News
GOING Survey - please take part!
Dear colleagues,
the Society for Tropical Pediatrics and International Child Health is engaged in a working group on the interests of and training opportunities for physicians in the field of “Global Child Health” in Germany and abroad.
To this end, we have designed a short (15 minute) survey to collect information on how young medical professionals are training in the field of Global Child Health at hospital and university level. With this information, we plan to work with the state medical associations to improve opportunities for continuing education and training recognition in this field.
We also want to know how colleagues prepare for a stay abroad in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) and what future prospects they associate with it.
We would be very pleased about your participation in and dissemination of this survey!
Deadline: 31.03.2022
Don’t hesitate to contact us in case of any questions and please spread the word!
Barbara Zimmer and Judith Lindert
education(a)globalchildhealth.de
Friede-Springer endowed professorship for Global Child Health
The Friede Springer Endowed Professorship
is the first
German professorship for Global Child Health
and has been located at
Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H)
since October 2017
Together with its partners at home and abroad, the team of the endowed professorship develops research projects and is involved in education, training and continuing professional education in global child health in a variety of ways:
- Global health track and intercultural preparation for stays abroad as part of the "Modellstudiengang Medizin" of the Witten/Herdecke University.
- Further education for students of all health professions (summer school)
- Advanced modules in the Master's programme in International Health as a partner of the Network for Education in International Health (tropEd)
- Further training for specialist candidates in paediatrics and adolescent medicine in cooperation with the Else Kröner- Fresenius- Foundation, the Westphalia-Lippe Medical Association and the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences in Blantyre/Malawi as part of the "Else Kröner Malawi Child Health Centre" (special project child health).
Detailed information on the projects and offers of the professorship can be found here
GTP unterstützt L'appel Deutschland e.V. beim PEAST Training
Das pädiatrische Trainingsprogramm “PEAST” (Paediatric Emergency Course and Advanced Skill Training) ist ein Teilprojekt des vom Verein L’appel Deutschland e.V. entworfenen und von der Initiative Klinikpartnerschaften geförderten Programms “Strengthening capacities to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health in Sierra Leone”. Grundlage des Kindernotfalltrainings sind die sierra-leonischen ETAT (Emergency Triage, Assessment and Treatment) -Guidelines von 2020 weshalb L‘appel sich die GTP AG ETAT+ als kompetenten Partner mit ins Boot holte. Einerseits wird so sicher gestellt, dass ausreichend qualifizierte ETAT-Trainer*innen für die Schulungen zur Verfügung stehen. Andererseits entsteht für die durch die AG frisch ausgebildeten ETAT-Trainer*innen so die Möglichkeit, ihre neu erlangten Fähigkeiten unter Supervision im Feld anzubringen.
Im Zeitraum von 2020 bis 2022 werden in einem ersten Schritt gemeinsam mit einem wachsenden Team von lokalen Trainer*innen insgesamt 12 Kurse angeboten. Diese richten sich zunächst vornehmlich an durch vorausgegangene Aus- und Weiterbildungsprojekte von L’appel vorgebildete medizinische Fachkräfte des Magbenteh Community Hospitals, der kooperierenden Partnerklinik von L’appel und enthalten neben den üblichen ETAT+ – Inhalten kontextadapierte Schwerpunkte wie POCUS (Point of Care Ultrasound), CPAP-Versorgung und den Umgang mit hochansteckenden Krankheiten wie Ebola und Lassa-Fieber. Nach einem gelungenen Start 2020 werden seit 2021 in einem zweiten Schritt auch weitere Gesundheitseinrichtungen in das Programm mit einbezogen. Die Evaluation des Kurses findet in Zusammenarbeit mit der Stiftungsprofessur für globale Kindergesundheit der Universität Witten-Herdecke statt. Das Projekt ist als klassisches “Train the Trainers” Konzept gedacht und soll schrittweise vollständig in die Hände des lokalen Teams übergeben werden.
