Beginnings

Welcome to the start of an exciting adventure.

As a medical student in the United Kingdom, I have the opportunity to undertake a period of study called ‘the medical elective’. From day one of medical school we all know it’s coming our way….one day…..sometime way in the future…...when we’re much older, much wiser, feeling like we’re only a small step away from becoming a doctor. And for me, the time has finally come. Am I wise? Old? Ready to become a doctor? Well…...I’m certainly older.

For students at the University of Liverpool, such as myself, the elective takes place in the summer vacation prior to our final year of study and is a requirement for completion of our medical degree.

Its purpose is to “encourage students to spend a period of further education outside the [North West] region, encourage study in a different cultural and environmental sphere and to broaden the student’s education”. So it leaves the door gapingly open to interpretation! And all the decisions really are up to you - the world is your oyster…..free reign to see any aspect of medicine anywhere on the globe….no limitations…..total freedom to carve your own experience. What an opportunity! But, how do you possibly begin to narrow down the choice?

For me, through the junior years of med school, I found a few criteria emerged:

• Abroad, if possible

I’ve never been much of a travel bug (no gap years, no inter-railing, the furthest east I’ve ever been is only Turkey!), but this seemed like a chance too good to give up to go to a foreign country, and preferably one that I didn’t know much about so I’d be adding breadth to my international awareness.

• Not Africa

Those who know me well know I tend to try to be unconventional with my ideas and, whilst Africa provides some fantastic experiences for medical students, it is the stereotypical destination for electives.  

•    Minimal language barrier

Expecting I would be travelling on my elective by myself, I felt it would be helpful to stick to countries where English is commonly spoken. Being away from home for a long time can be tough enough by yourself, but to be further isolated due to a language barrier might be one step too far.

• A low resourced hospital

I’ve spent a lot of medical school following people round and observing (which has taught me a lot of medicine, don’t get me wrong). But after nearly 4 years of med school, I want to do more. Going to a westernised/modern hospital, the likelihood is that it would be a similar set up to the UK – there’ll always be a more skilled staff member around to do the job whilst you watch (this is usually the safest way to practice medicine). By aiming for a more basic hospital, I hope to be a greatly needed extra pair of hands, a valuable addition to the medical team whereby I’ll get thrown into lots of situations where I’ll have to be resourceful, intuitive and (hopefully) very useful.

• Finally, if at all possible, somewhere a bit whacky, that people would think – “woah, how neat!”

With these criteria, and an interest in the Indo-Pacific waters following watching tv series The Pacific during my earlier uni days (the show portrays an insightful account of military life in the region during the Second World War), I settled on looking into the Pacific Islands and Polynesian areas.

That was 6 months ago.