| Job description: Research Health Officer
Job Title: Research Health Officer Maternal and Child Health We are seeking to appoint a full time multi-skilled and experienced Health Officer for Maternal and Child Health research projects to be based in Harar and Kersa, Ethiopia. The role is to support development of clinical surveillance and medical research, particularly with respect to Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance and aligned projects. Haramaya University, Oromia, Ethiopia Haramaya University is one of the oldest Universities in Ethiopia, with its first intake in 1954. It is about 17km from the city of Harar, 40km from Dire Dawa (where there is a regional airport), and 510km East of Addis Ababa. The College of Health and Medical Sciences is based on a campus in Harar town to facilitate training of students in nearby hospitals. This campus also hosts the office of the two Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS). BACKGROUND Haramaya University has formed a research collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Current research projects are focused on maternal and child health. The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance network (CHAMPS, http://champshealth.org/) is a new global health surveillance network funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at understanding the causes of child death in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The core of the project is to develop laboratory, epidemiological and clinical surveillance for detection of infectious diseases in children who have died (through minimally invasive tissue sampling) and those with life-threatening illnesses. The Maternal Infection Study, an aligned research project, is investigating the contribution of infection to stillbirth and early neonatal death. The post-holder will be responsible for working with health care workers and research staff to support and facilitate all research activities within the Paediatric and Maternity department. The post-holder will also be expected to support and contribute to community based CHAMPS activities as required. Post: Job Description: Health Officer Location Kersa/ Water Responsible to: Line Manager/ Research lead Full Time/Part Time/Casual: Full time No. of posts 1 Duration of contract 1 year with likely extension Salary: 12,000 Birr per month Place of application: Haramaya University College of Health and Medical Sciences, CHAMPS Project Office Application Deadline: 10 (Ten) working days after the day of advertisement Principal Duties and Responsibilities |
| The post-holder will work as part of the team to support initiation of clinical surveillance and smooth running of clinical research activities, and will work under the guidance of the principle investigators and, where appropriate, delegated line manager.
They will be responsible for overseeing changes in clinical practice to support clinical care and surveillance (improving documentation and supporting clinical investigations). They will be responsible for recruitment of participants for CHAMPS and the maternal infection study, study sampling, ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory policies in the provision of medical care and execution of the research studies currently ongoing and those which are subsequently implemented. The post-holder will also be responsible for liaising with community health centers and planning and delivering community based health education sessions as part of the community engagement program. Responsibilities · Involvement in writing of study protocols and database creation · Day to day oversight of study activities, including recruitment of participants, staff allocation and planning · Participation in MITS process including performance of MITS for eligible cases · Coordination of family follow up after MITS together with the research team · Involvement in community liaison and sensitization, and working with the social science team · Liaison with community health centers. Planning and delivering of health education sessions as part of the community engagement program · Liaison with other medical and nursing staff where clinical surveillance and research on maternal and child health is being done. · Ensuring compliance with good clinical practice, research guidelines and regulations · Maintain study documentation, including storage of records · Participate in research meetings and presentations as required by the PIs · Attend other meetings / training / updates as required · Generate reports / documentation · Any other duties assigned by the line manager or PIs Qualifications / criteria Essential
Desirable |
Previous work experience in a health care facility within Haraghe
