About us

Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - bound together by our charter. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organization.

Context

Access to safe surgery and anesthesia in low resource settings remains a significant global health challenge. The greatest need is found among rural and marginalized populations living in low- and middle-income countries where surgery patients are often at higher risk of complications because of underlying, unrecognized medical conditions.

MSF has more than 50 years’ experience of providing surgical care in settings of civil conflict and war, natural disasters, and other humanitarian crises.

Core activities within MSF surgical programs primarily focus on delivering lifesaving and essential surgeries, encompassing trauma, general, orthopedic, and obstetric procedures. These surgical interventions are typically conducted in district-level hospitals, with differing degrees of collaboration with local health authorities, although MSF-managed facilities are also prevalent. Perioperative anesthetic care is an essential component of these services.

A key aspect of MSF's operations involves capacity building in essential surgery and anesthesia care, with a significant emphasis on engaging local healthcare providers.

Responsibilities of MSF Burn/Plastic/Hand surgeon:

• Collecting clinical data and make use of management tools to share information with medical staff
• Guide and training locally hired staff such as doctors and nurses
• Assessing surgical risks through preoperative examinations; manage postoperative care and make postoperative rounds
• Submitting activity reports and manage data including patient files, forms, statistics, databases
• Manage and ordering pharmaceutical supplies and surgical equipment required for medical treatment

See below for more details on MSF Burn/Plastic/Hand surgeon

Requirements

Diploma

• reconstructive plastic surgery or orthopedic surgery with expertise in burn and / or hand surgery
• specialist in the repair and restoration of injured, damaged, dysfunctional portions of the body
• current matriculation to medical council

Experience

• 2 years of experience following internship.
• Strong surgical skills in reconstructive surgery
• Expertise in burn treatments and microsurgery.
• For some of our interventions, proven experience in pediatric surgery

Availability

• 2- 3 weeks minimum

Language

• English and French is required

Skills

• strong interest in coaching, training and transfering skills
• able to work in multicultural and multidisciplinary teams

Terms of employment

• Monthly salary is non-negotiable (EURO 1748)
• All logistics are organized by MSF, including flight tickets, visa administration and shared accommodation (including food & housekeeping).
• Initial preparation before your first assignment.
• Security management is handled by an experienced manager in each project location. Each MSF employee must comply with the security rules in place.
• Detailed briefings.
• Psychosocial assistance.
• Coverage, such as medical care and vaccination package, accident insurance, including repatriation.

*More details on MSF Burn/Plastic/Hand surgeon*

The surgeon is responsible for surgical procedures and postoperative surgical care, in accordance with MSF protocols.

They work closely with all the staff in the OT and interact with doctors and nurses in emergency, intensive care, surgery and possibly other medical services. They provide supervision and ensure the ongoing training of the surgical team. They report to the medical referent, the hospital director or the project coordinator according to the organization of the program.

The humanitarian surgery practiced by MSF on the ground for more than 40 years exists in the majority of the cases in contexts of war. It has constantly evolved, developing solutions that are better adapted to the realities of the field and incorporating ever more demanding standards of medical practice.

In 2021, 40,820 interventions were performed on 17,888 patients. 2021 is a record year in terms of interventions, exceeding 2019, which also passed the 40,000 procedures. MSF Surgical activities take place in 14 countries with 1 to 5 surgical projects per country.

There are 119 departures in 2021, including 37 first assignments (FA) (compared to 82 departures in 2020, including 22 FA). The international surgeons come from 29 countries, representing the 5 continents.The detailed statistics by specialty are as follows: 49 departures of general surgeons (including 8 FA), 28 orthopedic surgeons (including 12 FA), 1 vascular surgeon, 8 plastic surgeons (including 1 FA), 9 pediatric surgeons (including 3 FA), and 24 obgyns (including 4 specializing in oncology and 13 FAs among all gynecologists).

Burn and plastic surgery of the hand are done in Haiti, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories.

Médecins Sans Frontières began treating burn victims in 2007 in collaboration with a team of specialists from the Edouard Herriot burnt center in Lyon.

The burns represent 30% of our surgical activity. Improving our multidisciplinary management of burnt patients remains a priority for MSF.