Disease educator

The Disease Educator will support a patient empowerment initiative focused on increasing awareness of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) at the point of care. The role involves engaging patients and caregivers in clinic and hospital waiting areas to provide pre-approved disease education, address common misconceptions, and encourage informed, patient-led discussions with healthcare professionals (HCPs).

The Disease Educator will strictly operate within the scope of pre-approved Disease Awareness Campaign (DAC) materials and will not provide medical advice, prescriptions, or eligibility recommendations, redirecting all such queries to the treating HCP.

Key Responsibilities

• Patient Education & Awareness:
  
• Conduct face-to-face disease awareness interactions with patients/caregivers in pre-consultation waiting areas through a designated "Vaccine Preventable Disease Awareness Corner".
• Educate patients on vaccine-preventable diseases, their severity, prevalence, and potential complications, in line with pre-approved DAC content.
• Provide approved patient education materials to support awareness and understanding.
• Clearly address common misconceptions and vaccine hesitancy using approved scripts and training content.
• Encourage patients to initiate informed discussions with HCPs during their consultation.

• Interaction Protocol & Compliance:
  
• Begin every patient interaction with a mandatory disclaimer, clearly explaining the intent and scope of the program and seeking patient consent before proceeding.
• Ensure all interactions are guided strictly by pre-approved scripts and educational materials, remain non-promotional and non-prescriptive, and do not exceed the scope of DAC content.
• Redirect all prescription-related, eligibility-related, or medical queries immediately to the HCP.
• Escalate any out-of-scope questions as per defined escalation protocols.

• Clinic & Field Deployment:
  
• Be deployed at HCP clinics/hospitals on identified OPD days and time slots.
• Support patients across a minimum of 2 clinics to a maximum of 3 clinics per day (minimum 3 hours per clinic), including Saturdays.
• Maintain professional conduct and adherence to clinic/hospital protocols at all times.

• Stakeholder Experience & Quality:
  
• Maintain high standards of professionalism while interacting with patients, caregivers, clinic staff, and HCPs.
• Contribute positively to HCP satisfaction.
• Cooperate with audits, training refreshers, and grievance redressal processes.
• Promptly escalate any concerns, feedback, or grievances raised by HCPs through defined channels.

Key Role Boundaries (Must Adhere)

• No Medical Advice: Absolutely no medical advice, diagnosis, or prescriptions are permitted.
• Redirection: All clinical or prescription-related queries must be redirected to the HCP.
• Strict Scope: Role is strictly limited to disease awareness and patient education.

Qualifications & Criteria

• Educational Qualification:
  
• B.Pharm, B.Sc / GNM (Nursing), B.Sc (Nutrition & Dietetics), or any science graduate/related field.
• Preferred: Diploma in Health Education, Community Medicine, or Counselling.

• Experience & Preferred Background:
  
• Minimum 1 year of total experience.
• Prior exposure to counselling programs, vaccine/immunization awareness, or patient support programs (PSP) is preferred.

• Skills & Competencies:
  
• Strong verbal communication skills in English.
• Fluency in regional/local language(s) preferred.
• Ability to explain health information clearly and empathetically.
• Patient-centric approach with strong interpersonal skills.
• High level of ethical conduct, compliance awareness, and professionalism.