Kanti Children’s Hospital
PERSONAL DETAILS
| Name | Ayesha Richardson |
ELECTIVE DETAILS
| Country | Nepal | City | Kathmandu |
| Setting | |||
| Local languages spoken | Nepali | ||
| Dates of elective | December 2009 | ||
| Year level during elective | 5 | Expected level of knowledge | Same as Australia |
DETAILS OF INSTITUTION
| Name | Kanti Children’s Hospital | Population served | All Nepal (?17mil) |
| Size | Approx 300 beds | ||
| Departments/specialties available | Gen med, oncology, surgery, emerg etc… We spent a week in gen med & a week in oncology, which were both fantastic. | ||
| Further description | Kanti is the only children’s hospital in the country. People walk for days to seek medical attention & they generally leave things for AGES before seeking help. | ||
| Student responsibilities | Not many! Ward rounds & OPD. Doctors usually work in private clinics in the afternoons, so expect lots of free time to explore! | ||
| Teaching availability | Ward rounds – the doctors are very keen to teach students (in English) at the bedside & are particularly interested in what the Western students had to say | ||
| Elective contact | Bishop Joshi | ||
| Application process | |||
| Donations brought/grants | Medical supplies from Insight + donation (as part of application fee) | ||
TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION, FOOD, LEISURE AND EXPECTED COSTS
| Accommodation options | Homestay – a real highlight! They organise this for you through The Chahari Group. Hotel/ Hostel – you could organise this yourself & it would probably be a lot cheaper, but not nearly as fun! |
Approx $170/ week – this includes the homestay, hospital administration & a small donation to the oncology fund. |
| Accommodation details | We stayed with a LOVELY family about 40mins walk from the hospital. The 2 of us shared a very basic but clean room with mattresses on the floor. There was a small bathroom with a hose-shower & western toilet. We ate meals (dahl baht for brekkie & dinner) with our family every day. |
|
| Travel to location (including necessary documentation) | Plane | |
| Transport within location | Walking/ buses/ tuk-tuks | |
| Food allowances | All included | |
| Social activities | We met some lovely students at the hospital & spent our afternoons exploring Kathmandu & surrounding cities. | |
| Recommended vaccinations | See your travel doctor – occasional outbreaks of Meningitis etc. All the usuals. |
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| The good | Everything! Homestays, the hospital, learning about 3rd world health systems, barriers to delivery of health care, how to get around them 1st hand & seeing crazy & interesting textbook- medical signs. |
| The bad | Not much really… be prepared to have gross hair & long leg hairs unless you can stand in cold water for long periods of time. |
| Further descriptions, comments or advice | Make sure you tag on a trek to the start or end of your placement! AMAZING!!! And a totally different view of Nepal. |
| For more information |
