The last three months of my life have been an absolute whirlwind of adventure. When organizing my elective I wanted to choose placements that would expand my medical knowledge and improve my clinical skills, but most of all challenge me. The Falkland Islands and Nepal fulfilled those requirements perfectly. › Continue reading…

I spent my last week at Kanti with one of three surgical teams. The week started with outpatient clinic. This is a rather chaotic morning where the doctors sit at one long desk and the patients all pile into the room and queue to be seen. Once again, there is no such thing as patient confidentiality. Everyone peers over each other’s shoulders as each child is undressed and examined right there at the consult desk. However this is the norm in Nepal and even if I am slightly taken aback by this approach the patients and families (and doctors) are not at all worried, as this is how it has always been. I guess one benefit is that numerous people are educated at once, as a result of discussing a condition with one patient while everyone else listens in! › Continue reading…

There have been many firsts for me on this trip. One noticeable first was that I wasn’t in New Zealand for ANZAC Day this year. Usually I would be up out of bed in the dark, wrapped up in my puffer jacket at the chilly Dawn Service in Dunedin or Christchurch. This year found me at the Australian Embassy here in Kathmandu wearing short sleeves, a skirt and sandals in the blazing sun. There was a great turn out for the commemoration although I was one of only a handful of kiwis. › Continue reading…

Namaste!! I made it here to Nepal safe and sound despite the fact my body clock was a little out of whack after so many hours of flying! Boy oh boy what a culture shock it was to arrive in Kathmandu! I don’t think I could have picked two more opposite places to go to for my elective. After the quiet, isolated and laid-back life in the Falklands the hustle and bustle of the capital of Nepal was rather overwhelming! › Continue reading…

My time here in Stanley is drawing to a close. The last six weeks have easily been some of the most memorable experiences of my life so far. I feel I have been utterly immersed in rural medicine right from the start, and boy have I loved it. During my stay here I have been able to dabble in General Practice, General Medicine, Emergency and Trauma Medicine, General Surgery and Anaesthesia with the resident doctors, Dermatology, Paediatrics and Orthopaedics with visiting specialists and even a bit of Dentistry thrown in for good measure. I think I learnt more about oral medicine in the two hours I was with the dentist than in the last five years of my degree!! › Continue reading…