VOLUNTEER NUTRITIONIST
Hours:
40 hours over 5 days
Reporting to:
CEO, International Support Groups, Chief Medical Officer, Tala Park APO
Accountable to:
CEO and Support Groups, Chief Medical Officer
Summary:
Calcutta Rescue (CR) is a busy NGO operating three clinics, two street medicine ambulances, two schools, and a vocational training programme focused on handicrafts production. It serves the poorest populations spread across Kolkata, subsidized entirely through charitable donations. CR provides nutritional benefits to a large number of its patients, many of whom would otherwise not receive important staples or nutrients. Recently, a survey of children in one of CR’s street medicine slum areas demonstrated a 63% rate of stunting, and up to 27% rate of malnutrition in children <12 years. CR is therefore urgently developing an exciting new nutritional support programme aimed at alleviating malnutrition and preventing stunting, where possible. CR is looking for a volunteer nutritionist, ideally with paediatric experience, to support local staff in developing this exciting new programme.
Responsibilities:
Medical Programmes: CR has full-time local staff, but does not currently employ a nutritionist. Any nutritional input is received from a local NGO’s nutritionist on a consultatory basis. Nutritional benefits are split between standard benefits, delivered to patients who do not require specific additional nutrition other than to alleviate food scarcity, and special benefits, which are structured to deliver a higher calorie content and specific nutrients that may be deficient or required in greater concentration in some disease processes, e.g. HIV or TB.
The volunteer nutritionist would be expected to review the calorie content of the standard and special benefits packages, and identifying any ways of improving their contents. This would require getting to know local produce, as well as having a good understanding of where this is sourced, and at what prices.
In addition, the volunteer nutritionist would be expected to review the calorie or nutritional needs of specific patient groups to optimise their nutritional intake. This would involve reviewing international and local guidelines, drafting CR specific guidelines, which would then be presented for consensus approval at the Medical Audit Committee meeting and Doctors’ Meeting once a month.
Guidelines which require specific specialist input include: Supplementary feeding guideline (MCH programme); HIV nutrition guideline (currently not in existence); malnutrition guideline (currently not in existence); and prevention and/or reversal of stunting nutrition guideline (currently not in existence).
Schools: CR also provides supplementary feeding through daily meals at its two schools. Many of the children attending the schools are within a catchment area of poor slums with variable access to food. The volunteer nutritionist would be expected to review the menus currently in use, and identifying ways of improving the uptake of supplementary feeding. Currently, many children complain that they are not fond of their supplementary meals; part of the volunteer’s work would therefore involve surveying the children to identify what food stuffs are more or less liked, and which could be added to improve the variety of the menus. The volunteer would be required to discuss this with kitchen staff. Finally, the volunteer nutritionist would be expected to provide an assessment of what structural changes (e.g. kitchen infrastructure and staff, variety of foodstuffs) are needed, as well as a tentative budget to enact these changes, to improve the supplementary feeding programme over the long-term.
Teaching and Training: As a busy NGO, CR is always striving to improve the training of its staff. The volunteer must be a passionate teacher who will contribute to a successful teaching and training programme focused on a range of skills.
Curricula will be devised in conjunction with the chief medical officer and visiting volunteers from different clinical backgrounds, to provide a holistic and interactive weekly training schedule.
Essential Qualities:
- Good organisational skills
- An ability to handle a heavy and varied workload
- Good interpersonal and communication skills in English
- An ability to manage people
- An ability to write clearly and concisely in English
- Computer literate (Word for Windows, Excel and Power Point)
- A diploma in Nutrition & dietetics
- Minimum 1 year post-graduate experience in Paediatrics, Internal Medicine or General Practice
Desirable Qualities:
- Previous experience in working in a developing country.
- Knowledge of/ interest in development issues
- DTM&H or equivalent
Personal Qualities:
- Flexibility, diplomacy and a sense of humour