Ansprechpartner für L’appel Deutschland e.V. ist Nicolas Aschoff (Email)
Langzeiteinsatz: Arzt/Ärztin für Krankenhaus im ländlichen Tansania (Nyangao)
Tansania – Nyangao
Dauer: Auf Anfrage, Langzeiteinsatz erwünscht
Diese Stellenbeschreibung erreichte uns nur auf Englisch, per Email (s.u.) können auch Anfragen auf Deutsch beantwortet werden.
About Nyangao and the history of the hospital
Nyangao is a small town in a remote location in southern Tanzania about 80 km away from the Regional and District capital of Lindi. (https://www.google.de/maps/place/Nyangao,+Tansania/@10.4884447,38.7688422,9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x18f261f29b940793:0x4d14b705525252f3!8m2!3d -10.3280255!4d39.3024611). The hospital was started as a dispensary in 1947 by Benedictine Missionary Sisters and has been developed into a proper hospital over the years. It belongs to the Catholic Diocese of Lindi. As it is the only hospital in the "Lindi rural"-District it is at the same time "Council designated Hospital", supported substantially – but not sufficiently - by the Tanzanian government.
The hospital currently has about 200 beds. The total staff is roughly 210, however there is only one specialist surgeon, one gynaecologist (expected to start in Oct.) while the number of Medical Doctors varies between 5 and 10. It is providing all essential medical services for the poor rural peasant population of its surroundings but also to patients coming from far away. The annual report on its homepage (http://nyangaohospital.com/) shows the hospital to be a busy place with 70 000 outpatients, 1600 major operations and 2500 deliveries per year – just to quote the most important figures from a broad field of interventions. While for many years in the past a substantial – but slowly decreasing – number of qualified staff were Europeans meanwhile all essential positions are filled by well trained Tanzanians. Nevertheless the Diocese as well as the senior staff of the hospital feel it useful and helpful to have colleagues "from outside" for mutual exchange, for being kept abreast new developments in the medical field and for helping to slowly but continuously improve the quality of services. Therefore a number of experts visiting for several weeks every year support the place but also one or two young doctors on a long-term base. During the last four years this long term function has been filled by Volunteer Medical Doctors from the Netherlands, who each spent a period of 2 years working there.
As the current one will complete her contract by the end of 2020 we are looking for a suitable replacement, a new volunteer medical doctor who is able and willing to continue the work. It would be possible to live and work in Nyangao as a single person, a couple or as a family.
Profile and tasks
The living and working conditions demand a personality with high intrinsic motivation, flexibility and tolerance. Integration into a church facility should not be a problem. In terms of medical skills, the position requires the applicant
gynecology/obstetrics and/or pediatrics. Applicants moreover should have a substantial knowledge of medical care in a setting of very limited resources. Therefore they should have done a course in tropical medicine (or have the equivalent working experience).
The main task will be to contribute to stabilizing and further improving appropriate medical services for in- and outpatients in very close cooperation with the local staff. That includes to do all the necessary clinical work while at the same time trying to provide on-the-job-training of the local Assistant Medical Officer(s), Medical Assistants and Clinical Officers. As far as requested and as far as interest on the side of the candidate exists the task includes to advise and support the local hospital administration in different sectors of management (data collection on services, planning, staff development, quality management).
The specific task assigned to the new volunteer will partly depend on his/her experience and preferences, partly it will depend on the needs encountered during her/his stay. As there is a high fluctuation of medical doctors and other staff it is not possible to predict which functions s/he will need to fill. Therefore a high flexibility and willingness to adapt is a prerequisite for any applicant.
This applies not only to the professional but also to the personal field: while colleagues, staff, people generally are very friendly the professional cooperation is sometimes not easy. Different ideas, different working rhythms, different attitudes can lead to disappointments – normally soon overcome. But one should be aware of this potential problem and bring along a good amount of patience and a sound ability to bear with frustrations.
Payment, housing, coverage of expenses
As we Missionary Benedictine Sister are only a charity we cannot offer a "real" salary. We intend to provide a monthly allowance of € 800 (€ 1000 for a couple) which is supposed to cover ALL the expenses (including health insurance as well as retirement funds!). If there are children we are ready to slightly increase this allowance.
