Call for Applications: Neurologist

Position Overview

King Faisal Hospital Rwanda (KFH) is seeking a full-time Neurologist to join the team in Kigali, Rwanda. The neurologist will engage in specialised clinical care, education, and research as the hospital builds its neurology service and training.  The successful candidate will work closely with our existing neurologists, our nursing and ward staff as well as with clinicians of our other departments.

Departmental Overview

The Neurology Department at the KFH currently comprises one consultant full-time, with electrophysiology services provided by a senior consultant two days a week. The team further consists of six neurology nurses with expertise in electrophysiology, one secretary, and one research assistant. The Neurology Department also provides ward consultation services for in-patients with neurological disorders. It is planned to make this service more responsive by providing daily input during the week. This will allow a timely assessment of patients with acute neurological disorders.

In addition, the Neurology Department at KFH is at the core of the Rwandan neurology residency programme, established in 2022 by the University of Rwanda and Ghent University (Ghent, Rwanda). The Rwanda National Neurology curriculum, now in its second year, has retained so far 11 residents, and these residents receive their academic training by 5 local lecturers and an international faculty from Europe, visiting at regular intervals, under the leadership of Prof dr Paul Boon. The KFH neurology team has access to a curriculum manager, trained at Ghent University Hospital (Ghent, Belgium). Moreover, neurologists of the Neurology Department of Ghent University Hospital as well as of the University Hospitals of the KULeuven (Leuven, Belgium) rotate for periods of ten weeks to support subspecialty services at the Neurology Department. Synergies are also created with other post-graduate and fellowship capacity building programmes at the KFH, such as neuroradiology, neonatal neurology, neuropsychology and clinical research.

Contract Duration: Two-years with the possibility of renewal

Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Reports to: Head of Department

Roles and Responsibilities

• Strengthen and extend the services of the Neurology Department at KFH
• Provide advice and day-to-day management of medical in-patients with neurological diseases.
• Maintain the highest clinical standards in the management of all in-patients under the care of the Neurology team.
• Teach and train neurology residents, nursing staff as well as medical students.
• Act as (co-)investigator for participation in studies
• Write project proposals and grant applications to further develop innovative clinical activities and (basic and applied) scientific research in neurology or desired subdiscipline.
• Participate actively in both departmental and KFH matters concerning Clinical Governance and audits.
• Take responsibility for ensuring staff and residents actively participate in Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Skills and Qualifications

Qualifications

• Master in Neurology with full country-of-training Medical Council registration with a licence to practise required
• PhD in a relevant field preferred
• Entry on the country-of-training Medical Council specialist register in Neurology or be eligible for entry (within six-months of attaining Certificate of Completion of Training) at the time of interview and hold a licence to practice medicine preferred

Practical and Intellectual Skills

• Strong clinical and personal credibility, excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Flexible in approach and able to adapt

Experience

• 3-year experience of neurologist at the hospital required
• Ability to take full and independent responsibility for clinical care of patients
• Experience in management of Neurology in-patient and out-patient medicine
• Ability to offer expert clinical opinion on a full spectrum of Neurology patients
• To have training and experience in appraisal systems preferred

Knowledge and Skills

• Ability to organise and manage a neurology service
• Ability to manage and lead members of the multidisciplinary team
• Experience of audit management
• All applicants to have demonstrable skills in written and spoken English that are adequate to enable effective communication about medical topics with patients and colleagues
• Supervision of neurology training programmes

Teaching and Training

• Ability to teach clinical skills
• Experience of workplace-based assessment
• Experience in developing and delivering undergraduate and postgraduate teaching
• Ability to supervise postgraduate research
• Willingness to co-develop the neurology training programme at the King Faisal Hospital.

Management and Audit Training

• Ability to organise and manage day to day service delivery, g., out-patient priorities
• Ability to manage and lead strategic developments in service delivery
• Experience of audit management

Research and Publications

• Ability to apply research outcomes to clinical problems
• Publications in peer reviewed journals
• Ability to supervise research projects

Clinical Governance

• To have a broad understanding of all elements of, and a commitment to the principles of Clinical Governance