POCUS FASH (Focused Assessment with Sonography in HIV) - Volunteer Medical Specialist

Department: Telemedicine Program – Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
Medical Specialty: POCUS FASH (Focused Assessment with Sonography in HIV)
Position Status: Volunteer
Location: Remote Only
Time Commitment: up to 3 hours per week

Position Overview

As a POCUS FASH Volunteer Medical Specialist within MSF’s Telemedicine Program, you will provide high level remote clinical consultation and expert guidance to MSF medical teams involved in the diagnosis and management of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) among HIV positive patient populations. As a POCUS FASH specialist, you will review and interpret FASH specific sonographic findings and respond to all presumptive TB/EPTB cases assigned to you through our secure Telemedicine Platform. Your expertise will support frontline clinicians in navigating the complexities of TB/HIV co infection management. This support is delivered asynchronously (i.e., not in real time), thereby ensuring maximum flexibility for volunteer specialists.

Why This Role Matters

Despite increased access to diagnostic tests and curative and preventive therapies, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the leading infectious causes of morbidity and mortality globally. The risk of TB disease and unfavorable outcomes increases in patients with comorbidities like HIV and malnutrition. In high-burden and resource-limited settings where MSF operates, the diagnosis of TB disease—particularly extrapulmonary TB (EPTB)—remains a significant challenge due to non-specific clinical signs, limited laboratory capacity, and a lack of advanced imaging. Within this context, the Focused Assessment with Sonography for HIV-associated Tuberculosis (FASH) protocol plays a critical role in identifying sonographic markers suggestive of EPTB in HIV-positive populations. Due to very limited diagnostic tools field clinicians sometimes also perform the FASH views on HIV negative patients and the expert therefore would also be required to provide insight into differential diagnoses for these often-complex cases. POCUS is portable, rapidly deployed, and feasible in low-resource settings; however, accurate interpretation and integration of FASH findings requires specialized expertise often limited in the field.

By volunteering, you provide essential expert review and guidance to clinicians managing presumptive TB/EPTB cases. This support strengthens the diagnostic pathway, enhances clinical decision-making, and improves the likelihood of early, appropriate treatment initiation and the overall quality of care in high-burden, resource-constrained environments.

About the Telemedicine Program

The MSF Telemedicine Program helps remove geographic barriers to healthcare by providing secure digital solutions for MSF’s medical teams worldwide. These tools enable clinical collaboration, improve access to specialized expertise, and support more equitable, high-quality patient care.

Led by MSF Canada since 2009, the Telemedicine Program includes a global network of more than 200 volunteer specialists including physicians, surgeons, nurses, psychologists, nutritionists, midwives, physiotherapists, and more who provide timely, case-based support to MSF’s frontline teams.

We welcome applications from clinicians with expertise in Adult and Paediatric POCUS FASH to join our global network of Volunteer Medical Specialists. Please note that applications are reviewed and selected based on the needs of our medical teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Review patient cases assigned to you on the Telemedicine Platform and provide timely medical or clinical advice (within 24 hours).

• Review and interpret FASH-specific ultrasound images submitted by MSF field teams.

• Provide expert diagnostic insights relevant to TB and EPTB in HIV-positive populations, and in some cases, in HIV negative patients with high suspicion for EPTB, by narrowing down complex differentials through integrating FASH findings with available patient clinical data.

• Deliver evidence-based recommendations, differential diagnoses, and next-step guidance through MSF’s secure Telemedicine Platform.

• Support frontline clinicians in environments lacking radiologists, sonographers, or infectious disease specialists.

• Contribute to early, more accurate diagnosis and improved patient management in TB-endemic settings.

• Ensure all advice aligns with MSF guidelines, other guidelines like TACTIC and is appropriate for low-resource settings.

• Provide constructive feedback on image acquisition techniques to help field clinicians improve the diagnostic quality of their scans.

• Provide ongoing follow-up on assigned cases until they are resolved.

• Collaborate with other Medical Specialists assigned to the case and share specialized expertise to contribute to a global community of medical knowledge.

• Ensure all telemedicine consultations adhere to strict patient data privacy standards and ethical guidelines regarding digital medical records.

Qualifications

• University degree or higher in a medical specialty with demonstrated proficiency in POCUS acquired during residency or advanced clinical training, with formal certification either through specialty or fellowship.

• Minimum 2 years clinical experience in Tuberculosis.

• Published research on Tuberculosis, or demonstrated expert in Tuberculosis.

• Previous experience in tropical medicine, prior to MSF/humanitarian work, or work in low-resource settings, is highly desirable

• Board certification in Infectious Diseases and/or a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTMH) is desirable

• Fluency in English (written and spoken) or French required (fluency in multiple languages is highly desirable.

• Comfortable using technology and navigating online platforms.

Volunteer Expectations & Onboarding

• 2–3 hours per week with flexible scheduling based on volunteer availability.

• Fully remote and support can be provided from anywhere with a reliable internet connection.

• Successful candidates will sign a Volunteer Agreement (including data privacy, non-disclosure, and medical liability clauses).

• Onboarding includes an overview of the Telemedicine Program and platform training (1.5 hours, self-paced).

• If requested, be prepared to provide three professional references (references will only be contacted with your permission).

Next Steps

• Confirm your eligibility by reviewing the qualifications listed above.

• Submit your application, including a brief cover letter (or letter of interest), highlighting your relevant experience and motivation to volunteer with the Telemedicine Program.

• Complete a screening questionnaire to help us better understand your experience and professional background.

• Our Telemedicine Recruitment Team will review your application and be in touch to guide you through the next steps if your profile aligns with current program needs.

For more information about the Telemedicine Program, visit https://telemedhub.org/.

For questions, please contact Telemedicine Recruitment at telemedicine.volunteer.recruitment@toronto.msf.org.