In addition housing with basic furniture and equipment will be provided free. We also plan to provide an initial lumpsum of € 300 (per adult) for personal expenses including furniture and appliances for the house.
We will also pay a lump sum of € 1000 (per adult) for the flight to and from Tanzania at the beginning of the contract and at its end. To enable the volunteer to visit home we pay an additional lumpsum of € 1000 (per adult) for travel expenses after the first year, second year etc. provided another year of contract follows. We would also cover the costs for the mandatory registration with the Medical Council of Tanganyika up to € 500 and the costs incurred to get a work- and residence permit up to a total of € 500 per adult. We would offer a two years contract – with the option of extension if both sides agree.
The chosen candidate would be expected to learn intensively Swahili as soon as it becomes clear that we agree on each other. As it is essential to speak Swahili reasonably well we would contribute € 600 (per adult) for a language training course in the country (before starting the work).
Application, contact and further information
If you are interested please provide your detailed CV together with a letter of motivation to Dr. Friedhelm Bernreiter at the following email-address: daktari_bern@aol.com
Sending your data includes permission that we confidentially share this information for discussion with the Diocese and the Hospital administration. We then would reply to you by mail and/or by phone and if we are interested we would invite you to a personal interview before any decision would be taken – on your and on our side. We are interested that you get the best possible information on working and living conditions and therefore would establish contact between you and the volunteers who have been working there before.
After having agreed we would appreciate if you learn more about the hospital, its setup and the local situation; therefore we would try to prepare you a little bit more by possibly arranging for further personal meetings with you if this would seem desirable and feasible. Please be aware that the contract with you would be made finally between the Catholic Diocese of Lindi and you.
This is an opportunity to live and work among extremely friendly people in a nice rural area of the “real” Africa. All former European volunteers came back satisfied having done meaningful medical work and enjoyed this period of their lives greatly.
Langzeiteinsatz: Arzt/Ärztin für Krankenhaus im ländlichen Tansania (Mnero)
Tansania – Mnero
Dauer: Auf Anfrage, Langzeiteinsatz erwünscht
Diese Stellenbeschreibung erreichte uns nur auf Englisch, per Email (s.u.) können auch Anfragen auf Deutsch beantwortet werden.
About Mnero and the history of the hospital
Mnero is a small village in a remote location in southern Tanzania about 40 km away from the District capital of Nachingwea (https://www.google.de/maps/place/Mnero,+Tansania/@10.1691431,38.4570164,9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x18f187a38b56048f:0x404eeccf602bed56!8m2!3d10.18473!4d38.62709). The only European style buildings are the former Benedictine Mission and the hospital. Mnero hospital has been built almost 70 years ago. Since long it belongs to the Catholic Diocese of Lindi.
The hospital currently has about 80 beds and a staff of roughly 50. It is providing all essential medical services for the very poor rural peasant population which hardly has access to any other place for medical treatment.
About 30 years ago the former German Development Service (DED, since 2011 merged with GIZ) sent the first volunteer doctors to Mnero Hospital to help improving its services. Before that the hospital had not had a resident doctor for many years. The volunteers stayed for 2-3 years each and succeeded each other without interruption for the subsequent 18 years. Together with their Tanzanian partners they were able to reestablish and run appropriate medical services. In 1994 they started a small charity in Germany called “Solidarität Mnero” (SolMne) which is active up till now. It was founded to assist the hospital in terms of advice but also with funds for the improvement of infrastructure, education, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Over time, the activities extended to other fields only indirectly related to health like reforestation, support of local schools or village water supply.
In 2007 the support with volunteer doctors from Germany ended. Since then the hospital was run by several Tanzanian doctors and administrators. SolMne continued to provide some financial support and tried to help with intermittent short visits from previous volunteers. Nevertheless partly due to a lack of medical doctors partly due to administrative incompetence and mismanagement the quality of medical services decreased very much over the years. The situation of the hospital became less and less transparent and the communication between previous volunteers/SolMne and Mnero less frequent and clear. The diocese as the owner was not able to substantially improve the situation. Therefore the Diocese– as well as the hospital staff itself – has asked once more for support by a medical doctor from abroad.
