Health Area Pharmacist - Bekaa

Background:

S/he is a member of the field area team which includes the field medical advisor, the area pharmacist, the senior health officer, the health officers, the quality officers, and the program assistants per area. 

Health program provides both technical and financial support to local primary health care centers to enable provision of affordable, accessible, and quality healthcare services to refugee and vulnerable host population.

Job Purpose:

Manages/coordinates procurement of medication, medical commodities, equipment at supported PHCCs. Monitors the storage and dispensing of medication, and provides relevant reports. Provides needed capacity building to the pharmacy unit at PHCCs.

Main Responsibilities:

1. Managing medication and medical supplies requests, consumption and donations for all IMC supported PHC Centers and dispensaries. S/he is required to:

1. Conduct full needs assessments of medication at the supported centers. S/he leads the needs assessment of medical supplies and equipment as well and takes input from the health officers and field medical advisors. The assessments should be conducted in close coordination with the area manager and the pharmacy advisor and should be aligned with national guidelines and/or WHO guidelines. 
2. Prepare Goods Issue Orders for medication, medical supplies and equipment.

   Provide support to the clinic staff during the receipt of IMC medication at the warehouse and/or centers. The area pharmacist is asked to attend the receipt of IMC medication, s/he will support the clinic staff in counting and documenting the received quantities and will report back to the pharmacy advisor.

3.  

2. Ensuring that the donated medication stock is properly managed:

    

1. The area pharmacist ensures that medication and medical supplies are being stored in adequate conditions.
2. The area pharmacist needs to run a monthly inventory of IMC medication. 
3. The area pharmacist needs to check the stock status of all provided items at the centers at the end of each month.
4. Ensuring that the donated medications are properly prescribed. The area pharmacist reviews medical prescriptions for safety and appropriateness. S/he analyzes the prescribing patterns and ensures in collaboration with the IMC’s Field medical advisor that rational prescribing practices are applied at the centers.

Observing and assessing the dispensing of medication. The area pharmacist is asked to spend a time at the pharmacy to observe the process of medication dispensing and ensure correct and safe dispensing of medication by the medical staff at the center. S/he is not responsible for dispensing medication directly to beneficiaries. During all reviews, the area pharmacist should resort to national guidelines and/or WHO guidelines. 

1. Building the capacity of the medical staff at the supported centers. The area pharmacist is expected to routinely prepare and conduct trainings on topics related to the management of medication and medical supplies. Examples of topics are proper storage of medication, medication reconciliation, etc. 
2. Assessing the compliance to a set of quality standards related to pharmacy management and preparing a quality improvement plan accordingly
3. Meet with the medical staff at the supported center and put in action an improvement plan in coordination with the health officer.
4. Conduct patient file monitoring by matching data from the centers’ reports with data found in the physical patient files at the supported centers.
5. Any other relevant activities needed from the Health department should be done on time

Reporting: Stock consumption, Patient demographics, Qualitative report dealing with monthly updates

Desirable Qualifications: Doctor of Pharmacy is a plus, Master’s in Public Health is a plus

Desirable Experience: NGO experience, Experience in Primary Health care

Essential Competencies: Excellent communication skills, Able to work within a team, Strong commitment to work, Able to work under stress, Strong commitment to the organization and its values

Desirable Competencies: Able to take initiative within a defined framework, Flexible and creative, Microsoft office skills  

General specifications for all positions:

• Experience in working closely with community members throughout a program cycle

• Experience in or understanding of program accountability principles
• Knowledge of, respect and empathy for the communities we are working with
• Commitment to championing community and partner points of view
• Strong understanding of the project cycle and of M&E systems
• Good interpersonal and influencing skills
• Non-discriminatory and readiness to involve men, women, girls and boys from diverse backgrounds, particularly the most marginalized segments of the community
• Very good listening and facilitation skills – capable of managing and facilitating group discussions with program participants, local officials, partners and all levels of staff
• Ability to mobilize people – to develop and maintain relationships with staff and communities to ensure their participation in International Medical Corps ways of working