MCT Psychiatrist/General Practitioner

1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Physician for the Mobile Crisis Team — who may be either a General Practitioner trained on mhGAP or a Psychiatrist — collaborates with a multi-disciplinary mobile team to intervene during emergency mental health crises through a 24/7 mobile unit. Both profiles share the same core operational responsibilities. The Psychiatrist additionally brings specialist diagnostic and treatment capacity and may be called upon for more complex cases.

2. MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A.  Emergency Response & Clinical Assessment

• Collaborate with the multi-disciplinary mobile team to intervene during emergency mental health crises through the 24/7 mobile unit.
• Assess the situation of the person in crisis and provide appropriate care and support, while avoiding unnecessary law enforcement involvement, ED use, and hospitalisation.
• Conduct clinical assessments, including psycho-diagnostic interviews and Mental Status Examination (MSE), to formulate a preliminary diagnosis and care plan.
• Prescribe and/or oversee the administration of appropriate medications during mental health emergency dispatches, as per assessment.
• Psychiatrist: provide specialist psychiatric treatment, follow up on care, and formulate diagnosis using ICD-10/ICD-11 terminology.
• GP: provide preliminary diagnosis and base prescriptions on the MOPH-recommended national guide and list of psychotropic and neurological medications.

B.  Care Coordination & Follow-Up

• Act as liaison between the person in crisis, nurses, hospitals, and other third parties as necessary.
• Plan and follow up on crisis cases; implement concrete treatment plans in collaboration with beneficiaries.
• Refer beneficiaries to specialised services when required.

C.  Documentation & Reporting

• Document and report all services provided per organisational protocols and within 24 hours of dispatch.
• Complete the dispatch report form per emergency, ensuring accuracy and completeness.

3. QUALIFICATIONS

Essential Qualifications

Critical Skills

• Medical degree (MD) required, registered at the Lebanese Order of Physicians.
• 3–5 years of clinical experience.
• Psychiatrist: 1–3 years post-MD experience in Psychiatry, registered with the Lebanese Order of Psychiatrists.
• Excellent command of English and Arabic.

Professional Skills and Knowledge

• Ability to conduct clinical assessments as per the mhGAP.
• Ability to provide a preliminary diagnosis and base prescriptions on the MOPH national guide.
• Ability to recognise mental health priority conditions and intervene and de-escalate mental health emergencies and suicidal crises.
• Ability to provide empathic, evidence-based psychological first aid to a culturally diverse population.
• Psychiatrist: mastery of pharmacology and ability to conceptualise cases from an integrative perspective.

General Skills & Knowledge

• Mental health in complex emergencies (IASC guidelines, Psychological First Aid, mhGAP).
• Biopsychosocial model in mental health; community-based and human rights-based approach.
• Evidence-based mental health interventions (CBT, EMDR, IPT, TF-CBT) — Psychiatrist profile.
• Predictable stresses of humanitarian aid work and policies to mitigate them.

Behavioral Skills / Competencies

• Demonstrates ability to work in a multidisciplinary team with cultural sensitivity.
• Demonstrates excellent communication, problem-solving, interpersonal, and conflict resolution skills.
• Demonstrates ability to adhere to ethical principles regarding work with vulnerable populations.
• Demonstrates a high level of professionalism while providing services to beneficiaries.

Assessment Scope – Minimum Training Required

Candidates should have demonstrated training or supervised experience in at least the following areas:

• Conducting clinical assessments per mhGAP, including psycho-diagnostic interviews and Mental Status Examination (MSE), to formulate a preliminary diagnosis and care plan
• Recognizing mental health priority conditions and intervening/de-escalating mental health emergencies and suicidal crises
• Prescribing and/or overseeing the administration of psychotropic and neurological medications, based on the MOPH-recommended national guide and list
• Awareness of the limits of GP-level competency (as opposed to specialist psychiatric competency) and commitment to operating within the on-call psychiatric supervision structure when a case exceeds this scope

Areas for Continued Capacity Building

• Mental health in complex emergencies (IASC guidelines, mhGAP, Psychological First Aid)
• Biopsychosocial, community-based, and human-rights-based approaches in mental health care
• Crisis de-escalation and empathic, evidence-based psychological first aid for a culturally diverse population
• Care coordination and referral pathways (hospitals, LRC, Civil Defense, social workers)
• Predictable stresses of humanitarian aid work and strategies to mitigate them

4. REPORTING LINES

The Child Psychologist – Neuropsychological Assessment (Junior Level) reports to:

Direct Supervisor: NMHERM National Lead / Project Coordinator

Clinical Supervision: NMHERM Technical Supervisor

Governing Body: National Mental Health Programme, Ministry of Public Health

Coordination  Psychiatric nurses, Lifeline team, hospital physicians, NMHERM Social Worker, hospital admissions, hospital social worker.

Interested candidates are requested to apply through the following link: https://forms.gle/5eP84BZ8bB57ArBi6
Please note that only applications submitted via the link will be considered; applications sent by email will not be accepted.
Due to the urgency of this recruitment, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage interested candidates to submit their CVs as soon as possible. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Embrace is an equal opportunity employer and has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual exploitation, abuse, and sexual harassment.