Clinical Associate

**JOB SUMMARY**
- The incumbent, reporting to the Provincial Medical Manager and working closely alongside other clinicians as a member of the Mentoring and Supervision Roving Team (MSRT), will be expected to provide comprehensive clinical management of clients, under supervision, at AHF-supported clinics within the allocated district/subdistrict in the province. He/she will support the delivery of integrated, high quality clinical services related to HAST, in terms of diagnosis, treatment and care of adult and paediatric clients. The incumbent will also assist the roving team in ensuring good clinical governance and in the implementation of quality improvement projects and programmes to support global health strategies in HAST.

**ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES/KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS**

**Clinical responsibilities include**:

- Providing comprehensive clinical services to clients in AHF-supported clinics within the province, which may include, _inter alia_:

- Obtaining a patient's history and performing a physical examination of the patient in accordance with the clinical associate's level of education, training and experience;
- Ordering or performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for common conditions and in accordance with the clinical associate's level of education, training and experience, including analyzing and evaluating diagnostic tests that promote good clinical outcomes in accordance with standard guidelines;
- Interpreting clinical and laboratory findings and formulating a diagnosis for common and emergency conditions in accordance with clinical associate's level of education, training and experience;
- Developing, implementing and monitoring a comprehensive management plan for common and important conditions among PLHIV, including diagnosing and managing opportunistic infections;
- Prescribing medicines for common and important conditions according to the PHC Essential Drug List (EDL) and up to schedule IV;
- Within the clinical associate’s level of education, training and experience, management of advanced clinical disease and AHD according to relevant and latest clinical guidelines, including recognizing ART treatment failure and managing or referring such cases as deemed necessary;
- Supporting HIV, TB and STI case finding, including index case identification, TB case identification, STI and cervical cancer screening including pap smears;
- Ensuring effective patient monitoring and retention, including CD4 coverage, TPT uptake, AHD management (within level of expertise), VL coverage and suppression, tracking tools, etc.;
- Support nurses and medical officers in monitoring and managing viral load suppression, TB outcomes and provide care to complicated cases within the allocated sites;
- Detection and management and appropriate referrals (where applicable) for cases with co-morbidities, including NCDs, cervical cancer and opportunistic infections;
- Management of maternal (PMCTC, EMTCT), paediatric and adolescent clients;
- Performing any act delegated to him or her by a supervising medical practitioner in accordance with the education, training and experience of the clinical associate;
**Key Performance Areas**:

- In accordance with clinical associate's level of education, training and experience:

- Maintain the delivery of high-quality clinical care and efficiency of clinical services provided within the programme;
- Provision of promotive, preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic services as per Primary Health Care package of services, Adult Primary Care (APC) and Advanced Clinical Care (ACC), taking into consideration the burden of disease of the community being served by the supported site;
- Use of clinical algorithms as per latest HAST Guidelines, STGs/EDL, APC and ACC Clinical Guidelines for the management of chronic communicable diseases such as HIV, AIDS, associated opportunistic infections, TB, STIs, minor ailments and other communicable disease;
- Use of clinical algorithms as per the latest STGs/EDL, APC Clinical Guidelines and advanced level care for the management of identified non-communicable diseases within the appropriate level of care offered at the AHF-supported sites;
- Provision of rehabilitative services, facilitated by adherence to referral protocols to all relevant points of service delivery, including community-based rehabilitation services, CHC, district hospital and levels above;
- Ensure compliance with the Essential Medicine List (EML) and relevant formulary, within the clinical associate's scope of practice, level of education, training and experience;
- Respond to emergencies and ensure adequate management and referral of such patients, within the clinical associate's level of education, training and experience;
- Participates in and complies with Clinical Governance activities and initiatives, Quality Improvement Projects and programmes (incl. Optimum Retention Initiative [ORI] and Food for Health), meetings to discuss relevant matters, includ