Surgeons

GRC’s surgeons are typically deployed as part of a clinical Emergency Response Unit (ERU) team. A clinical ERU provides primary and/or secondary healthcare to disaster or crisis affected communities together with sister National Societies overseas. An ERU is a standardised package of trained personnel plus modules of equipment ready to be deployed at short notice by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Apart from the support to an ERU, surgeons may in certain circumstances also deploy in response to an alert from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

As surgeon you will most likely work in an emergency hospital (WHO EMT type 2) with one or two surgical units. Please find a 360-degree view of an ERU hospital here. Our German-language page provides you with additional information about the mobile hospital. When deploying with German Red Cross, you will collaborate with partners, delegates, national staff and volunteers, local health authorities and affected communities as part of a team which is led by the Senior Medical Officer. You will undertake medical duties in accordance with professional standards of practice to ensure high quality, safe patient care.   

Working together with international and national health personnel is key. Your work will therefore likely include the supervision, mentoring and training of colleagues. Some of your duties as surgeon may be similar to those in a regular hospital setting, while others will differ. Your field of activity may, among other, include trauma care, the care of war wounds and wound infections, appendectomy, laparotomy, minor surgeries, embolectomy, amputations, external fixators and emergency caesarean sections. Please note that the technical equipment at your disposal as well as the set-up of the medical facilities may significantly differ from what you are accustomed to in your home country, even though they comply with international WHO standards.

Pool oped: 15 September 2023 

Pool closed: 15 June 2024 at 11:00 am Berlin / Geneva time

Applications from German Red Cross volunteers and staff members who meet the criteria are particularly welcome. All applicants will be notified whether they have been short-listed.

To apply, please complete the following steps:

Step 1: Create a GRCReady account if you do not have one already.

Step 2: Log into your account between 15 September and 15 June 2024 and click on "Recruitment". Then select "Surgeon". Follow the application instructions.

​If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact surge(at)drk(dot)de

Your profile

Does the following profile sound like you? If yes, we encourage you to apply and look forward to guiding you through the admission process.

• You are available for a deployment for a minimum duration of six weeks up to three months in the coming two years.
• You have completed your professional qualification in surgery. Additional post-graduate work experience in gynaecological and paediatric surgery is desirable.
• You have practised as a surgeon within the last two years.
• You are willing to face the challenge of providing surgical services in low-resource and emergency settings.
• You have experience in the training and/or mentoring of health personnel.
• You can work autonomously but collaborate well within a multidisciplinary team.
• You enjoy working with people from diverse cultures and can communicate with them in an effective, respectful, and courteous manner.

• You like optimising clinical processes and are open to improvising when necessary.

• Your English level is C1 or higher. Further languages are an asset.
• You preferably have previous work experience overseas in a low-resource setting e.g. assignments, internships, and volunteer work.
• You have preferably worked within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement before.

You can read the full generic job profile here.

During the application process, you will be asked to answer the following question: Please provide an example from your recent work experience where you needed to respond to a critical patient incident. What was the context? How did you manage the incident and what was the outcome?

If you prefer to prepare your answer in advance (max. 1.500 characters), you can copy and paste it into the GRCReady application field.

Successful applicants are invited to apply to participate in the “ERU Basic Training Health” which will take place in Berlin from 30 May to 7 June 2024.

Please note that this is an application process to join our humanitarian surge roster, not for a specific surgical position at GRC. Please also note that we cannot guarantee a deployment. The deployment of surgeons is not particularly common. However, on occasion, this does happen following natural disasters and crises.

Surge deployments usually do not last longer than three months. If you are looking for longer-term employment opportunities with GRC, please check our careers page.

For more information on our roster, GRCReady, please click here.