4 Weeks later…

I’m coming to the end of a four-week stay at a large regional hospital in The Gambia. I came down here to do research for the SSC2 (Student-Selected Component) part of our curriculum. Every Warwick MB ChB student does a self-directed research project during the autumn of our third year, and it’s proven to a really interesting and thought-provoking experience for me for many reasons.

Although I’ve got experience working within several NHS hospitals, I’ve never spent much time in a healthcare setting outside of the United Kingdom. Seeing how a different system operates is absolutely fascinating to me. There are many things that I would change, and there are many things that I think are done quite well. I am still surprised and quite taken aback by the lack of primary care in The Gambia. All of the clinical staff in this hospital are consummate professionals, and they make the very best of what they’ve got, but resources are limited, and patients do tend to present to clinic or onto wards with more advanced stages of illness. That is something I never expected.

There is also a lack of trained specialist doctors. For instance, I don’t know if The Gambia has any endocrinologists within its borders; I’ve heard there are none.. This has caused me to reflect: the people here are just as human as anyone in the UK, and in an ideal world, they would be just as entitled to healthcare as the rest of us. Being at the thin end of the wedge here has made me think much more about global health and the importance of providing a basic service to those most in need.

Since my project was to conduct an audit of tuberculosis diagnostic-technique requests, I spent a LOT of time trawling though patient notes and trying to figure out what investigations and diagnoses were requested, and when. It was a very painstaking, manual process. I have definitely learned that writing clearly and concisely in patients’ notes is essential – even if you think nobody is ever going to read them again, you might be very wrong! Although I *generally* got used to the handwriting styles of the different doctors, sometimes it was a bit of a struggle.

The most different thing about being here is definitely the weather. I checked the climate forecasts on Wikipedia before I came down here, but I must have misread something as I brought a hoodie “just in case”. It’s been over 30 every single day, and I haven’t seen a drop of rain since leaving England in September. Since I’m Fitzpatrick skin type 1 (thank you, Phase II dermatology book!), I have been slathering on the sunblock. I’m kind of looking forward to returning to England if, for nothing else, some respite from the sun overhead. I suspect I’ll regret this within forty-eight hours of returning though!

John

Luke Pemberton : 26 Oct 2016 13:51 |  Tags: John Mbchb Student Warwick |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem