Thuy Receives Offer to Join Partners in Health in Fighting Ebola in W. Africa

Written: Monday, December 1, 2014

Thuy recently completed two rounds of phone interviews with Partners in Health as part of her application to become a member of the PIH team of doctors that will travel to West Africa to assist those afflicted with Ebola.

If you're reading this, then you can probably guess the outcome.

Based on what I'm going to share with you below, chances are that Thuy will be going. My fate, however, is still TBD.

Here's a recap of Thuy's interview process with PIH. The names of the PIH staff have been abbreviated to protect identities.

First interview: Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Thuy had her first phone interview with SF, a member of the PIH team. The interview lasted twenty minutes, and it was just with SF. During this interview, Thuy was asked questions that primarily focused on her experience working in resource poor countries, her ability to cope with trauma and stress, and her reasons for wanting to join PIH in curing people with Ebola.

If you'll remember, between October 2013 and May 2014, Thuy lived in SE Asia and did all sorts of medial work in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines. I actually urged Thuy to review the post I wrote about all of her work that I linked in the sentence before this one so that she wouldn't forget to bring them up during the interview!

Sure enough, Thuy has the ideal set of experiences and demeanor PIH is looking for, as was indicated by the invitation Thuy received to participate in the second round of interviews.

Second Interview: Sunday, November 23, 2014

Thuy had her second phone interview with KM, a former PIH nurse manager and current PIH recruiter. This interview lasted around thirty minutes, and it was just between KM and Thuy. The questions KM asked Thuy were more scenario-based questions; PIH wanted to assess Thuy's ability to follow protocol in a variety of medical situations.

Thuy aced the crap out of that interview. Seriously folks, Thuy has this stuff on lock.

KM ended the call by saying that she thought Thuy was going to receive an offer by PIH to join the team. Thuy would have to wait a few more days for an official offer over the phone.

Offer: Sunday, November 30, 2014

It was around mid-morning, and Thuy and I were in the living room/kitchen area of our townhouse. It was a rather laid-back Sunday. We were leisurely minding our own tasks. Thuy was in her pajamas and purple bathrobe, painting her toenails. I had just taken a call with a fellow Krav Maga classmate who was giving me an update on the upcoming instructors training course in New York.

Thuy's phone rang. She sat upright to see who was calling and then promptly accepted the call. Stepping gingerly so as not to smear the wet nail polish on her toes, she crossed the small living room and went upstairs to talk in private.

A few minutes later, Thuy came downstairs. I had just finished my call and was about to ask her if everything was OK. I could see by the look on her face that she had some good news.

Indeed, a woman by the name of CM from PIH had called her with an official offer to join their team.

The offer includes the below compensation, training, and logistics. (Read the complete three-page fact sheet Thuy received.)

• 6 weeks total comprising 1 week of US based training and orientation provided by the CDC and Partners In Health, 1 week of training and observed use of PPE in West Africa and 4 weeks of Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) clinical care provision.
• Doctors will be paid $2200 per week.
• PIH will compensate you for the period of your quarantine if you provide a letter documenting this requirement by your employer.
• Flights and accommodation will be provided for Ebola Response Clinicians to all required training and orientation as well as to West Africa.

Thuy is tall enough to join PIH
source: katharineandryan.blogspot.com

Funny story. CM asked Thuy if she was aware of the new participation requirements PIH recently published. The most relevant requirement that made Thuy's heart skip a beat was that all new participants had to meet the minimum height and weight requirements in order to safely us their personal protection equipment (i.e. Ebola suits).

The minimum height requirement is 5'. Thuy is 5'2". She made it by just two inches!

In my mind I had the image of a wooden cutout of a funny looking man with his hand extended and a voice bubble coming from its mouth, and inside that bubble were the words "You have to be at least this tall in order to ride this ride" spray painted in comic sans font.

CM responded that Thuy would be OK to participate with her current height and weight.

Once the offer was made, Thuy then brought up the idea of me coming along to help out in non-medical capacities. CM expressed interest in my background and informed Thuy that PIC was indeed looking for people with business-like skills. However, she also said that PIH usually wants those people for more long-term projects, at least much longer than the six weeks Thuy will be participating in the trip.

That said, CM told Thuy to have me send her my resume. I'll be doing that shortly after finishing drafting this blog post.