Seed Global Health

Maternal and child mortality rates are highest, and life expectancy is shortest, in countries with dire shortages of nurses, physicians, and other trained health professionals. In sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly one child in 12 dies before reaching their fifth birth and life expectancy at birth is only 58 years, there is only one nurse or midwife for every 1,000 people and one physician for every 5,100. The US has one nurse or midwife for every 100 people and one physician for every 400, and life expectancy is 78 years. This crippling shortage of nurses, midwives, and physicians is perpetuated by the scarcity of faculty to train young people eager to pursue careers in nursing and medicine.

The Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) is a joint initiative with the Peace Corps, the U.S. President’s Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and Seed Global Health that partners with countries to help them overcome critical shortages of health providers and build strong, sustainable health systems. GHSP places nurses and physicians as visiting faculty in nursing and medical schools in Liberia, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Uganda.

GHSP Physician Educators are posted overseas as Peace Corps Response Volunteers to serve as visiting faculty; they teach and work alongside local faculty to expand capacity, strengthen the quality and breadth of medical education, provide improved health professional development opportunities, and importantly, improve care for vulnerable patients.

To assure cultural integration, GHSP Physician Educators are paired with host country counterparts. Together with their counterparts and other faculty colleagues, GHSP Physician Educators develop or refine locally tailored best practice approaches to medical education and encourage a continuous culture of excellence, responsibility, and accountability in the delivery of health care.

In partnership with host country faculty, key Physician Educator tasks may include (but are not limited to):

• Providing classroom-based instruction to undergraduate and post-graduate trainees, incorporating curriculum development and student assessment,
• Providing formal and informal clinical instruction to trainees, house staff and other learners emphasizing best practice standards (through Daily Rounds, Grand Rounds, Morbidity and Mortality conferences, and similar means),
• Modeling sound clinical diagnostic and therapeutic bedside practice,
• Modeling professional and ethical behavior in all aspects of health care delivery and education,
• Enhancing existing clinical training systems and structures by developing and implementing innovative teaching tools,
• Assisting with creating/adapting/implementing improved clinical guidelines and/or treatment protocols when applicable, and
• Organizing continuing education programs with host country faculty.

GHSP recruits in specialties that strives to meet the needs of partner medical schools; this has included internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, general and orthopedic surgery, anesthesia, pathology, cardiology, emergency medicine, pulmonary/critical care and infectious diseases.

Data from the first two classes of GHSP Physician Educators demonstrate that our volunteers have made a significant difference in the quantity, quality and breadth of education and training in both the classroom and clinical setting. Volunteers also report that they extend and refine their own teaching and clinical knowledge and skills. Clinicians who teach and work abroad in settings with limited access to resources gain a heightened sensitivity around health resource utilization and can acquire sharpened clinical acumen – both of which may be of value in addressing health disparities in the US.

Mandatory Qualifications

• Board eligible or board certified physician with active license in the United States
• Excellent organizational, communication and writing skills
• Experience providing culturally sensitive and competent high quality care
• Successful candidates will possess the personal maturity and emotional intelligence needed to succeed working under challenging clinical circumstances
• Able to meet licensing criteria and obtain appropriate clinical licenses in the host country (facilitated by Peace Corps and Seed Global Health)
• US citizenship

Desired

• Experience in a faculty, teaching or mentoring position in a classroom/clinical setting
• Highly competitive candidates will have previous experience working in a developing or resource-limited setting

Maternal and child mortality rates are highest, and life expectancy is shortest, in countries with dire shortages of nurses, physicians, and other trained health professionals. In sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly one child in 12 dies before reaching their fifth birth and life expectancy at birth is only 58 years, there is only one nurse or midwife for every 1,000 people and one physician for every 5,100. The US has one nurse or midwife for every 100 people and one physician for every 400, and life expectancy is 78 years. This crippling shortage of nurses, midwives, and physicians is perpetuated by the scarcity of faculty to train young people eager to pursue careers in nursing and medicine.

The Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) is a joint initiative with the Peace Corps, U.S. President’s Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and Seed Global Health that partners with countries to help them overcome critical shortages of health providers and build strong, sustainable health systems. GHSP places nurses and physicians as visiting faculty in nursing and medical schools in Liberia, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Uganda.

GHSP Nurse Educators are posted overseas as Peace Corps Response Volunteers to serve as visiting faculty; they teach and work alongside local faculty to expand capacity, strengthen the quality and breadth of nursing education, provide improved health professional development opportunities, and importantly, improve care for vulnerable patients.

To assure cultural integration, GHSP Nurse Educators are paired with a host country counterpart. Together with their counterparts and other faculty colleagues, GHSP Nurse Educators develop or refine locally tailored best practice approaches to nursing education and encourage a continuous culture of excellence, responsibility, and accountability in the delivery of health care.

Depending on the GHSP Nurse Educator’s educational preparation and clinical expertise, the role they serve will vary. Typically, Bachelors prepared volunteers with clinical instruction or precepting expertise serve as clinical instructors in the clinical arena and may be called upon to assist in the classroom or skills lab. Masters prepared advanced practice nurses teach in the classroom and clinical area and may participate in curriculum and program development. Doctoral-prepared (PhD or DNP) volunteers serve across the teaching, research, service and policy domains, as needed.

In partnership with host country faculty, local nurse leaders and Seed Global Health nursing staff, key volunteer tasks may include (but are not limited to):

• Serving as classroom faculty,
• Serving as a clinical instructor utilizing both simulation and clinical settings,
• Participating in the development or refinement of locally tailored curriculum that integrates educational best practices in the context of country and partner institution specific regulations, mission and need,
• Facilitating academic-clinical partnerships to develop practice improvement projects that strengthen care at the point of service,
• Participating in professional development activities with partner-country faculty and clinicians,
• Working closely with nursing mentors to foster a model of integrated education and practice among medical, nursing and midwifery students, and
• If appropriate, working with national nursing organizations to assist in the establishment of policies that support the enhanced role of the nurse.

GHSP recruits in programmatic areas that strive to meet the needs of partner nursing schools; this has included community health, graduate studies, medical/surgical, mental health, midwifery, pediatrics, advanced practice and sub-specialties such as anesthesia and critical care.

Data from the first two classes of GHSP Nurse Educators demonstrate that our volunteers have made a significant difference in the quantity, quality and breadth of education and training in both the classroom and clinical setting. Volunteers also report that they extend and refine their own teaching and clinical knowledge and skills. Clinicians who teach and work abroad in settings with limited access to resources gain a heightened sensitivity around health resource utilization and can acquire sharpened clinical acumen – both of which may be of value in addressing health disparities in the US.

Mandatory Qualifications

• BSN and at least 3 years of clinical experience considered
• Advanced degrees preferred (Masters in nursing education, advanced practice nursing [CNM, FNP, CRNA or PNP], MPH) or doctoral degree (PhD, DNP)
• Active RN license in the United States
• Experience as a nursing educator in the classroom and/or clinical instructor or preceptor in the clinical setting
• Excellent organizational, communication and writing skills
• Experience providing culturally sensitive and competent high quality care
• Successful candidates will possess the personal maturity and emotional intelligence needed to succeed working under challenging clinical circumstances
• Able to meet licensing criteria and obtain appropriate clinical licenses in the host country (facilitated by Peace Corps and Seed Global Health)
• US citizenship

Desired

• Highly competitive candidates will have previous experience working in a developing or resource-limited setting