Friday of my first week saw more tutorials with the other students. Very similar to what we have in NZ with video confrencing between other centres and specialists. I was relieved to find out I had a similar level of knowledge as everyone else so slotted right in! We learnt a bit about fluid maintenance and resus for paediatrics and had an interesting talk on multi-cultural health. › Continue reading…

I spent the mornings of the last two days at GEGAC (“jeejack”). GEGAC stands for Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-operative. GEGAC is a community-based organisation that was formed in 1975 which provides healthcare and cultural support to aborigines in the area. It has it’s own medical centre and dental surgery and provides aged care, drug and alcohol services, cultural business and child, youth and family services. All these services are either discounted or free of charge to indigenous people. › Continue reading…

I was one of the four lucky RMIP students to get selected to travel to rural Australia for a two-week exchange. Having not been out of the country since I was 12 I was rather excited about the adventure! Unfortunately, I’m not the most relaxed person when it comes to travelling; always having sleepless nights before a flight! › Continue reading…

My name is Mary McWatters and I’m part of the rural immersion program (RMIP) in Blenheim this year.  I was given the opportunity to go on an exchange with Monash University to Sale, Gippsland in Australia. › Continue reading…

Kia Ora, John Fernando here.

This is a blog following my time in Western Australia in June/July of 2013.

I am a 5th Year Medical Student at the University of Otago, Christchurch School of Medicine. › Continue reading…

So since last writing I have shifted onto Mbusa, the paediatric ward at St Francis Hospital.

Ward rounds here start off in SCBU, the special care babies unit. This area keeps premature / birth asphyxia babies in ‘incubators’ as they grow until they reach 1900g, which is discharge weight. › Continue reading…

Thank goodness my travel from Ecuador to Zambia was problem free!! All my flights were on time and totally hassle free. The biggest challenge was remembering which way I was walking down the street during my 18 hours in Sao Paulo, Brazil (I was so tired that walking for more than 5 minutes at a time meant I’d forget if I was going the right way and was constantly checking the map.) Eventually I decided I was a liability and headed back to the airport to sleep on the floor. › Continue reading…

Sitting in a chair on my verandah in Zambia overlooking my long grassed backyard, Ecuador seems like a different planet and a lifetime ago.

For me Ecuador was an experience in cultural immersion, and my first real time of living overseas with another family and working / studying in a foreign culture. Naturally, this came with a series of challenges, some petty (such as how do you get home when you cannot pronounce the name of your street?) to more complex ones, like learning to work with people who have a very different cultural background and consequently a very different attitude to doctoring. › Continue reading…

Can you believe it: my time in the hospital in Ecuador is over!!! What an adventure it has been!

I have now been in Ecuador for almost 5 weeks and been involved in a variety of pre-operative clinics, operations, obstetric / gynaecology procedures and ultrasound sessions. I have experienced medicine in a very different, more paternalistic culture to NZ and the different challenges that this creates. › Continue reading…

Since last writing so much has happened. It feels like ages ago!  At the end of last week, Clayton and I went to the Cinterandes office and organized my life for the following week – obstetrics. YAY!

The rest of the day we wandered the streets, simply exploring what was a brand new city for me, with Clayton as my guide. We walked to Turi, a viewpoint over the city, which was absolutely stunning! So many red cobblestoned roofs! › Continue reading…