- Research & Development
- Denmark - Gentofte
Call for Applications for a two year post doc position at Steno Diabetes Center – Clinical Impact of Post Graduate Medical Training in Diabetes Care
Background
According to the International Diabetes Federation, almost 138 million people living in the Western Pacific Region have diabetes. Without action, the regional prevalence of diabetes is expected to rise to 202 million by 2035 (a 68% increase). However, there are an insufficient number of well-trained diabetes medical practitioners to handle the rapidly increasing number of diabetes patients. This has resulted in a treatment gap that requires local health care professional to be better equipped to provide patient-centered diabetes services at the primary care level.
Through a grant from The Novo Nordisk Foundation the education department at Steno Diabetes Center has established an innovative educational programme targeting health care professionals in low and middle income countries(Steno REACH) aimed at improving the capacity of health systems to deliver high quality, patient-centered diabetes services.
This is accomplished in two ways:
1.Steno has established a Regional Education Center in Kuala Lumpur to deliver leading diabetes education programmes to health care professionals in collaboration with the Malaysian Ministry of Health.
2.Steno has developed an interactive eLearning Platform that enables the widespread delivery of online courses in diabetes management to health care professionals in a flexible manner. Steno Education is now looking for a post-doctoral researcher with competencies in mixed methods research to document and evaluate the impact of the Steno REACH programme.
Research Goal
Steno REACH is designed to target non-specialist doctors and nurses working in primary care clinics and aims to improve diabetes care competencies among participating health care professionals. As a result, the ultimate aim is to improve the quality of care and treatment of complications provided to diabetes patients in participating clinics. In addition, individuals who participate in Steno REACH may also influence their colleagues to make changes to their own clinical practices. By applying learnings from Steno REACH, doctors and nurses may also be able to influence how their clinic manages diabetes patients. Therefore, participation in Steno REACH educational programmes is hypothesized to have a range of effects at both individual and clinic levels.
There is little research on how improved diabetes related knowledge and skills translates into improved clinical care at the individual and facility levels. This post-doctoral study aims to evaluate the process of translating improved knowledge and skills into clinical practice and to identify links between changes in diabetes knowledge, attitudes and skills and changes in individual and clinic level diabetes care practices.
Research Objectives 1.To evaluate changes in clinical practice at the individual level and potentially clinic levels among participants in the REACH educational programme.
2.To assess changes in the care provided to people with diabetes from the participants in the Steno-REACH education intervention.
Methodology
An analytical study, during which, the diabetes clinical practice of a select number of participants and clinics will be assessed before, during and after participation in a Steno REACH educational programme using a mixed method approach. While not a randomized control trial, control clinics that do not participate in the educational intervention will also be assessed to isolate individual and clinic level changes that may be attributable to the REACH educational intervention.
The researcher is expected to spend approximately 12-18 months in Malaysia.
Requirements
The successful candidate will have:
Preferably a medical degree (MD)
Clinical experience in diabetes management
Proven solid scientific competencies within qualitative and quantitative study methods (Ph.D or equivalent)
Proven experience and interest in scientific exploration in at least one of the following subject fields:
Diabetes Care
Medical Education
Medical Anthropology
Willingness to work in a team and individually and a strong ambition to accomplish the research goals
Ability to work with and in different cultural settings
Creative personality
Excellent communication skills
Good command of English in speaking and writing. Candidates from non-Anglophone countries may be required to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language (TOEFL or British Council, IELTS);
Good collaborative skills and experience with project management
Full time availability from 01.01.2016 for a period of two years
Responsibilities
The researcher will be expected to finalize a full research proposal and data collection tools in collaboration with Copenhagen and Malaysian based researchers. Primary data collection is estimated to take 12-18 months in Malaysia, and will be followed by a 6-12 months period of data analysis and presentation of findings.
The researcher will be offered a two year position, which is expected to result in the publication of findings in peer reviewed journals. An evaluation discussion will take place every six months. The selected candidate will be employed by Steno Diabetes Center and collaborate with the University of Copenhagen, Institute of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.
Financial Matters
The candidate will be provided with an annual salary determined by wage agreements in the countries of employment (Denmark and Malaysia), and reflecting the candidates qualifications. Approved travel costs, and costs for fieldwork will be fully funded.
Contact and Application
Please provide the following information in your application in addition to any other information you may want to provide:
1.Name
2.Highest educational qualification attained
3.Year of attainment of highest educational qualification
4.Awarding institution
5.Age
6.Birth date
7.Nationality
8.Current position and employer (if any)
9.Current residence
10.Languages spoken
11.Research experience
12.List of peer reviewed publications
13.List of other publications
14.Academic degrees
15.Awarding institution(s) of academic degrees
More information on the project can be obtained from Michael Calopietro by calling +45 3079 0263.
The deadline for application is November 15th 2015. The interviews will start late November.
