13: GP+Humanitarian Health with Dr Hareen De Silva

The GP+ Careers Podcast

In this episode, Sophie is joined by Dr Hareen De Silva who has a special interest in Humanitarian and Global Health. Hareen describes how he got into the field, how you can find out if it is the right role for you physically, emotionally and morally and the benefits and downsides of the role.
Top tips:
1.Gain Relevant Clinical Experience & Skills

• Broaden Your Clinical Scope: Try and gain experience in areas often neglected in high-income settings but critical in humanitarian contexts. Just because you may deploy as a GP you may have to step into other situations. Hareen has gained skills over his career. Some of these can be obtained free or paid. Consider using your GP training study budget.
• Emergency Medicine: ACLS, PALS certifications - paid for by CADUS
• Trauma Care: Even basic trauma stabilisation
  • Have a look at cheap/free courses organised by a UK chairty called CitizenAid that have a free app to download.
• Mental Health: Basic psychological first aid (PFA) and recognition/referral of common mental health conditions.
  • There are websites such as Coursera that offer free certification in PFA
• Procedural Skills: Minor surgery, suturing, wound care, basic fracture management, IV insertion.
• Resource-Limited Settings: Consider volunteering locally within the UK using your skills. Crisis at Christmas is where he started volunteering and then locally in homeless healthcare clinic in Doncaster. The UK Government website has a database of opportunities.

2. Understand the Humanitarian Aid Sector

• Research Organisations: There are so many organisations that you could work with. Each has their own individual identity. CADUS is different to other organisations Hareen has worked with. When you interview for a position, make sure your personal values line up with those of the organisation.
• Humanitarian Principles: Stress the importance of understanding and committing to the core humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence.
• Contextual Awareness: Stay informed about global crises, geopolitical situations, and the specific health challenges in different regions. ReliefWeb has a jobs board and collates information from all around the world.
• Networking: Connect with doctors already working in the field. LinkedIn, professional associations, and humanitarian aid conferences are good avenues. Hareen is happy to take on mentees via RCGP Mentoring.
• Realistic Expectations: Prepare for challenging conditions, long hours, emotional toll, and potential ethical dilemmas. This work is not for those with a saviour complex.

3. Essential Training & Qualifications

• Specific Humanitarian Training:
  • Pre-Deployment Courses: There are plenty of free online resources to help you understand the basics. DisasterReady is a free online resource which Hareen uses every year to increase his knowledge.
  • Tropical Medicine/Public Health Diplomas: These are highly relevant and often required or preferred by some organisations. But think about the financial impact on yourself before paying for courses. Will it help you get a volunteer position or a paid job.
• Language Skills: Proficiency in languages other than English (especially French, Spanish, Arabic) can be a significant asset and sometimes a requirement for specific deployments. Even just having a few phrases will help to generate rapport with beneficiaries of the project.
• Security Training: Consider something like a HEAT (Hostile Environment Awareness Training) Course. CADUS offers a free course. The United Nations also has a free course called BSAFE

4. Practical Steps to Get Started

• Initial Deployments: Your first deployment might not be your "dream" assignment. Starting with shorter deployments or less complex contexts can be a good way to gain experience. Be warned that the smaller organisations may ask you to cover your travel and accomodation costs. Please do not be exploited for voluntourism type projects.
• Application Process: Be prepared for a rigorous application process, including interviews, assessments, and background checks.
• Financial Planning: Humanitarian work, especially early on, may not be highly paid. it is advisable to have some financial stability or savings.
• Health & Wellness: Stress the importance of maintaining their own physical and mental health during and between deployments.
• Long lasting effects: Hareen has deployed to multiple conflict zones and now has to apply for visas to travel to countries as a tourist. He also holds two passports to avoid questions at the border - one for work and one for tourism. Consider where you want to travel in the future as some countries do not allow travel if you have been to another country.

5. It may not be for everyone

• You may realise it is not for you, and that is fine. Within the UK we have so many health inequalities and this is how Dr De Silva's humanitarian career started. Consider joining the RCGP Health Equity SIG working group and contribute locally.

Hareen is a Fellow of the RCGP and in his GP career he was the national wellbeing lead for First5 GPs and then became the youngest faculty Chair (SYNT) in the RCGP history. He moved into expedition medicine, travelling to Dominica, Costa Rica, Gough Island with the Royal Society for Protection of Birds and Midway Atoll with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Hareen has deployed on humanitarian assistance missions as a clinician, medical coordinator and Head of Mission to Greece, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and Gaza with CADUS e.V. He has an interest in health inequalities and is a trustee for the UK medical education charity Fairhealth. He has received a British Empire Medal in 2020 for his Services to General Practice during COVID-19 and The UK’s Humanitarian Medal in 2025 for his work in Gaza with UK-MED.
Further reading

RCGP Health Equity Special Interest Group
https://www.rcgp.org.uk/about/communities-groups/health-inequalities
RCGP Mentoring
https://www.rcgp.org.uk/your-career/gp-mentoring
CADUS
https://www.cadus.org/en/
UK-Med
https://www.uk-med.org/
Fairhealth
https://www.fairhealth.org.uk/
DisasterReady
https://www.disasterready.org/
ReliefWeb
https://reliefweb.int/
United Nations BSAFE course
https://training.dss.un.org/thematicarea/category?id=6
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