27 April 2010
Two doctors from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust have returned from the trip of a lifetime, where they offered people living in remote villages of Nepal some much needed healthcare.
In rural Nepal, people who need medical treatment have to walk to the nearest road and then drive to the hospital. The problem being, for most people, that road is a six hour walk away and the hospital a further four - six hours drive away in the capital, Kathmandu.
As part of Health Partnership Nepal - a charitable partnership run entirely by medical students of St George's University London and Nepal Medical College - paediatric registrar Jo Morris and A&E doctor Phil Dart both spent two weeks in health clinics in the villages of Deurali and Kharanitar. The pair made the trip separately, but both came back with glowing reviews of their travels.
Jo said: "The trip went really, really well. It was hard work, but incredibly rewarding at the same time. We saw some weird and wonderful conditions and tropical diseases, but what struck me was the similarities - we saw a lot of conditions that we would see in England and the worries that people had were very similar."
Phil said: "It was an incredible experience and a fantastic opportunity. Helping people who otherwise don't have access to proper healthcare gives you a great sense of job satisfaction, and of course, makes you realise just how lucky we are. We saw people who had been putting up with painful conditions simply because the walk to Kathmandu is too much for them to take on."
It wasn't an easy two weeks, as both doctors worked 13 hour days and saw approximately 50 patients in each clinic per day. Jo said: "It was very tiring work, and even after a long day there were no home comforts for us - we slept on the floor, there wasn't any running water for three days and the food was pretty basic, but it was all definitely character building! I would highly recommend it."
Not only was the trip a test of their character, but also their professional skills. Jo added: "There were no x-ray machines there and no facilities to take blood samples, so we were really reliant on our own skills. It was testing, but a great boost to our confidence."
