Clinical and Operations Research Technical Advisor
Position Description:
The International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) is a
collaboration between the University of Washington and the University of California,
San Francisco. It is a center in the University of Washington's Department of Global
Health and has offices throughout Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. I-TECH's 700
worldwide staff work in partnership with local ministries of health, universities,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), medical facilities, and other organizations
to support the development of a skilled health work force and well-organized
national health delivery systems. I-TECH's activities occur primarily in the technical
areas of health system strengthening; health workforce development; operations
research and evaluation; and prevention, care, and treatment of infectious diseases.
The primary purpose of this position is to strengthen the capacity of the Lighthouse
Trust clinic to conduct clinic based operations research that builds on non routine
data collection. The ability of the Lighthouse Trust clinic to lead such research will
support clinical programs and the progression of pilot studies into evidence based
practice for more than 22,000 patients in active care. The Technical Advisor will
work to systematically build the skills of Lighthouse staff to identify, design,
implement and report on clinical and program oriented operations research that
addresses gaps in the provision of quality care for ART patients in the public sector
in Malawi.
The Lighthouse Trust is a HIV and AIDS clinic based in Lilongwe, Malawi, at Kamuzu
Central Hospital.
The Technical Advisor will report to the Executive Director of the Lighthouse Trust
clinic. This position will work closely too with counterparts in the Ministry of Health
HIV and AIDS Department to translate best practices from the Lighthouse Trust to
HIV treatment clinics nationally.
This is a full time position to run for two years with the possibility to extend based
on re-evaluation of program priorities. The position requires a dynamic individual
with clinical, research and training experience in HIV care.
Capacity Building and Strengthening of Clinical Programs:
 Strengthen the clinical capacity of the Lighthouse Trust nursing and clinical
team to provide high quality, comprehensive care for all pre- and ART
patients across the continuum of integrated services
 Conduct training on the linkages between clinical care and operations
research
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Assist in measuring outcomes, evaluating processes, and analyzing
performance of clinical health delivery
Develop, implement and test protocols to ensure standardization of high
quality care across clinics
Revise the clinic operations manual to reflect best practices and state of the
art medical interventions as appropriate and feasible to the Malawi
Lighthouse Trust clinic context
Provide strategic leadership in quality HIV provision at the clinic
Conduct Operations Research:
 Support and coordinate ongoing operations research, working through the
Lighthouse Research Committee
 Provide technical guidance for the development of adequate and relevant
clinical operational research
 Develop recommendations for the Lighthouse Trust management team as to
clinical program areas that would benefit from further evaluation and/or
operational research
Publications:
 Disseminate and publish best practices
 Support the Lighthouse Trust clinic in disseminating key findings, lessons
learned and best practices locally and internationally via conferences,
presentations, and publications
Collaboration:
 Support the scale-up of proven interventions and integrated care models,
through partnership with the following agencies:
- Ministry of Health HIV and AIDS Department: Advocate for translation
of best practices into national implementation guidelines;
- National Tuberculosis Programme: Develop, evaluate and champion
national TB/HIV integration models;
- National AIDS Commission: Translate best practices to policy
development and contribute to the technical working groups.
 Support the M&E team at the Lighthouse Trust clinic to provide M&E and
operational research services to the national HIV/AIDS programs.
 Organize and co-chair the MOH HIV and AIDS Department quarterly
operational research meeting focusing on the biomedical HIV response.
 Participate in the national supportive supervision visits to ARV clinics,
conducted quarterly by the Ministry of Health HIV and AIDS Department, and
provide mentoring on effective use of M&E systems and routinizing M&E
procedures.
Requirements:
 Doctoral degree in Medicine, or equivalent medical qualification.
 Minimum 10 years of experience in the provision of HIV related clinical care
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Post graduate training in Internal Medicine and/or Infectious Diseases
Additional training in public health or epidemiology
Experience in delivering clinical care in resource limited settings, preferably
in Africa
Experience in designing, implementing and publishing clinic based
operations research
Strong writing skills, including writing of reports, proposals and responses to
FOAs and grant opportunities
Demonstrated experience in mentoring
High degree of diplomacy, cultural competency and ability to function in a
team based environment
Professional and Managerial Competencies:
 Demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge and skills through training and
mentoring
 Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
 Excellent computer skills
 Strong interpersonal skills
Desired:
 MPH or MSc in addition to medical degree preferred
 Approximately 10% travel within Malawi
Conditions of Employment:
This position is based at the Lighthouse Trust clinic, in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Application Procedure:
For complete details and to apply, please visit the University of Washington Human
Resources website –
https://uwhires.admin.washington.edu/eng/candidates/default.cfm?szLocationID=88
Search for requisition #81221. This position closes 2/29/12.