Queen Elizabeth Hospital
PERSONAL DETAILS
| Name | Nicole Hersch & Laura Trezise |
ELECTIVE DETAILS
| Country | Barbados | City | Bridgetown |
| Setting | Developed/urban, tropical | ||
| Local languages spoken | English | ||
| Dates of elective | January 2009 | ||
| Year level during elective | 5 | Expected level of knowledge | Clinical exposure, similar expectations to here in Australia |
DETAILS OF INSTITUTION
| Name | Queen Elizabeth Hospital | Population served | 260,000 |
| Size | 600 beds | ||
| Departments/specialties available | Orthopaedics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, General Medicine, General Surgery, A&E, Family Medicine, ENT, Child Health, Anaesthetics, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Community Health and Pathology. We applied around the middle of the year and had already missed out on most of the exciting stuff so GET IN EARLY! That being said, potentially ‘less exciting’ options like ophthal had a much less demanding schedule = more beach time! |
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| Further description | In addition to clinics for your elective specialty, there were general lectures on every weekday morning at 8am. Great little hospital – 44 clinical medical students who are very welcoming and good fun. Highly recommend going here for the experience and the location |
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| Student responsibilities | Depended on the department, but students were expected to attend clinics and theatre where appropriate, occasionally see patients alone and present them. We were asked to bring and wear white coats (girls) but the boys just wore white shirts and this was adequate. Dress conservatively but remember it gets pretty hot and humid there too. If scrubs are required – bring your own!!! |
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| Teaching availability | Although there were limited opportunities to get your hands dirty, the teaching made up for this. | ||
| Elective contact | Mrs Marcia Murrell, secretary to Faculty of Medical Sciences, mmurrell@uwichill.edu.bb Address: Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Martindale’s Road, St. Michael, Barbados, West Indies. Phone: (246) 429 5112 OR 437 8335 |
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| Application process | We wrote to Marcia with an expression of interest. Once our specialties accepted us, we had to fill out an application form and immunisation sheet. You have to pay US$50 to submit your application, and then a further US$150 upon arrival in Barbados. Apparently they make it so expensive to discourage students because they get so many applications. You can pay by cheque or money order, but we just paid in cash when we got there. |
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| Donations brought/grants | Hospital is fairly well set up. BYO scrubs. | ||
TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION, FOOD, LEISURE AND EXPECTED COSTS
| Accommodation options | The University of the West Indies does not provide facilities for accommodation of Elective Students, but there are private lodgings available ranging between BDS$600.00 – $800.00 per month. Information regarding private accommodation will be supplied to students if they request it when completing their application. We stayed in a private guesthouse (see below) but our mates stayed in the student accommodation and seemed to like it. Nice if you want to hang out with the other electives. Also a 30min bus ride from the hospital but a cheaper option. We stayed in the touristy area at a great, small place called Rio Guesthouse. In a great spot close to good nightlife and right across the road from the beach. We had a room with 2 single beds and our own bathroom. Communal kitchen downstairs with everything you might need and a great balcony. There were 10 rooms in total. Lots of nice people if you wanted to chat but mostly people kept to themselves. |
USD$350 USD$475 |
| Accommodation details | Rio Guesthouse Paradise Village, St Lawrence, Christchurch, Barbados Email: rioguesthouse@hotmail.com OR www.rioguesthouse.net |
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| Travel to location (including necessary documentation) | Flights to Barbados are not cheap. We flew there from Cuba via Jamaica, booked the flight ourselves on Jetabroad. We had a lot of trouble with Air Jamaica and would recommend avoiding them. Caribbean Airlines were lovely. Flights directly from the US would be much cheaper than the way we went. You don’t need a visa if you have an Australian passport and we had no trouble getting in to the country. Apparently, nationals of certain countries do so check before you go. It is worth printing the letter of acceptance for your elective to show at immigration if they ask. |
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| Transport within location | It’s very easy to get around the Island. The main form of transport is little minivans or buses which cost BD$1.50 each ride. | |
| Food allowances | Eating out is not very cheap, although there are a few cheaper options around. Supermarkets are plentiful and good to stock up if you can cook for yourself. Try Jordan’s near the markets in the city. Fruit and fresh vegies are although smaller than here…. | AUD$50ish (we spent about this for a weeks shop) |
| Social activities | - Mount Gay Rum visitors centre tour - St Lawrence Gap: great nightlife, plenty of places to choose from incl The Ship Inn, McBrides, Café Sol, Reggae Lounge… Also go to Taboo, Harbour Lights - Catamaran trip: we did from the Boatyard near town. 5hrs + lunch, booze, snorkelling with fish and turtles - Beaches – Crane, Cotton House Bay, Accra, Dover, Miami, Paynes Bay - Oistins Fish Fry: every Friday night. Great food and live music. - Lots of opportunity for water sports if you’re into that |
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| Recommended vaccinations | To be accepted for the placement, you need to have a blood test proving immunity to Hep B and Rubella. You also need to have MRSA swabs (nose, groin, axilla) and send a copy of the results. You also need to know your Varicella zoster, HIV, Hep C and TB status. I got a Mantoux done but it was not requested and TB is not endemic there. Other than that we had no other vaccinations. Malaria is not a problem in Barbados although occasional outbreaks of dengue fever do occur. FYI the water in Barbados is some of the cleanest in the world so you don’t need to drink bottled water etc |
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| The good | Great teaching and friendly environment at the hospital Lots of other electives who are inherently good value Easy to get around, and reasonably safe Lots to see and do, and close proximity to Trinidad and Jamaica if you want to island hop |
| The bad | Paying so much to do the elective Not the cheapest option re. living expenses, but can do it cheap enough |
| Further descriptions, comments or advice | Bajan people are so friendly and lovely to be around. Be streetwise but mingle with the locals as much as you can and don’t think about rum the way you would at home. Embrace it! Take US dollars for conversion, plenty of ATMs take visa credit cards (not eftpos) |
| For more information | For more information about the Uni of West Indes: http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/fms/ www.barbados.org Really good currency conversion site www.xe.com |
