I have just completed my second week here at SFH. As you probably gathered from my last post – life is crazy here and very busy! My days are lasting from 7.30am to around 6pm at night so there is too much to tell! So, I thought this week I would focus on telling you what has been happening on the paediatric ward. › Continue reading…

This week I headed to St. Francis Hospital in Katete, Zambia.

St Francis is a well-known mission hospital in the Eastern provinces close to the border of Malawi. It is a joint project run by the Anglican and Catholic Church but as far as I can tell it is also run by the Zambian government. › Continue reading…

So I finally made it to Ecuador! My goodness it was a mission!!

It all began with a lovely early morning flight to Auckland… after the last minute packing mission, resulting in 3 hours sleep. Note to self NEVER a good start to long haul flying. The idea that I would sleep on the plane definitely did not compensate for the following 72 hours. Particularly as 12 hours after my expected arrival time I was headed out on the rural surgical bus! › Continue reading…

So after my trip down to the Chitwan district, I had a couple of days to head through to Pokhara, Nepal to see the Himalayas joining one of the Australian nurses who I had been working with in Banepa.

After the first morning was fogged out, we finally got our chance to see sunrise over ‘fishtail’ and the other mountains surrounding Pokhara. An amazing sight as the mountains appeared one by one out of the clouds. Totally worth the wait in the dark and cold of late December! › Continue reading…

This week, I packed up and headed south towards the Chitwan district in the south of Nepal towards the Indian border. I wanted to come down to Chitwan and spend time in the rural health clinics which provide most of the primary care to the rural population.

It was a long “five hour bus ride” (more like 8!) but with some great views of the mountains as we left Kathmandu and headed down into the plants/jungle of the Chitwan district. It’s never a great sign when you are stuck in some traffic and your bus driver comes into the back, opens a compartment and takes out his book!! › Continue reading…

This week I decided to do paediatrics with obstetrics and gynaecology in my spare time! We are lucky and have a German paediatric consultant (Eva) who specialising in neonatology who has joined the hospital for a few weeks as the usual paediatrician is away.

I have seen so many things this week from mumps, to measles, pneumonias, enteric/typhoid fever and one 4 month old baby with dextrocardia (heart on the right side of the body for all you non-medical people). It has been great for my medical experience to see many of the childhood illnesses that we just do not often have in New Zealand and which I have only learnt through textbooks. I hope having been able to see it for myself will aid me to make the diagnosis in the future. › Continue reading…

This week I decided to change and do obstetrics and gynaecology. There is a really nice Dutch doctor (Dr Adrienne) volunteering here alongside Dr Vidya, an experienced Nepali obstetrician. It seemed like a brilliant opportunity to get involved in what is a very busy ward!

Walking in the first morning of the week was a bit of an eye opener. › Continue reading…

So I have just completed my first week at Scheer Memorial Hospital itself. It is a mission hospital serving quite a large community (20,000+ by estimate). People can travel some 7-8 hours to come to see us. It is largely staffed by Nepali doctors however there are a few foreign doctors, some long term and some short term volunteers.

There is a couple from the USA, Dr Aaron and Dr Sally, both trained in family practice and who will be here for 6 years in total. They have been here around 18 months and are a great source of knowledge on the medical system and how the hospital runs. › Continue reading…

Goodbye New Zealand and Namaste Nepal! I can’t believe I am heading off on my elective. I have been thinking about it and planning for it for so long! First stop of this 13 week journey is Nepal.

And what a first week it has been!  After a very long flight, I finally arrived in Kathmandu late at night. The roads (if that’s what you want to call them!) are chaos and there do not appear to be any road rules here so it was a very interesting trip to the hostel. › Continue reading…

After a fun weekend exploring East Gippsland it was time for 2 days in Lakes Entrance before returning to Bairnsdale and the ‘Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative’.

Lakes Entrance is a nice seaside town with a healthy mix of permanent and holiday homes. A lot like Whangamata or Wanaka in NZ. I worked at one of two GP practices in town. › Continue reading…