For the second half of my time in Tanzania, I worked in the NICU and maternity ward. Nothing could have prepared me for this. 

After LIME, I caught many planes to finally make it to Zanzibar in Tanzania. Zanzibar is a coastal island part of Tanzania that has a fascinating history. It’s known for two big things: for being the home of spice and for being the eastern hub of human slave trading in Africa.

Next on the agenda for the elective was a quick stop off to Melbourne for a conference called the LIME connection.  This conference brought together indigenous people from New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Hawaii for a week of discussions about what was being done to improve indigenous education in medical curriculum. › Continue reading…

After finishing up in Paediatrics, I moved to emergency care for two weeks. The emergency room was staffed by one doctor and a couple of nurses, one of which was also the ambulance medic if anyone had a call out. This was where I spent a lot of time as a first responder.  Often there is not enough staff to send a doctor in the ambulance. › Continue reading…

Another week done here in Tonga. This past week I’ve continued in paediatrics, which continues to be an experience in itself. Among things I managed to attend, were clinics dedicated to heart diseases specifically rheumatic heart disease.

One thing I have quickly come to realise is due to the lack of resources, managing paediatric heart conditions in Tonga is challenging. There is no access to echo – diagnosis and management is purely clinical with an ECG. You have to look for signs of disease. You have to listen and quite literally use the murmurs to play it by ear. › Continue reading…