Background
Family Health International (FHI) Viet Nam was recently awarded a five-year cooperative agreement by the CDC-HHS/PEPFAR to build the palliative care clinical capacity of health care workers in Viet Nam.
Clinical palliative care training and capacity building has been underway at the national level since 2007 but is still relatively nascent. Training and mentoring thus far has focused primarily on physicians, although this work is relatively new. Very little training and capacity building has been provided in the area of pediatric palliative care. Training for other health professionals including nurses and pharmacists is even less developed than for physicians.
FHI is partnering with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to develop clinical training and capacity building in the above areas. This includes a focus on in-service training for physicians, nurses and pharmacists in adults and pediatric palliative care.
FHI is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from consultants and organizations experienced in clinical palliative care in developing
country contexts. Expression of interests should be emailed to Dr Pham Le Huy in the format described below at [email protected] [1] - no later than 5 pm, Viet Nam time, on January 15, 2010. The expressions of interest will be reviewed by FHI who will then develop a detailed scope of work and contract with the successful consultants and/or organizations.
For further information about FHI, please go to www.fhi.org [2].
Scope of work
There are five primary areas of work described below. Applicants may choose to apply for one or more depending on their interest and
technical area of expertise. The overall focus of the work is leading training, developing new curricula where indicated (see below) and
mentoring and building the confidence and capacity of local clinicians.
Successful applicants will provide technical support in the following areas:
1. Physician fellowship training: A two month advanced palliative care in-service training (divided into two one-month sessions separated
by approximately two-three months). The training curricula and practicum sites have been developed but a trainer/clinical mentor is required to lead the fellowship training. Local senior palliative care trainers/mentors will co-lead the training with the palliative care
clinical consultant. The clinical consultant will both co-lead the training and develop the training and mentoring skills of local senior
palliative care physicians.
Requirements:
An experienced palliative care physician, ideally one with experience working in developing country contexts. The physician needs to be able to travel to Viet Nam for two non-contiguous months over 2010. Note: If a two month period in Viet Nam is not feasible, the applicant may apply for one month. If two successful applicants are identified which apply for one-month only fellowship, the
fellowship will be divided between then. However, the preference is for the same consultant to lead the entire fellowship.
Deliverables:
- Revisions to the fellowship training curriculum as needed
- Trip report including key findings and recommendations related to clinical capacity of fellows and local co-trainers
2. Short-term physician clinical mentoring: Provide approximately two-weeks of clinical mentoring to senior local palliative care
physician mentors/trainers one or more times during the year.
Requirements:
An experienced palliative care physician, ideally one who has worked in developing country contexts.
Deliverables:
- Presentations made during the consultancy
- Trip report including key findings and recommendations related to clinical capacity of local mentors/trainers
3. Nurse trainer/curriculum developer: Nurse palliative care training in Viet Nam is highly limited. There is no national in-service training curriculum for nurses. We seek a consultant/organization to develop and pre-test a 5-day basic nurse palliative care training curriculum. The training is for local nurses working in HIV, cancer and other settings. The consultant will work with a team of local senior nurses and other health care professionals in developing the training package, and then run the training with the local team focusing on building their capacity to lead subsequent trainings.
Requirements:
The applicant should be an experienced palliative care nurse, ideally one who has worked in developing country contexts. They also need to be experienced in curriculum development and training.
Deliverables:
- Final training curriculum
- Trip report including key findings and recommendations related to future clinical capacity building of fellows and local co-trainers
4. Pediatric palliative care trainer/curriculum development: Pediatric palliative care training in Viet Nam is highly limited. They seek a consultant/organization to develop and pre-test a 5-day basic pediatric palliative care training curriculum for physicians. The training is for pediatricians working in HIV, cancer and other settings. The consultant will work with a team of local senior pediatricians in developing the training package, and will then run the training with the local team focusing on building their capacity to lead subsequent trainings.
Requirements: The applicant needs to be an experienced pediatric palliative care physician, ideally one who has worked in developing
country contexts. They also need to be experienced in curriculum development and training.
Deliverables:
- Final training curriculum
- Trip report including key findings and recommendations related to clinical capacity of fellows and local co-trainers
5. Pharmacist training: We seek a pharmacist experienced in the management of palliative care essential medicines to develop and pretest a 2-3 day training curriculum. The consultant will work with a team of local senior pharmacists in developing the training package, and will then run the training with the local team focusing on building their capacity to lead subsequent trainings.
Requirements:
The applicant needs to an experienced pharmacist who is very familiar with medicines used for palliative care. They also must be experienced in curriculum development and training.
Deliverables:
- Final training curriculum
- Trip report including key findings and recommendations related to clinical capacity of fellows and local co-trainers
General applicant requirements:
Applicants need to demonstrate:
- Advanced level of experience in clinical palliative care service delivery
- Experience in and a strong commitment to local mentoring and capacity building
- Excellent training and communication skills
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience working in developing country contexts, ideally in Asia
Expression of Interest Format:
The expression of interest should contain the following information:
1. Experience statement: 2-3 paragraphs describing relevant experience and why the applicant is interested in the EOI. If the
applicant is an organization, this also should include a statement of organizational capacity
2. Work plan with timeline (time in-country and ex-country)
3. Curriculum vitae of proposed consultants/contractors
4. Budget detailing amount of funds needed for travel, consultants, development of material (in-country and ex-country) and any other
additional costs
5. Budget narrative (as relevant)
6. Availability and start date
7. Sample of work – applies to curriculum development only