As part of the Advancing Health Professionals (AHP) program, a Peace Corps Response Volunteer (PCRV) is needed to serve as a Family Practitioner Nurse Educator with Mother Patern College of Health Sciences in Liberia, working with students in the classroom and skills lab settings without the provision of direct medical care to patients or clinical supervision of students. The Mother Patern College of Health Sciences is an institution of higher learning which aims to train nurses who can meet the health care needs of their societies. MPCHS develops and implements tertiary education programs that are unique in Liberia and fulfill emergent needs in the health care arena. Faculty and staff have identified the strategic goal of providing advanced education for a mid-level practitioner. The severe shortage of locally trained physicians to assist in meeting the primary health care needs of the country requires innovative solutions to prepare a mid-level practitioner that is educationally prepared to fill the gaps in health care delivery. Well-educated Nurse Practitioners are qualified to diagnosis and treat complex health conditions of the body and mind and work autonomously or in collaboration with other healthcare professionals to deliver family-focused primary health care. Currently, there is a lack of available educators at MPCHS with the requisite knowledge to design the necessary curriculum to offer such a program.

As a Family Practitioner Nurse Educator, the PCRV will have a number of duties designed to help the Mother Patern College of Health Sciences achieve its goals. The main duty of the PCRV will be to design the curriculum for a master’s level Nurse Practitioner program. To accomplish this, benchmarking activities and needs assessment will be undertaken. The Volunteer will also participate in the development and review of other graduate level curricula. Secondarily, the PCRV will provide partial support the Masters in Nursing/Midwifery Education program through classroom teaching assignments. This position will not include involvement in or provision of any direct patient assessment, management, or care, the provision of any counseling services, or any supervision or conducting of clinical research. The goal of this assignment is to build local capacity of MPCHS to produce well-educated and qualified Nurse Practitioners.

Peace Corps Response established its “Advancing Health Professionals” program in 2019. Response Volunteers serving with the AHP program seek to improve health outcomes on a societal level through the provision of high-level, specialized service in the health sector. AHP projects include programming such as nursing education, health systems strengthening, service delivery improvement, and other non-clinical interventions which enhance the quality of healthcare.

Please note that departure dates and other details of this project could change because of the uncertainties as Peace Corps and local partners resume volunteer operations. Candidates selected for this position will be arriving in Liberia together as a group, so while the departure dates for the whole group could change, dates cannot be changed for individual candidates.

Mother Patern College of Health Sciences

• High tolerance for ambiguity and high level of flexibility – some details of this project could change because of the uncertainties as Peace Corps and local partners resume volunteer operations
• Nurse Practitioner, with at least a master’s degree in nursing and certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner
• 5 years’ experience working as a Nurse Practitioner
• Experience teaching at the university level
• Eligible for licensure