Dr. Maria Cristina Cirella has worked for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) as an anesthesiologist since 2011, providing medical care in complex settings in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Haiti, and other locations. Her supervisor, Miguel Trelles, writes a letter of recommendation praising Dr. Cirella's competence in precarious situations, reliability, flexibility, and respect for local traditions. Trelles observed Dr. Cirella's work directly and was impressed by her strategic vision, skills for training others, and ability as a team leader. The letter recommends Dr. Cirella for opportunities where she can apply her public health studies.

1. Doctors without Borders
(MSF – Médecins sans Frontières)
46, Rue de l'Arbre Bénit
1050 Brussels, Belgium
March 9th
, 2015
To Whom It May Concern:
Through this letter, I will like to give my written testimony of the highly appreciated work that Dr
Maria Cristina CIRELLA has been performing in our organisation, Doctors without Borders.
Dr Maria Cristina CIRELLA is working in our organisation as an anaesthesiologist since 2011.
Moreover, during her last mission, she also fulfilled managerial positions in our project, as
Project Medical Manager. All her assignments were successfully accomplished in very complex
settings (e.g. violence, conflict) being in the following locations:
• Trauma Centre, Kunduz, Afghanistan - October 2011
• Referral Hospital, Niangara, DR Congo - November 2011 – January 2012
• Maternity, Kabezi, Burundi - June 2012 – October 2012
• Trauma Centre, Kunduz, Afghanistan - November 2012 – March 2013
• Trauma Centre, Tabarre, Haiti - April 2013 – October 2013
• Maternity, Khost, Afghanistan - November 2013 – June 2014
• Maternity, Bangui, Central African Republic - July 2014 – September 2014
• Primary Health Care Centre, Gogrial, South Sudan - October 2014 – March 2015
As the coordinator for surgical activities and anaesthesia referent for MSF – Operational Centre
Brussels, my duty is to supervise that surgical activity as a whole, and particularly anaesthesia
care, is performed in all our hospital settings following institutional quality standards. Therefore,
I know very closely the work performed by Dr Maria Cristina CIRELLA.
From the evaluations that we have at headquarters level, I can state that she is a competent
professional, capable to work in very precarious situations, reliable and organized, and shows
big flexibility to the given assignments. Moreover, she never had problems with the local staff
and authorities, respecting local traditions and habits.
While performing supervisions in the field, I had the opportunity, in several occasions, to see
closely her work, and I appreciated that as a field anaesthesiologist, she fulfilled his job
description and given functions. At the same time, it was possible to acknowledge that she has
strategic vision in the development of the project, skills to train people, and capacity as a team
leader. That is confirmed by the high respect that the local staff has towards her.
During these years she showed great interest in project planning and management,

2. development of public health related strategies, and in performance of project evaluation and
supervision. Following this interest, she also attended some courses in MSF in order to work
further not only as a field anaesthesiologist, but as a project manager.
She correctly reported data collection and analysis from the field, with a good quality and
organization of the reports, sent always on time. And during her last mission, as Project Medical
Referent, she showed good skills and competencies in analysing and reporting statistical data,
in managing people and in implementing properly the institutional operational strategy. Looking
her report, she can handle with confidence Excel and STATA.
She is very critical to herself and her team demanding and pretending always the best
performances. She has a strong and combative character and sometimes she exceeds in
defending her point of view.
For my personal experience with Dr Maria Cristina CIRELLA, she could be able to make a
positive contribution to your organization, giving her the opportunity to put into practice her
study, going on at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in Public Health and
Epidemiology.
Sincerely Yours,
Miguel Trelles
Coordinator SAGE Unit
Surgery, Anaesthesia, Gynaecology, Emergency Medicine
Referent for Anaesthesia, Medical Department - MSF-OCB
0032 2 4747608 (office)
0032 484 084361 (mobile)