Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre
PERSONAL DETAILS
| Name | Georgina Harvey |
ELECTIVE DETAILS
| Country | Tanzania | City | Moshi |
| Setting | Semi-urban – hospital is in the countryside but is only 20-30mins away from a medium sized town | ||
| Local languages spoken | English, Swahili | ||
| Dates of elective | December 2009 | ||
| Year level during elective | 5 | Expected level of knowledge | 4-6th year |
DETAILS OF INSTITUTION
| Name | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre | Population served | Large catchment area – 11 million people |
| Size | 450 beds | ||
| Departments/specialties available | We spent our placement in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, but there are a wide variety of placements available. Paediatrics is particularly popular with elective students and requires earlier application. | ||
| Further description | The hospital is large, and has its own medical school attached – this is great for teaching opportunities, but means that you are one of a large crowd on ward rounds and share practical opportunities (such as scrubbing in to theatre) with the local students. | ||
| Student responsibilities | Similar duties to students in Australia on the wards, however more responsibilities are given to students (and junior doctors) in theatre and in the resuscitation room. | ||
| Teaching availability | Fantastic! The daily ward rounds were filled with constant teaching (all in English), there are lectures given to the local students each afternoon that international elective students are welcome to attend and there are also additional tutes given on a weekly basis that are department specific. | ||
| Elective contact | Director of Hospital Services at international@kcmc.ac.tz | ||
| Application process | Through the above contact – this was a long and drawn out process due to delay in receiving reply emails – don’t be shy in calling the hospital. | ||
| Donations brought/grants | Disposable gloves, needles, syringes. We also donated our Insight Development Fund Grant to the scholarship program for the attached medical school. |
||
TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION, FOOD, LEISURE AND EXPECTED COSTS
| Accommodation options | International elective students stay in the hospital grounds in allocated houses. | $150 US per month |
| Accommodation details | The houses were nice, and had bedrooms for up to 5-6 students (mainly 2 people sharing each bedroom). There is a communal kitchen and living area. Warm running water and (unreliable) electricity. | |
| Travel to location (including necessary documentation) | Flights to Kilimanjaro International Airport Transfer from airport to hospital |
$3000 AUS $50 US |
| Transport within location | Local buses | <$1 ride |
| Food allowances | Food can be bought in Moshi from a small supermarket, and there are also street vendors selling fruit and veg on the road at the back of the hospital. There is a delightful hospital café on the grounds, that sells breakfast/lunch/dinner for about $1 US/plate |
$5-10 day |
| Social activities | As there are quite a few international students on placement at KCMC at any one time, there is always someone to hang out with (think board games, cards…). There are also some restaurants and bars within walking distance (in daylight – short taxi ride at night) of the hospital. On the weekends or after your elective there are amazing trips to be done: safari at the Ngorogoro crater and Serengeti, visit the beaches of Zanzibar, climb Mt Kilimanjaro… |
|
| Recommended vaccinations | Take the advice of your travel doctor. Malaria prophylaxis required, and you should also take HIV PEP with you. |
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| The good | Amazing exposure to health conditions in tropical Africa, well-supported environment and excellent teaching. |
| The bad | Given the large number of local students, there wasn’t as much opportunity for hands-on experience as I had hoped for. However, we were still able to scrub into theatre occasionally and could certainly watch all procedures. |
| Further descriptions, comments or advice | For a first exposure to medicine in the developing world, our placement at KCMC was perfect; we were adequately supervised, well supported and received brilliant teaching on all the many medical conditions that were unfamiliar to us. The international student environment also allowed for many fun social opportunities – given the number of overseas elective students, this is a placement that could easily be done on your own, as you will make friends there. |
| For more information |
