University of Wollongong 2024
I really wanted to experience a healthcare setting that was different from back home in Australia. I wanted to expand my knowledge and skillset in a way that would be hard in an Australian hospital.
My first impression of my placement hospital was how different everything looked, from the hospital beds to the crash carts.
I started in the Emergency Department which was a good introduction to medicine in Nepal. The consultants were immediately accommodating and got me involved.
One of the main things I have taken home from this experience is how to be resourceful, such as what can be used as a tourniquet and how to make a VAC dressing.
I hadn’t had a chance to experience much trauma-based medicine, so being on plastics and burns allowed me to experience that. The most memorable case was a young girl with extensive electrical burns.
I assisted in multiple surgeries on this patient from the first debridement to the final graft placement. Seeing her surgical care throughout was an amazing experience.
The biggest difference I encountered was how advanced most presentations were compared to what I had previously witnessed back home. Preventative healthcare is massive back home in Australia with a huge emphasis on slowing the progression of diseases. So, seeing patients in Nepal in their 20’s with advanced liver and kidney disease was quite confronting and something I was not used to.
The other differences I think were mainly due to limited resources, as opposed to differences in actual care.
During our free time, we visited sites around Kathmandu in the afternoons, and during the weekends we went on trips outside of Kathmandu Valley. Seeing the countryside outside of the city was amazing.
Getting to experience different cultures, traditions, and medical settings has helped me to become a more well-rounded and educated person, as well as a better healthcare worker.
I would strongly recommend undertaking a Work the World placement – it took away all the stress of not only an international trip but also an international placement. It’s so easy to make friends and the whole experience is just so enjoyable.
