Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital
PERSONAL DETAILS
| Name | Hannah Chilton and Janine Rowse |
ELECTIVE DETAILS
| Country | Ghana | City | Donkorkrom, Afram Plains |
| Setting | Rural developing | ||
| Local languages spoken | English (by all the staff at the hospital), Twi (tribal language – only language spoken by about half of the patients, but the staff were always on hand to translate – literally: we had dedicated translators) | ||
| Dates of elective | January 2008 – February 2008 | ||
| Year level during elective | 5 | Expected level of knowledge | 5th year standard, with the confidence to handle patients from admission to discharge without supervision sometimes |
DETAILS OF INSTITUTION
| Name | Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital | Population served | |
| Size | About 80 beds, plus stretchers on the floor sometimes | ||
| Departments/specialties available | Everything – O&G, paeds, surgery, medicine, casualty | ||
| Further description | A general hospital – more specialised cases are referred on to larger hospitals | ||
| Student responsibilities | Seeing patients in clinic, admitting, managing patients on the wards including ward rounds, discharging, minor procedures (e.g. draining abscesses). The majority of these tasks are unsupervised | ||
| Teaching availability | Very little – we had one tute on malaria, and most ward rounds we did alone rather than under supervision of doctors | ||
| Elective contact | Eric Boateng boatsefa09@gmail.com Mobile: 233244850614 Land Phone: 23321300955 Current Address: BOX 15862, ACCRA-NORTH Accra, Ghana |
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| Application process | Eric runs a mini-business finding medical students placements in Ghana – he charges around $120, but it’s pretty worth it (don’t pay any more than that for ‘application or administration’ costs!) He has specific application forms. Food, transport are extra. Accommodation is negotiable, but has been free for med students in the past! | ||
| Donations brought/grants | Books – guidelines, AMH or equivalent, some good quality stethoscopes for the nurses on the wards, asthma spacers. | ||
TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION, FOOD, LEISURE AND EXPECTED COSTS
| Accommodation options | In the hospital compound | Should be free |
| Accommodation details | Basic (unpainted concrete floors and walls) but adequate. Running shower but no hot water. Bring your own mosquito net. | |
| Travel to location (including necessary documentation) | Fly to Accra (capital of Ghana), then it’s a 5-9 hour trip to Donkorkrom (depending on whether you’re using public or private transport. Also depends on ferry timetabling, as it’s necessary to cross the lake by ferry) | |
| Transport within location | Many options – private taxis are very cheap and probably the best option | AUD$ ranges from $5 – $60 one way depending whether you use private or public transport, and on how good your bargaining skills are! |
| Food allowances | There’s a hospital cook you can pay $US 6/day for 3 hot meals, but you may wish to cater for yourself as we decided to!!!! | US$ 4-6 per day |
| Social activities | Other aid workers often based at the hospital. Travelling on the weekends. A few very very basic pubs and ‘restaurants’ serving local food in town. Have to travel about 4 hours to get to the larger cities with clubs/ western restaurants etc | AUD$ 5 per meal in western restaurants $3 for drinks in the capital. Much cheaper but limited options in Donkorkrom |
| Recommended vaccinations | Talk to your doctor! | AUD$ 500 (including medical kit) |
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| The good | The people we met, the Ghanian culture. The opportunity to see how healthcare is done in the developing world. Dramatically improved my confidence with handling and managing patients by myself, and making medical decisions for myself. |
| The bad | The fairly limited level of medical supervision and very high level of responsibility for patients |
| Further descriptions, comments or advice | If you feel ready to make heaps of scary medical decisions by yourself, then go for it! It’s quite a challenging time, medically and personally, but if you’re up for that, it’s more than worth it. I think there’s probably scope for negotiating with the doctors some better supervision (e.g. the doctors promising to come in at the end of every day to see patients that you don’t know how to handle yourself). This would need to be said very firmly, right at the start of the placement!! |
| For more information | ‘Elective Ghana’ group on Facebook (set up by Eric) |
