Home   Student Electives   Preparing your Elective   Preparing for your Medical Elective - in a resource poor country

Healthcare systems in resource poor countries operate under considerable financial constraint and with very limited resources. This means that the priorities in delivering health care and the standards attainable are very different from what you will be used to at home. Disease patterns and cultural attitudes to disease, suffering and death are also likely to be very different. Poverty, poor roads, communications and transport, recourse to traditional remedies and ignorance mean that the presentation of many illnesses is often very late. Sometimes there is little that can be done. Doctors, because of their isolation and lack of IT facilities, may not have access to regular journals and may even be unaware of recent advances.

It will be a tremendous learning experience. However, do not expect to be given systematic teaching. In most LDC hospitals there is not time to discuss fully all the pathology that comes before you. Hopefully you will get regular teaching input but you can take textbooks to read and there are always occasions for talking things over (e.g. while assisting at ops etc), but expect to have to read and forage information for yourself.

If you are shocked by the way you see medicine practiced or the way 'missionaries' live, don't be overly critical.

Quietly observe and try to work out why things are done the way they are. Don't be afraid to ask questions but remember you are a GUEST and should behave accordingly. It is not your job to put people or things 'to rights' even though it may be tempting to try and do so. It may well be that changes are called for in the system. It could also be your lack of local knowledge and/or your attitude that needs to change!

You can be a stimulus and a joy to colleagues who may have very little time to think of change. Go with a Christ-like servant attitude. If you maintain a flexible approach and go expecting a challenge and are keen to make the most of the opportunity to learn and serve in a new culture, it will be a life-changing experience for you and you will find that you get much more out of your elective than you put into it.