Staff spotlight – Dr Solomon Viyufa

Introduction

This week we introduce a team member who works in one of the most remote locations on the CPA Group footprint.

Dr Solomon Viyufa is one of CPA Group’s doctors, working in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.

Solomon started with CPA Group in December 2015 so he has been working with us for over 3 years.

 

What is your professional background?

I am a qualified medical practitioner. In PNG there is only one medical faculty at University of PNG where I graduated in 1999.

After I graduated I did an internship for 2 years as a Registered Medical Officer in Lae which is a city in PNG. I have worked at a number of mining locations before working for CPA Group.

 Where are you working now?

I am currently working at a remote location called Bige in the Western Province of PNG where our client has been operating for over 20 years. The client has around 140 employees and there are approximately 300 people in total working here.

I work in a small clinic, there is a larger medical centre nearby if required.

What are your primary responsibilities?

The usual mix of primary care and emergency response but also we provide critical care and emergency medivac. We can do minor surgery and minor inpatient care.

I work 12 hour shifts 0600 – 1800, 7 days per week, plus on call after hours for emergencies.

In addition to the clinical work, there are also responsibilities such as procurement, vaccinations, fitness-for-work medical examinations.

I also run drills and training for mine staff.

My general rotation is 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off. I work with my back-to-back, Dr Daryl Robert to provide a handover. Daryl is another PNG doctor

 What do you find most challenging or fulfilling in your role?

We are restricted in what we can do sometimes – for example sometimes we would like to do a particular blood test or XRay and don’t have the capability on site so it can be quite challenging clinically.

I do enjoy working in a mining environment.

Also, the internet where I live near Madang is very unreliable so having access to good connectivity at site allows me to do research after hours.

And what do you do in your spare time?

I am married with 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls, ranging from 7 to 16 – my wife is a midwife so she is busy also.

I definitely look forward to going home and my family occupies lots of my time. With my rotation I want to spend as much time as possible with my family when I am home.

I love to play darts and I play in a local competition when I am off site.

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As usual, we asked Solomon what he thought his manager would say about him:

I report to CPA Group Medical Director Dr Scott Wilkinson. So far, he hasn’t said anything bad about me so hopefully he will say some good things about me.

We asked Scott for his view on Solomon:

Solomon and his back to back Daryl provide an excellent and very reliable service to the client’s workforce. One of the serious conditions they treat on a regular basis is malaria. This can be fatal particularly for the expatriate workforce. Solomon and Daryl are both very skilled in treating malaria and the many other interesting conditions found on site. They do a great job for us and I’m very glad to have them representing us.