After long and intensive discussions in 2015 we from SolMne decided to comply with this request by sending a medical doctor again in order to prevent further deterioration of medical services and bring them back to an acceptable standard. SolMne succeeded in finding suitable volunteers: From August 2016 a Dutch couple, both medical doctors, has been working there. This, in addition to a completely new and by the meantime well established Tanzanian and European managerial staff, improved the situation substantially. These Dutch expatriate doctors left by mid of October 2018. They were replaced by another couple where she is a Medical Doctor and he has a training in management and finances. As his professional background came in very handy he too got (half) a contract to assist with all sorts of management and financial issues. They have been working in Mnero since Sept. 2018 and plan to leave in the beginning of August 2020.
Therefore we are looking now once more for a volunteer medical doctor who is able and willing to continue the work. It would be possible to live and work in Mnero as a single person, a couple or as a family. In case of a couple we would try to provide (a part time) employment to the spouse provided s/he has a professional background useful in the context of our work.
Profile and tasks
The living and working conditions demand a personality with high intrinsic motivation, flexibility and tolerance. In terms of medical skills, the position requires the applicant to have a reasonable experience in surgery and/or gynecology/obstetrics and/or pediatrics (the nearest hospital with well equipped and educated MD´s is two hours driving distance away). Applicants moreover should have a substantial knowledge of medical care in a setting of very limited resources. Therefore they should have done a course in tropical medicine (or have the equivalent working experience).
The main task will be to stabilize and further improve appropriate medical services for in- and outpatients in very close cooperation with the local staff. That includes to do all the necessary clinical work while at the same time trying to provide on-the-job-training of the local Assistant Medical Officer(s), Medical Assistants and Clinical Officers. In addition the task includes to advise and support the local hospital administration in different sectors of management (financial administration and planning, staff development, quality management, communication). Flexibility and the will to adapt are essential. This applies not only to the professional but also to the personal field: while colleagues, staff, people generally are very friendly the professional cooperation is sometimes not easy. Different ideas, different working rhythms, different attitudes can lead to disappointments – normally soon overcome. But one should be aware of this potential problem and bring along a good amount of patience and a sound ability to bear with frustrations.
Payment, housing, coverage of expenses
As we are only a small charity we cannot offer a "real" salary – a fact we are not happy about. We intend to provide a monthly allowance of € 800 (€ 1000 for a couple) which is supposed to cover ALL the expenses (including health insurance as well as retirement funds!). If there are children we are ready to slightly increase this allowance.
In addition housing with basic furniture and equipment will be provided free. We also plan to provide an initial lumpsum of € 300 (per adult) for personal expenses including furniture and appliances for the house.
We will also pay a lump sum of € 1000 (per adult) for the flight to and from Tanzania at the beginning of the contract and at its end. To enable the volunteer to visit home we pay an additional lumpsum of € 1000 (per adult) for travel expenses after the first year, second year etc. provided another year of contract follows. We would also cover the costs for the mandatory registration with the Medical Council of Tanganyika up to € 500 and the costs incurred to get a work- and residence permit up to a total of € 500 per adult. We would aim at a two years contract – with the option of extension if both sides agree.
The chosen candidate would be expected to learn intensively Swahili as soon as it becomes clear that we agree on each other. As it is essential to speak Swahili reasonably well we would contribute € 600 (per adult) for a language training course in the country (before starting the work).
Application, contact and further information
If you are interested please provide your detailed CV together with a letter of motivation to Dr. Friedhelm Bernreiter at the following email-address: daktari_bern@aol.com
Sending your data includes permission that we from SolMne confidentially share this information for discussion among ourselves and with the Diocese. We then would reply to you by mail and/or by phone and if we are interested we would invite you to a personal interview before any decision would be taken – on your and on our side. We are interested that you get the best possible information on working and living conditions and therefore would establish contact between you and the volunteers who have been working there before.
After having agreed we would appreciate if you learn more about SolMne, its intention and procedures and about the local situation and would try to prepare you a little bit more by possibly arranging for further personal meetings with you if this would seem desirable and feasible. Please be aware that we would make a contract with you while another working contract would be made finally between the Catholic Diocese of Lindi and you.
