OB-GYN: Volunteer with CMMB in Zambia

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

Volunteer Position: OB-GYN

Term: 3-12 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:

OB-GYNs will support CMMB’s mission by working with local communities’ health facilities to provide expertise, capacity building, and education to local staff. As an OB-GYN, you will test, treat, diagnose, and monitor disorders and illnesses related to women's health and their reproductive systems. You will perform exams and procedures, counsel patients during prenatal, natal and postnatal periods. You will ensure each case is handled with proper ethical standards and practices.

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
• Provide prevention of mother-to-child transmission and provide treatment to HIV-positive pregnant women
• Care for patients suffering sexual violence-related injuries
• Specialize in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases and disorders that affect women, such as breast cancer, cervical cancer and menopause. 
• Provide healthcare for women related to reproductive health; provide health care before, during and after pregnancy, and deliver babies
• Examine patients, order diagnostic tests and make diagnoses
• Collect and document patient medical histories and provide counseling on diet, hygiene, sexual health, and disease prevention.
• Monitor patients’ conditions and progress, and reevaluate treatment as necessary
• Provide primary care as needed
• Plan, implement and administer health programs in hospitals or communities for prevention and treatment of injuries or illnesses
• Operate on patients to correct deformities, repair injuries, prevent and treat diseases, or improve or restore patients’ functions.

Qualifications & Skill Requirements:

• Must be 21 years of age or over
• Relevant M.D or D.O degree required
• Current, active license to practice medicine in good standing with licensing body
• Board Certification
• Minimum 1 year of experience as an independent licensed practitioner
• Knowledge of professional and ethical standard of healthcare delivery and practice
• Capacity to administer treatment to patients while dealing with them in a sympathetic and tactful manner
• Experience working with midwives
• Able to perform caesarean sections and other surgical procedures as needed to preserve patients’ health and deliver babies safely
• Experience in emergency surgeries and with complicated deliveries
• Training in tropical medicine and/or infectious diseases (especially HIV/AIDS, TB)
• Familiarity and interest in global health issues, especially maternal and child health issues
• Familiarity and interest in public and community health or preventative medicine
• Ability to work and live with a diverse group of professionals
• 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

Interested? Apply today!

Benefits & Conditions:Each international volunteer who serves 3 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/contributions.

To Apply:Submit an application online at www.cmmb.org/volunteer

Contact:Email:volunteer@cmmb.orgPhone: 212-242-7757