Hey Lovelies,
Planning my medical elective was by far one of the most exciting part of fourth year in medical school. I saw it as the light at the end of
the tunnel. So I thought I should write a post on my experience, and the whole planning process.
Deciding on a destination.
I always knew my elective would be outside the UK, the only difficulty was deciding on a destination. I started off by using the website The Elective Network, it gives a profile of each country, reviews from students, and contact details for most hospitals.
I finally decided upon Zanzibar,
Tanzania. I was sold by simply typing in
Zanzibar into Google images, it was also highly recommended by other students who raved about the clinical opportunities available.
The hospital.
Mnazi Mmoja hospital is one of 4 public hospitals located in Zanzibar Island, it is the major referral point for the island with a bed capacity of 400. Mnazi Mmoja hospital largely provides Primary and secondary healthcare with specialist outpatient services such as mental health, ENT, and Ophthalmology
Securing the Placement
Contact Mnazi Mmoja Hospital- Dr Omar is the guy to call, this was probably the most challenging area. Contact
him through his email (here), he takes quite a bit of time to reply.
You can contact him by phone, this being the best method to get an instant response. His phone number is +255 777 422119/ 715 422119. I got through to him instantly, I purchased a National Calling card online for like £2.
His contact information is widely known by the public, and it's readily available on the internet, so I am not disclosing his personal information.
Send documents to
Dr Omar- send application (request a form), send CV, and university transcript.
Fees- It costs, I believe, $75 per week for the placement. There are additional fees for accommodation, which I am not too sure on.
Confirmation
letter- once you've paid, make sure you get a confirmation letter from Dr Omar,
so you can submit it to your university if needed.
Flight tickets -
the best place I think you can get a ticket is via STA Travel. There are discounts available for being a student and under 26.
Remember that you will need
to buy domestic ticket to go from Dar es salaam Tanzania, to Zanzibar which you can buy from Precision air .
Insurance, MDU
etc.
I used the
insurance company Wesleyan, it cost around £67.
MDU Indemnity - This give you protection against a loss or other financial burden. It’s free for all members.
Travel Clinic
Fit for travel website gives you details of all the vaccines and tablets you may need.
Accommodation
I did not stay
in the hospital provided accommodation. However, it is compulsory and Dr Omar
is pretty much adamant about you staying where the hospital provides.
Travel checklist
The luggage from
London to Dubai is 30kg, but from Dar to Zanzibar is 27kg (from what I can remember). I had to pay additional fees for my 31kg Luggage! I think it costs me around 13000 shillings, which wasn't too bad .
Necessities
- Hospital-
- lab
coat
- stethoscope
- hand gel (It would be great if you could buy some for the hospital)
- Scrubs-I took 3 pairs
- Trainers
- Oxford handbook
- Sunscreen
- Deet spray! Ask
Well clinic about the best one.
- Medications
- Toiletries,
towels
- Sunglasses
- Sandals
- Swimwear (I got
carried away and bought over 10! Do not follow in my example)
- Clothes- loose
fitted, sensible to an extent (Muslim country, however it is very tourist orientated, so they are lenient)
Come in handy
- Waterproof phone
case, I bought from (link)
- Portable phone
charger, Bought for £10
- Laptop- There are pretty
much wifi connection everywhere, but wifi is not not provided in the hospital or hospital accommodation. There is however a communal computer with Internet.
- Snacks-
preferably ones that cannot melt in your suitcase.
- Card games
Money
Currency in
Zanzibar is shillings, but American Dollars was widely used throughout.
You can spend
shillings in local places, but most tourist activities are in dollars, but may also accept shillings.
There are ATM machines available, so take your bankcard in
case of cash emergency.
Most actives ranged from $11 to $40. But expensive activities such as safari can cost from $200.
Contact doctor
Omar in regards to transport.
Inform him when
you will be coming. Because he will not contact you personally.
The hotel provided
transport for us that cost around $15.
The placement
We were expected to
get to hospital at 8am most days and finish at 12pm. 8am-12pm was the designated time for elective students, but we were allowed to stay longer if needed.
On our first day
we met Dr Omar. He gave us an introduction, needle stick injury, general information about the placement, rules and regulations including not being allowed to take pictures in the hospital premises.
He then introduced us to Dr Ahmed, he gave us a tour of the hospital grounds. We then had the chance to inform Dr
Ahmed our preferred specialty; I chose Accident and Emergency, Internal
medicine, and Obs and Gyn.
Language- The doctors were all able to speak English and the medical records were written in English. However, the majority of patients were not able to speak English, but the doctors kindly translated for you. The official language in Zanzibar is Swahili, we had no troubles communicating with others outside the hospital.
I thoroughly enjoyed the placement, my favourite department was A&E. It was typically runned by One Senior House Officer and two internship doctors. On my first day I became immediately independent, where we were able to solely assess and managing patients according to A to E assessment.
I would highly recommend this placement for anyone looking for an Elective destination. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I must definitely would not change!
Thanks for reading.