This is an opportunity to live and work among extremely friendly people in an amazingly beautiful landscape of the “real” Africa. All former European volunteers came back satisfied having done meaningful medical work and enjoyed this period of their lives greatly.
More information can be found (however in German only) on our homepage: http://www.mnero.de/
The Dutch volunteers meanwhile have set up a corresponding network. Their homepage is: https://www.freshi.nl/
Hospital partnership GTP - Newborn unit at the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Dar Es Salaam (Phase I: 2018-2020; Phase II: 2020-2023)
About the project
As part of the initiative "Clinic Partnerships - Partners Strengthen Health", financed by the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with technical support from the Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the GTP has been involved in neonatal care at the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, since the end of 2018. Requested by local partners is the introduction of ultrasound and echocardiography, as well as training for doctors and nurses in various invasive and non-invasive forms of ventilation.
The neonatal unit at MNH has more than 100 beds and admits between 6,500 and 7,000 newborns per year. Affiliated to MNH is the largest medical school in the country: MUHAS (Muhimbili University for Health and Allied Sciences).
The first phase of the project lasted from 2018 to 2020 and was very successful. Therefore, a follow-up application was also approved under the same funding line. This second phase will last from 2020 to 2023 (extended by one year due to the pandemic).
Vacancies - we are looking for lecturers
- Neonatologists
- Nurses with experience in neonatology
We are looking forward to receiving applications from GTP-members or colleagues who would like to become members and who are neonatologists or nurses with experience in neonatology and who are interested in lecturing colleagues at the MNH in Tanzania.
Experience in working abroad and teaching are of advantage but not crucial.
- Duration of stay: 2-3 weeks (dates flexible)
- Requirements: Good English skills
- Pay: All expenses connected to the deployment will be covered
Contact and application
If you are interested please send a short CV to:
Dr. Carsten Krüger (email) - Programme coordinator in Germany
Dr. Antke Züchner (email) - Programme coordinator in Tanzania
Foto Credits: (c) Muhimbili National Hospital Webblog
Paediatric Traumatic Brain Injury in LMIC - a survey
A group of medical doctors working in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) - amonst them GTP member Dr. Andreas Hansmann, who is currently working in Malawi - have launched a survey as response to the recent "Paediatric Consensus Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Guidelines" in order to assess the current clinical situation on the ground in hospitals in LMIC.
If you work in a clinical setting in LMIC traiting children with TBI it would be highly interesting and appreciated if you took 10 minutes of your time to complete this survey.
Further information as well as the survey itself are to be found here.
Pediatric Trainer for Clinical Health Officers - Sierra Leone
The application deadline has been extended to 30th of July 2019!
MSF Belgium ist employing a pediatric trainer for clinical health officers (CHO) in their hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone.
Purpose of the position
To accompany locally enrolled 24 community health officers to continuous medical education (cme) program in order to achieve a much better level of autonomy in their daily clinical practice.
Responsibilities
- Participate to the development of a competency framework
- Participate to develop a learning portfolio
- Lead on the development of a specific training program, based on the competency framework
- Lead the implementation of the training program for the cho
- Lead the evaluation of the training efforts
- Work closely with the other hospital pediatric doctors to understand the evolving training needs for the CHO
Further information and application details refer to the following MSF website:
https://www.msf-azg.be/en/job/pediatric-trainer-for-clinical-health-officers-in-sierra-leone
TropPaed 2020 - 11th Intensive Course on Tropical Paediatrics and Global Child Health
This 5-day-course on Tropical Paediatrics and Global Child health was initiated in 2010 and has ever since taken place and been developed further on a yearly basis. It addresses the most important medical, intercultural, political and infrastructural aspects of Global Child Health.
Datum
27.01. – 31.01.2020
26.01. Anreise
Ort
Schloss Rauischholzhausen
(Bei Gießen)
Info
Maximale Teilnehmerzahl: 50
Kurssprache: Englisch
Welcome
We cordially invite you to participate in our Intensive Course on Tropical Paediatrics and Global Child Health.
Once again we will provide you with a diverse course schedule containing lectures, practical workshops and clinical seminar. Furthermore there will be enough time for professional international exchange of plans and experiences.
As time goes by we will provide you with further details about the schedule and lecturers. Arrival will be possible from Sunday 5pm onwards. There will be dinner and access to your rooms. A good first opportunity to explore the castle grounds and extablish contacts. The official course program starts on Monday 8:30 am and ends on Friday 2 pm.
Provisional Schedule
Here you can find the preliminary topics of the course. There will be an evening program and case presentations from our international guests on some of the days.
- Registration and introduction.
- Introduction to Global Child Health
- WHO programs and international collaborations
- International communication
- Challenges in setting up a paediatric department
- Contributions from other specialties (i.e. surgery, dermatology, oncology, …)
- Psychosocial apects of paediatrics
- Introduction into the caring for a critically ill child in a resource-limited setting
- Practical workshops regarding “the critically ill child” – i.e. malaria, neurological or respiratory emergencies, malnutrition, shock and ETAT
- Scientific research and data collection
- Gynaecology and Obstetrics
- Neonatology
- Practical workshops regarding interventions in a resource-limited setting (i.e. invasive techniques, KMC, bCPAP, hospital and community neonatology)
- Introduction into the big topics HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and tuberculosis
- With whom and how to work abroad
- Practical workshops about HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and tuberculosis
- Contributions from other specialties (i.e. surgery, dermatology, oncology, family medicine, …)
- Health systems in unstable countries
- The role of the foreign paediatrician abroad
- Laboratories in resource-limited settings
- Antibiotic Stewardship
- Updates on tropical medicine
- Feedback, test and departure
Fee and application
The course fee includes participation in the course, course materials, accommodation, food and coffee breaks for 5 days.
Not included are alcoholic beverages and drinks outside the official mealtimes as well as transportation.
Scholarships are available for colleagues from low and middle income countries. Please apply with a motivational letter and CV. Further details are to be found reading the section on “sponsoring of international colleagues“. Application deadline: 15th July 2019
Regulärer Preis Nichtmitglieder
ab 1.12.19Regulärer Preis Nichtmitglieder
Early Bird bis 30.11.19Mitglieder-Preis GTP/ESPID
ab 1.12.19Mitglieder-Preis GTP/ESPID
Early Bird bis 30.11.19Course venue
The course is taking place at Schloß Rauischholzhausen which is the conference center of the University of Gießen. We are happy to be able to host our course at this historical and beautiful site. It offers learning space and accommodation combined in the same building and due to the affiliation with the University the prices are fair. A good variety of seminar rooms compliment our course concept of combining lectures with small group activities. Moving our course to this location in 2016 has proven to have been worthwhile.
Working Group "Young GTP"
Founded by motivated GTP-members, who aim at strengthening the connections between students and the GTP.
Goals of the working group
- Connecting students and young doctors interested in tropical pediatrics and international child health
- Exchange platform for projects related to tropical pediatrics, for students and young doctors, who have not yet completed their specialty training.
- Exchange on options for further education or specialisation in the fields of tropical medicine and tropical pediatrics during and after medschool
Current projects
- Annual students-workshop during the GTP annual conference: this workshop is ideally organized „by students for students“ or at least with the help of students. So far the workshops were mainly a forum for discussions concerning different topics of tropical medicine and international child health. Future plans also involve a more practical focus with hands-on workshops on topics relevant for tropical pediatrics.
- Continuation of the Couchsurfing Program: local students provide free housing for other students attending the the GTP annual conference to keep travel expenses for students visiting from other cities or countries as low as possible.
Planned projects:
- Creating an online-platform to connect interested students and young doctors and give them a forum for exchanging information on interesting projects, research and further education in the field of tropical pediatrics and international child health.
Contact and participation
The working group is looking for motivated participators. If you are interested or have any questions please contact on of the following members of the organizing team:
Susanna van Eys - Email
Karolina de Souza Friedrichsen - Email
Jana Suero Molina - Email
Hanna Zastrow - Email
Carmen Herr - Email
Lea Decker - Email
Philipp Koliopoulos - Email