Overseas Development and Education Committee

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ODEC mission statement

The Overseas Development and Education Committee (ODEC) oversees all aid, outside Australia and New Zealand, which involves ASA members or resources:

  • Educational overseas aid
  • Financial overseas aid
  • Material overseas aid
  • Skill based overseas aid

ODEC acts jointly and cooperatively with the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists (NZSA), the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) and other aid organisations.

Focus

The main focus of the ODEC is to support and promote anaesthesia training in the Pacific and recently South East Asia.

Over 75% of the substantial ODEC budget goes towards Pacific anaesthesia and this support has seen significant achievements.

ASA guidelines on humanitarian work

There are many opportunities for ASA, NZSA and ANZCA members and Fellows to work and teach overseas. Anaesthetists often ask for advice as to how to select and assess possible trips.

This document aims to provide Fellows and members with some broad principles to help with their deliberations.

Volunteer Recruitment

Global Anaesthesia Fellow – Ethiopia Anesthesia Development Program

3-6 month posts with flexible start dates from February 2024 onwards for a Global Anaesthesia Fellow to support the Ethiopia Anaesthesia Development Program.

The Ethiopian Anaesthesia Development Program (EADP) is a partnership between Addis Ababa University (AAU), the Canadian Anesthesiologists Society International Education Foundation (CASIEF) and Global Anaesthesia Development Partnerships (GADP).

EADP provides educational and clinical support to the anaesthesia training program at Addis Ababa University. This program has been expanding rapidly in recent years and currently numbers over 60 residents.

The Global Anaesthesia Fellow will help to strengthen and develop the existing training program. They will provide clinical and classroom teaching and help coordinate an international volunteer faculty and support the local departmental staff at Tikur Anbessa Specialist Hospital (Black Lion Hospital), Ethiopia’s largest public teaching hospital and tertiary referral centre in Addis Ababa. There will be a strong simulation and quality improvement component to the teaching. In addition, the post will involve providing educational support and collaboration (either in person and/or remotely) with anaesthesia programs in other centres in Ethiopia.

These posts have approval for out of program training from The Royal College of Anaesthetists. They are funded for appropriate travel, accommodation and living expenses. They are challenging and rewarding roles requiring sensitivity, commitment and creativity. There will be opportunities to focus on patient safety, SIM, QI, non-technical skills and leadership. There are senior fellow posts which would suit candidates who are post-FRCA (or who have completed at least four years anaesthesia training) and junior posts which would be open to those with at least two years of anaesthesia training. We welcome applications from anaesthesia trainees from all backgrounds and jurisdictions.

For more information or to express an interest please email EADP@casief.ca including a copy of your current CV.

ODEC ongoing annual contributions

Read about ‘The Value of Short Courses/Service Missions: A Fiji Perspective’ as presented at ASA’s NSC in Perth, October 2017 by Dr Victor Fesaitu, Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Hyperbaric Services, CWM Hospital, Fiji Islands

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