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Anaesthetics

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Anaesthetics

Anaesthetists help patients manage pain in often unbearable circumstances.

Spread across various departments, they train local staff, manage anaesthesia materials, and support pain management, going wherever they are needed to provide comfort and support.

Innovative, compassionate and resourceful, anaesthetists give much-needed relief to suffering.

Read the blog posts below to find out more about life as an MSF anaesthetist, or click here to find out more about applying to join the team.

A child is treated for second degree burns at the L’Arche de Kigobe trauma centre
Kariantti Kallio
Anaesthetics
Treating burns in Burundi: "How do we explain this to children?"
Burns are common at L'Arche de Kigobe trauma centre in Burundi. But how do you explain the often painful treatment to children? Anaesthetist Kariantti grapples with this question as he cares for two young patients.
17 Jan 2020 / 3 minute read
Patients at MSF's L’Arche de Kigobe trauma centre in Bujumbura, Burundi
Kariantti Kallio
Anaesthetics
"Luckily, our care is free": Inside L'Arche de Kigobe trauma centre
MSF often hits the headlines when an emergency breaks in the news, such as a natural disaster or war, but we also provide day-to-day healthcare in places such as Bujumbura, Burundi. Anaesthetist Kariantti takes us inside L’Arche de Kigobe trauma centre. 
13 Dec 2019 / 4 minute read
MSF's L’Arche de Kigobe trauma centre in Bujumbura, Burundi
Kariantti Kallio
Anaesthetics
Treating trauma on the shores of Tanganyika
From the picturesque shores of the great Lake Tanganyika, anaesthetist Kariantti shares his first impressions of Burundi's biggest city, Bujumbura, where MSF runs a trauma hospital. It's not long before he is called into emergency surgery... 
13 Dec 2019 / 5 minute read
Wolfgang Funk
Anaesthetics
Which way is home?
For Wolfgang it's time to say goodbye to the people in the D.R. Congo. But every end also means a beginning and there is a magic inherent in it.
19 Nov 2019 / 2 minute read
Wolfgang Funk
Anaesthetics
The deeper the night, the closer the day
The clinic in Mweso in the D.R. Congo counts 13,000 inpatient admissions per year. Wolfgang and his team often reach the limit of exhaustion.
07 Nov 2019 / 4 minute read
Wolfgang Funk
Anaesthetics
The medical and the human side of care
Wolfgang's time in the D.R. Congo is short, just five weeks. But the team is eager to learn. And also Wolfgang is learning a lot - not only French and Swahili.
25 Oct 2019 / 3 minute read
Wolfgang Funk
Anaesthetics
Football, family and a new challenge
Wolfgang travels by jeep from Goma to Mweso. A big project and an equally big challenge are waiting for him. But first Wolfgang looks for the most important thing: contact to the people. 
11 Oct 2019 / 3 minute read
Wolfgang Funk
Anaesthetics
First stop: Goma
After more than 30 years in business and most recently in a management position, Wolfgang fulfilled a dream: he returned to his roots and set off into the unknown. He blogs from the start of his latest posting, the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
01 Oct 2019 / 3 minute read
Kariantti Kallio
Anaesthetics
No time for goodbyes: Leaving Bangui
After an assignment marked by violence, an MSF anaesthetist faces his next challenge: returning home.
29 Oct 2018 / 3 minute read
Kariantti Kallio
Anaesthetics
A first time for everything: learning fast in Bangui
With a patient bleeding heavily, Kariantti and the MSF team had to act quickly. He blogs from Bangui, Central African Republic...
09 Oct 2018 / 3 minute read
Kariantti Kallio
Anaesthetics
After the fight: Returning to routine in Bangui
After nearby conflict forced his MSF team to evacuate a maternity hospital in Bangui, Central African Republic, Finnish anaesthetist Kariantti writes about returning to routine in the days following the fighting.
01 Oct 2018 / 3 minute read
An MSF ambulance arrives at the Castor maternity hospital in Bangui.
Kariantti Kallio
Anaesthetics
Operating under fire: Keeping calm in Bangui
Fighting rages near an MSF maternity hospital in Bangui, Central African Republic. Inside, Finnish anaesthetist Kariantti and his team try to remain calm as they continue to operate on women in need of urgent obstetric surgery.
21 Sep 2018 / 4 minute read
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