On placement in Mount Meru
We are quick to talk about the cultural differences but students always find that there are some surprising similarities too. The question for this week was “Have you noticed any similarities either on placement or locally?”
Lucy in Arusha noticed that “although the hospital is very different in terms of condition and illnesses, I noticed some similar investigations and treatment – similar drugs are used but there is not as great a variety as at home.”
Students on safari
As much as we try and prepare you for your time overseas, there are some things that you simply won’t know until you get there. As well as the immediate contrast in clinical practice, each destination we offer provides a fascinating cultural experience so this week we asked the students what they have learnt. We asked them “What is your favourite in-country fact?!”
In Arusha, Lucy learnt that “Fluoride in the water here causes the yellow stains on the teeth. Before coming to Africa I thought this was caused by tobacco”
This month sees the return of the weekly question that we pose to our students overseas. It’s always fantastic to get some advice and feedback from people in-country and we understand that travelling to the other side of the world, particularly to a developing country can be quite a culture shock. This week we decided to ask “How can we better prepare you for this?”
Experience village culture
As usual, Freddy in Arusha came back to us first.
Our student nurses
In February, the Work the World house in Kandy welcomed the arrival of our very first nursing students from the UK! The team of pioneers were an enthusiastic and excited bunch from a college in London with varying clinical interests, such as Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Surgery, General Medicine, Oncology and Mental Health – all of which, we were able to accommodate as we work on a principal that students are able to take part in tailor made placements to suit their needs.
Within a day of starting placement, everyone was saying how positively different the hospital was! What was interesting is that the daily routines were similar to the UK, and our student nurses even recognised some familiar drugs and medical equipments they have also witnessed in the NHS hospitals, and yet the environment and the delivery of patient care was very different and interesting. It was also evident that the hospital is under resourced and even simple things like thermometer and ECG machines were in short supply. But what impressed our student nurses was the skills that the Sri Lankan nurses have developed in o rder to overcome this by relying on simple, manual techniques such as touching and observing. It was also noted that there was less documentation during observation, which gave the student nurses the opportunity to focus on assisting with other practical tasks such as personal care, IV drugs, oral drugs, dressing and joining the ward rounds.
Baptista has been busy working with one of Dar’s biggest government hospitals to secure some amazing placements in all the major disciplines. He gave me a bit more information about the hospital and what students can expect out of placements:
“This hospital is the biggest referral hospital in the country and offers our students some fantastic opportunities. It treats both private and regional referral patients from all over Tanzania, so the departments will see an enormous variety of conditions, and with almost 2500 beds we know it is going to be busy!
The hospital in Dar
Although it was originally one big hospital, they now have a separate centre for orthopaedics. Tanzania always has busy orthopaedics wards because of the huge number of accidents on the road and in mines. This separate centre makes treating patients far more efficient and allows us to arrange specific placements in orthopaedics, neural surgery, traumatology and physiotherapy.