An ordinary meeting of the Society was held on November 7th 2007. In the President’s absence the Vice-President, Dr Jill Graham, was in the chair.
The meeting received reports from 3 medical students who had received Foott Memorial Bursaries.
Tamsin Drake visited The Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. This is Kenya’s largest hospital with 50 wards and 1800 beds. The wards are very crowded. Patients have to pay and so there are often 2 patients to a bed, to save money, and many are on mattresses on the floor. As there is only 1 nurse per 45 patients they are looked after by relatives – sometimes 10-15 at a time! 50% of the patients have AIDS. Hygiene is appalling and there are no basins in which to wash hand.
Tamsin attended ward rounds of 30-40 people, and found the doctor patient relationship so different, which was unsettling at first. She generally got ‘stuck in’ to hospital routines and doing investigations and staining sputum for TB. Her living quarters were a shed with a light bulb, which she got quite fond of eventually. She also made a point of visiting a new ultrasound clinic in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa. In conclusion she saw how a very poor country attempted to cope and she saw diseases that are very rare here. She now feels much more experienced and confident, in a way that she would not have done by staying here. She thanked the Society for the opportunity the bursary gave her.
Kelly Wiltshire, who is also studying for a BSc in psychology, wanted to explore her interest in psychiatry. She arranged to spend her elective at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and at Kings College Hospital. She explained the set up at the Institute and how she spent equal periods in Learning Disabilities, Neuropsychiatry, the Adolescent Mental Health unit and with the Conduct Disorder, Fostering and Adoption Team. It was an intense and full time rota. She learnt that a multidisciplinary approach to adolescent psychiatry is essential and she was able to see assessments of a variety of children belonging to different ethnic cultures. The experience has encouraged her interest in a career in psychiatry. She also thanked the Society for the bursary as the visit was self funded and she could not have managed to do this elective without it.
Faith Lovegrove visited the Christian Medical College Missionary Hospital in Vellore, India - a large teaching hospital. She spent 2 weeks each in Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Community Health and Development. She also felt uncomfortable with the “high and mighty” attitude of consultants, at first, though patients did do what they were told. Patient care was done entirely by the family.
The labour ward was open plan with no curtains. No males were allowed in. Mothers in law were often in attendance too and there was family despondency if a girl was born. Faith was not allowed to do deliveries herself because of the Aids situation but she could take blood and she put up a lot of drips.
In her Community Health attachment she toured the 68 villages with the team – covering a population of 250,000.
She was welcomed by the local people as well as staff in the hospital and often invited for meals.
In her conclusion she highlighted the cultural differences in medical care, mothers sleeping on the floor beside their sick children on the wards, no toys for the children, and her surprise that mothers flew from London to have their babies there, when there is no analgesia in labour. She thanked the Society for the award which has given her a unique experience and an insight into third world medicine not possible otherwise.
Two new members were elected:
Mr Azy Alaily PhD. FRCOG proposed by Mr Brian Milne and seconded by Dr Hutchin.
Dr Alasdhair Gordon proposed by Dr Glass pool and seconded by Dr Hutchin