experience (at least six months within the last 24 months)
  • Anaesthesia experience in paediatrics, obstetrics and trauma
  • Experience of spinal anaesthesia, intubation, postoperative care and intensive care
  • IT skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
  • Fluency in English and/or French; any other languages are an asset (Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian)
  • Available for a minimum of six weeks
  • 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-oriented approach
  • Ability to train others

Assets:

  • Experience working in developing countries
  • People management experience
  • Experience of both adult and paediatric anaesthesia


We encourage applications from people of all genders, ages, sexual orientations, backgrounds, religions, beliefs, abilities and all other characteristics of diversity.

MSF does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo reference and criminal record checks.

2. Testimonials

Babacar, Anesthetist

03:09 min

msf.related_videos.all_videos

3. Questions

What to expect

Malawi, 28.06.2017

We need you to be able to quickly adapt to different cultures...

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What MSF offers

Malawi, 05.02.2015

MSF is an organisation driven by strong values...

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How to apply

République démocratique du Congo, 21.08.2016

Find out more about our recruitment criteria and the next...

Read more

It is rare that MSF advertises job openings for specific countries or projects.

Instead, in order to be able to respond to medical emergencies, MSF recruits applicants into different professional reserve lists, (also referred to as “pools”) throughout the year. Candidates within the pool will be matched to a specific position in a specific country based on their skill set, competencies, technical experience and background.

When applying to join our pool, you can indicate any geographic preferences you may have. However, in accordance with the MSF Charter, providing assistance to populations in distress must take priority over geographical preferences. As a candidate, you must be flexible and willing to work wherever your skills are most needed. Therefore, it is not always possible to fulfil specific country requests. MSF expects candidates to be flexible about where they work so that we can meet the needs of the field. However, if you have special skills, speak additional languages or have restrictions, those will be taken into consideration for each placement.

The standard duration of a first posting is six months. Medical specialists such as anaesthetists, gynaecologists and surgeons are placed in projects from six weeks to three months. This is not the case for general practitioners, paramedical or non-medical profiles.

For subsequent postings, depending on the needs of the country, the duration may be shorter for emergencies (several weeks to three months) or longer (perhaps six to 12 months) in more stable contexts. Coordinator positions are opened for a longer period, from one to two years.

We are mainly looking for candidates who are prepared to make a long-term commitment and work with MSF over several years. We therefore ask you to engage with MSF for more than one mission, or at least 12 months. This will probably include one or more breaks, as it is important to rest between assignments. You are invited to discuss the timing of your break with your career manager when you return from the first posting.

For all non-medical profiles, a minimum of two years’ relevant work experience is required (excluding internships and voluntary work). For doctors, a minimum of three years is required (excluding internships and voluntary work). Surgeons need 2 years post-specialisation experience and specialists do not need post-specialisation experience. For all medical profiles, a minimum of three years’ experience is required (excluding internships and voluntary work). Previous work experience is essential as we expect a high level of autonomy from our staff in the field. Detailed criteria for each profile can be found under What’s your profile?.

All questions

Next information sessions

Come discuss with our team and learn about our criteria to go on a mission. All information sessions

4. Apply online

Your application will be processed by a specific MSF office according to your country of residence. If you are already employed by MSF Switzerland, choose "OCG Field employee" or "OCG HQ employee".

Please notice that some offices do NOT recruit specific profiles. If that might be the case for your profile, please apply via MSF Switzerland.

This application form is only for field missions. If you wish to apply for HQ positions, please consult our current jobs postings.

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