How does it work?
They are the backbone of the Virtual Doctors and we are always keen to invite new volunteer doctors to join our team, especially if you have experience of working in Sub-Saharan Africa or similar low-resource settings. We are looking to expand our team and are looking for GPs and hospital-based specialists.
You need to have:
• Active GMC or HCPZ registration
• CCT* (for UK doctors)
• An internet connection!
*If you do not yet have CCT, we may be able to accept you on a case by case basis: for example, if you have DTM&H and are a senior registrar, approaching CCT, so please get in touch!
Currently we particularly need the following specialities
Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Oncology
ENT
Gastroenterology
Vascular Surgery
Maxillofacial
Plastic and Burns Surgery
Cardiology
Renal
General and Paediatric Surgery
Urology and Genitourinary Medicine
Diabetes/Endocrine
Haematology
Geriatric Medicine
Neurology
Psychiatry
Palliative Medicine
Ophtalmology
Radiology
Rheumatology
Orthopaedics and trauma
Respiratory and Emergency Medicine
What About Indemnity?
We have a Memorandum of Understanding from the Zambian Government, indemnifying volunteers against the very unlikely event of a Zambian resident pursuing a complaint or litigation against a volunteer.
The charity also has medical malpractice cover in place for all volunteers providing individual cover up to the value of £1 million.
If you are interested in joining our team, or have further questions, we would love to hear from you. Email the signup team to register your interest.
If you are already a volunteer doctor and have a question email the medical team.
Comments from Our Volunteers:
“I think the thing I found most interesting and challenging is the reliance on clinical symptoms and signs rather than tests, which we over-rely on in the UK. It makes you think harder to try and advise how to give the best care possible.”
“I wanted to contribute to global healthcare and improve health outcomes in a sustainable and effective way- being able to log on and do this from home is really amazing!”
“For me, Virtual Doctors is very rewarding, as it allows me to do something sustainable alongside my work in the UK. It also gives me the chance to learn more about managing conditions such as malaria which is really interesting!”
If a Clinical Officer in Zambia (or Malawi) sees a patient and needs further advice, they can upload case details on their smartphone via an App.
The case is then allocated to a volunteer, who will receive an email notification of the case.
The volunteer logs on to the Virtual Doctor website where they can view the case and associated documentation.
Each case needs a response within 24 hours. There is an option to set yourself as unavailable if you are out of the country or otherwise unable to answer cases.
Cases can be reassigned if they fall outside of the volunteer’s medical knowledge or specialty.
A case will typically take about 20 minutes each to complete and on average volunteers should expect to get 2-3 cases a week, however this may vary depending on your speciality and if other users are away.
CPD documentation can be provided by the medical team for annual NHS appraisals: we estimate 0.25 points per case.
Where our Volunteer Doctors are located across the UK
Hear from our Volunteer Doctors