Cardiac Anaesthetist

COUNTRY Sudan

REQUIRED LANGUAGES English

TYPE OF CONTRACT Fixed-term contract – paid (6 months)

NECESSARY REQUIREMENTS Specialisation in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care; experience in the Cardiac Surgery or Cardiovascular Department.

This role requires capable and autonomous management of cardiac surgery patients, in accordance with the guidelines and protocols in use at the Centre.

BACKGROUND AND ORGANISATION OF WORK

The international Anaesthetist will work as part of a team of international specialists – experts or in training – organising and carrying out the training of the local medical and health care staff in his/her area of responsibility.
The diagnostic and clinical activity (both routine and in possible emergencies) requires the participation of the international specialist in all departments of the hospital.
Some resident physicians in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care will be present to support clinical activity or research.
The international Anaesthetist is responsible to the Medical Coordinator, who is in charge of the management and organisation of the project.

The main areas of work are:

• TRIAGE AND CARDIOLOGY CLINICS: management of emergency resuscitation if necessary;
• OPERATING THEATRES: 3 operating theatres equipped to carry out Cardiac Surgery;
• INTENSIVE CARE UNIT: 15 fully equipped beds (2 isolation beds);
• CATH LAB: 1 cardiac catheterisation laboratory fully equipped to manage deep sedation and general anaesthesia;
• WARD: 32-bed ward and 16-bed High Dependency Unit. Management of possible emergencies requiring resuscitation.

The major part of your work will be in Operating Theatres and Intensive Care. The Salam Centre has the capacity to carry out up to 5-6 operations per day, as well as managing possible hospital emergencies.
The workload is distributed in such a way as to guarantee patient care 24/7, in shifts which may vary according to the clinical needs and organisational set-up of the Centre.
On-call will include nights and holidays, to support the colleagues – expert or in training – on duty.

GUIDELINES, PROTOCOLS AND EQUIPMENT

All EMERGENCY international personnel are expected to know and follow the hospital admissions criteria, guidelines, protocols, and the diagnosis and treatment standards in use in the Centre, and to ensure the correct compilation of clinical records and statistics in both computer and paper formats.

The main duties and responsibilities of the international Cardiac Anaesthetist are:

• management of anaesthetic procedures in the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative phases, and in cases where anaesthetic assistance is required for diagnostic procedures;
• management of cardiopathic patients in the pre- and post-operative phases in Intensive Care;
• management of hospital emergencies (Intensive Care, Ward, Cath Lab, Cardiology Clinic)
• mentoring of resident physicians (where present);
• assisting in clinical research and record keeping as required by the scientific programmes of the specialist sector of the Medical Division of EMERGENCY.

You will be expected to participate in the discussion and agreement of surgical treatment proposed by the cardiologist and cardiac surgeon colleagues.
Close collaboration is also indispensable in deciding the anaesthetic strategy and post-operative treatment of the patient.

MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING OF LOCAL PERSONNEL

Clinical activities and patient care are always carried out alongside and in collaboration with local personnel, who thus benefit from training in the field. There is also provision for more specific teaching activities, managed by the international specialists, in accordance with the clinical protocols in use and as agreed with the Medical Coordinator.

CASELOAD AND EQUIPMENT

“SALAM” CENTRE FOR CARDIAC SURGERY – Khartoum, Sudan

Patients with every type of congenital and acquired heart disease present at the centre. The caseload is extremely varied and may at times be pre-selected according to the experience of the specialists present in a given period. Most patients presenting at the hospital are seriously compromised: the main cause of this is that the health care system and therefore treatment, both in the Country and in the region as a whole, is fee-paying.

Since 2007 the Salam Centre has been the only completely free cardiac surgery centre in the region. The Centre forms the scientific and operational nucleus of a network of paediatric clinics situated in neighbouring Countries which also carry out screening and follow-up for both adult and paediatric cardiac surgery patients.

The most common pathologies treated are valvular cardiopathy of rheumatic origin (RHD – Rheumatic Heart Disease), congenital heart disease suitable for surgical treatment, and ischaemic heart disease in the non-acute phase; over the past 10 years of activity (2008 – 2017) around 55% of patients admitted have been under 26 years of age.

Due to the advanced level of work carried out, the equipment available and technical, architectural and managerial innovations, the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery is considered a centre of excellence at an international level.

GUIDELINES, PROTOCOLS AND EQUIPMENT

Further information on the guidelines, protocols and clinical services relevant to the post along with details of the instruments and equipment available will be provided at interview and during the period of preparation for the mission.
The general requirements and conditions apply to all the international staff.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

• Medical degree, and current professional registration on the medical register of your Country of residence;
• specialisation in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care;
• experience in the Cardiac Surgery or Cardiovascular Department (Operating Theatres, Cardiac ICU, Cath Lab…).

For this role, EMERGENCY is also *seeking neo specialist physicians and* resident physicians.

REQUIRED AVAILABILITY

6 months overseas stay including a period of leave to be taken at the end of the mission in agreement with the coordinator. Shorter missions may only be considered for specific needs as defined by the organisation.