Special Service Agreement (SSA) - Coordinator to Support Viet Nam National Medical Council (NMC)

Call for Expressions of Interest and Proposal

#VN012 - Job Title: Special Service Agreement (SSA) - Coordinator to support the Viet Nam National Medical Council (NMC) and implementation of the Council’s activities

1. Background:

Over the past two decades Viet Nam has had a significant expansion in its health professional training institutions and numbers of graduates. The number of universities training doctors in Viet Nam has roughly doubled since 1997 and the number of new doctors graduating yearly has increased almost three-fold since 2006. Viet Nam faces the challenge of improving the quality of the health workforce; encouraging innovation in the health education sector and increasing regional and international integration of its health workforce.

The Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030, which was adopted by the sixty-ninth World Health Assembly in May 2016, set the four strategic objectives to ensure universal access to health workforce by 2030. Establishing regulatory mechanisms, such as licensing of health professionals and accreditation of health professional training programmes, and alignment of international standards for health professional education are key interventions for improving the quality of human resources for health in line with the Global Strategy. Well-trained health professionals, including medical doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are critical to delivering quality health care. Strengthening the health workforce is needed for Viet Nam to implement its grassroots healthcare and other health sector reforms.

In July 2020 the Viet Nam government established the National Medical Council (NMC) with PM Decision (No 956-QD-TTg). The establishment of the Council is in line with the Party Resolution 20 (No 20/2017–NQ/TW) on the protection, care and improvement of people’s health in the new situation which highlighted health professional education reform as one of the priorities for the country. The resolution includes establishing an NMC to administer national licensing examinations and grant practice certificates according to international standards. The NMC will have two main functions: 1) setting competency standards for health professional education and 2) preparing the conditions for the assessment of health professionals. In addition, the Ministry of Health has drafted the revised Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (LET), which covers health workforce regulation and will be reviewed by the National Assembly in 2021.

Furthermore, in February 2021, the National Medical Council requested the WHO Representative Office in Viet Nam to provide continued support in the early stage of the establishment of the NMC.

2. Works to be performed

With guidance and direction from the Chair and Standing Vice Chair of the NMC, the coordinator will:

• Provide administrative support to the NMC Office to ensure its smooth day-to-day operations
• Coordinate the preparations for and follow-up to meetings, workshops, training courses, etc. including material and logistics arrangements for NMC activities
• Facilitate the development and subsequent implementation of the 1-2 year operational workplan for the main council tasks around health professional standards and preparation for a national health professional assessment
• Assist in establishing the main committees and sub-committees organising the invitation and appointment of key specialists
• Provide coordination and communications support in management of the Council, committees, and sub-committees

The main methods to carry out this activity will be:

• Face-to-face consultation with senior NMC and NMC office leadership, other relevant MoH and government departments, and other Ministries as well as WHO and development partners
• Communication between the various NMC committees and sub-committees as well as MOH, other government departments, other Ministries and DPs involved in the NMC and its activities
• Drafting of agendas, concept notes, submissions to MOH leadership, workplans, etc.
• Follow-up of key recommendations of meetings, reports, etc.
• Supporting administrative, financial and logistics arrangements, including funding applications and the monitoring reports to funders

3. Planned timelines (subject to confirmation)

Start date 1/04/2021
End date: 31/12/2021

4. Specific requirements

a. Education

• Required: First university degree in medicine, public health, public policy or related area.
• Desirable: Master’s degree in public health, development, international relations, or public policy

b. Experience

• Essential: At last 5 years’ experience working in the field of medicine and/or public health with Government and a wide range of national stakeholders and development partners
• Desirable: Experience working with the Ministry of Health, health training institution, or health development partners

c. Skills

• Demonstrated organizational skills and ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Excellent communications skills (both written and oral)
• Well-developed IT capacity and familiarity with website software, the Microsoft Office Package
• Ability to translate and interpret from Vietnamese into English and from English into Vietnamese
• Team work
• Ability to adapt to diverse cultural and educational backgrounds

d. Language:

• Essential: Proficiency in English and expert knowledge of Vietnamese

5. Competencies

• Producing results
• Communicating in a credible and effective way
• Fostering integration and teamwork
• Ability to move forward in a changing environment

6. Place of assignment

Office of Viet Nam National Medical Council, Ministry of Health

7. Medical clearance

The selected SSA holder will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

8. Remuneration

Full-time monthly remuneration of maximum USD1,167 depending on experience. Those who are interested can contact our focal person with contact detail at the end of the announcement before/by 23 March 2021

Administrative Officer
World Health Organization
UN Building, 304 Kim Ma Street,
Hanoi, Viet Nam

OR

[email protected]

For further information on this TOR, please contact:
[email protected]