CHARITY JOBS IN AFRICA

As a federal enterprise, GIZ supports the German Government in achieving its objectives in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development.

For our operations in Libya/Tripoli, we are looking for a/an
Short-Term Expert to Design and Deliver an Intensive Course on Principles of Evidence-Based Practice

1 General Background of the EU-LHSS Programme

The Libyan health care delivery system reflects past systemic imbalances and the impact of the civil war. Weakened health services are largely deficient in their capacity to attend to the needs of the pop-ulation. The increased prevalence of mental disorders and physical disabilities –a consequence of the conflict– further exacerbate the situation.

The overall objective of the EU-LHSS programme is to improve efficiency, effectiveness and quality of health service delivery in Libya. The purpose of this action is to strengthen strategic planning, financing as well as management and quality of health service delivery through targeted reforms and pilot interventions.

The EU-LHSS programme is articulated around three result areas:

Result One Strategic Planning, Health Financing and Capacity Strengthened: National health strategy, related policies and action plans developed; health financing options identified; provider payment mechanisms reviewed; and capacity of the Ministry of Health and Health Professionals As-sociations strengthened at all levels.

Result Two Health Service Delivery and Quality of Health Care: Health Service Package success-fully rolled out in pilot areas; options for public private partnerships identified; quality of outcomes framework and accreditation standards developed and selected quality improvements reported.

Result Three Workforce Planning, Development and Management: Recruitment and retention targets in place; pre-service and in-service training needs assessed and partially addressed through targeted training and partnerships with training institutions; curricula upgraded and standardised; li-censing standards and management tools developed and rolled out in pilot areas.

2 Objectives of the mission

2.1 General objective of the mission

The Short-Term Expertise (STE) described in these Terms of Reference is complementary to the tasks of Long Term Experts and the Short Term Expert for Quality of Care and responds to a request articulated by the Chair, Co-chair and members of the Working Group for Quality of Care.

The expertise mobilised to: Design and Deliver an Intensive Course on Principles of Evidence-Based Practice

2.2 Specific objectives of the mission

a) To design and deliver a 5-day Intensive Course on Concepts and Principles of Evidence-Based Practice for 25 participants. Course contents and methodology are described as follows:

Course objectives — to provide students with practical skills to: i) understand the different types of research and their strengths and limitations and locate the best available evidence; ii) critically appraise the literature with a focus on efficacy and safety of health care interventions; iii) appraise systematic reviews; iv) interpret research results and conclusions using aspects of epidemiology and medical statistics; v) make clinical decisions based on best available evidence; vi) inform the process and methods used for clinical guideline development; vii) develop an analytical frame-work/methodology for the development of clinical guidelines; viii) identify contextual elements and build skills to tailor the protocols and evidence gathered in other contexts to specific settings in Libya.

The prospective audience — Ministry of Health staff largely with clinical background, clinicians and health care leaders.

Methodology — teaching will take place over 5 days with reading formerly assigned. The course will include in-class group exercises. A reading day —on Friday, 6 December— will be scheduled mid-way through the course for participants to catch up on unfinished reading.

Reading — a list of essential readings and exercises will be provided four weeks before the course begins.

Assessment —participants will be required to conduct an analytical review of academic literature on a topic of relevance to the EU LHSS programme that is related to shaping an intervention for quality improvement at a hospital or PHC centre or developing a particular clinical guideline. This review will be presented in a PowerPoint format two months after the delivery of the course contents. The assessment will take place over 3 days and will feature individual presentations

b) To review course contents, delivery and learning outcomes, and provide a brief analysis of con-text-specific challenges, participants’ grasp of the concepts, principles and tools, their participation and comments in the course and their feedback gathered through course evaluation questionnaires

c) To assess participants’ use of tools and skills acquired through the course in particular in as far as the formulation of answerable clinical questions, search for evidence, and critical appraisal. The assessment shall take place through a review of their coursework to be presented in PowerPoint format in an open session organised over 3 days two to three months after the initial 5-day course.

2.3 Expected results and deliverables

• Intensive course designed and delivered
• Feedback gathered
• Short report prepared
• Participants assessed and report of assessment prepared

3 Management of the mission

3.1 Work language

The work language is English.

3.2 Responsibilities

The expert will report directly to the Chair and Co-chair of the Working Group on Quality of Care.

The expert will also ensure close consultation with the Short Term Expert for Quality of Care, the Team Leader/Health Economist, the Consultant (EUNIDA) and the Project Manager (the European Union).

3.3 Timetable

The duration of the mission will be of 16 man/days distributed over two missions to Libya. A first mission of 8 man/days will take place from Sunday 3rd to 11th of November. A follow-up mission of 5 man/days will take place two months after the first consultancy/visit to assess participants’ per-formance following the course. An additional 3 man/days are allocated to modify course contents to fit the Libyan context. There may be further follow up missions identified according to the results of the first mission by the STE.

• Within two weeks following the 5-day Intensive Course, the expert shall submit a short report.

3.4 Location of the mission

The location of the mission is Tripoli, Libya

4 The expertise required

4.1 Number of experts and working days

1 STE for 16 man/days

4.2 Profile of the expert

Experience

• A minimum of 10 years teaching experience across various disciplines such as Medical Statistics, Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Health Sciences
• Solid grounding in research methods and statistics underpinning evidence based practice
• Proven experience in teaching Evidence Based Medicine principles and methodology and experience in supporting postgraduate students
• Proven experience in promoting the use of best evidence in decision-making
• Track record of research demonstrated by publications in peer-reviewed journals and collaborations in peer-reviewed funded projects
• Previous experience in conducting systematic reviews and undertaking meta-analysis
• Previous experience in the design and analysis of research

Qualifications

• Advanced Degree in Medical Statistics, Epidemiology, Clinical Epidemiology, Evidence Based Medicine or related discipline
• Recognised expertise and technical achievement in evidence-based research principles and concepts and comprehensive understanding of research methodologies
• Excellent communication and presentation skills

• Ability to collaborate effectively with people from a wide range of disciplines and to work effectively in a multicultural environment

• Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) desirable

5 Reports

5.1 Format and contents

The report —3 pages maximum— should specifically review course contents, delivery and learning outcomes, and provide a brief analysis of context-specific challenges, participants’ grasp of the con-cepts, principles and tools, their participation and comments in the course and their feedback gathered through course evaluation questionnaires and details of the assignment. Further, the report shall provide an analysis of potential gaps with regards to the expected results as well as a set of recommendations in bullet point format.

5.2 Delivery and approval of reports

A draft report will be delivered electronically to the Technical Assistance Team. All documents deliv-ered by the expert shall receive prior approval by the Chair and Co-chair of the Working Group on Quality of Care, working in close consultation with the Short Term Expert on Quality of Care and other Working Group members. The report will further be approved by the Project Manager (the European Union) and the Consultant (EUNIDA/GIZ).

If you are interested, please do not hesitate to apply until 10th October 2013 via email (CV and letter of motivation). Email: matthieu.david@giz.de;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH