Over the past twelve months, we have supported many students who have gone out on electives in developing countries. You will probably have read the reports that we publish in each edition, but with so many reports and so little space in which to publish them, it is often hard to give a clear overview of the different experiences gained by these students. This article is an attempt to give a snapshot of the sort of elective experiences Christian healthcare students are exposed to working in Christian hospitals and health projects across the globe.
Where have they gone?
Over the past year, we have helped to send students to the following hospitals, projects and countries, amongst others:
What have they found? As one student put it ‘I wanted to be able to learn about diseases I had not seen before…how poverty …can impact disease and the complexities of developing healthcare systems in a country of limited resources. But… here was an opportunity to learn about the work of God in a far off land’. The challenge of an elective placement generally is to create a chance to experience healthcare provision outside of one's usual context. For a Christian, the added motivation (indeed, for some the primary motivation) is to see what God is doing, and whether He has a place for them in it.
Most students report that they find more than they bargained for, on all accounts. Probably the hardest thing is the contrast between our National Health Service and the provision of healthcare in developing nations. Seeing people having to pay for the most basic care is hard when you know that those you are seeing are so poor already. One student reported a junior doctor having to break the news to a mother that her child had a cancer that could only be cured on a course of treatment that would costs the equivalent of 20 - 30 years wages for an average worker. The fact that most patients only present at hospital very late in the progress of their illness (usually at a stage where cure is impossible or at best difficult) is usually because they cannot afford to present until their condition is serious. This is both because of the costs of travel and the costs of treatment (other factors also play a part, such as local health beliefs, especially those about the use and power of Western medicine). Consequently, students often see patients with far more advanced health problems than they would ever normally see in the UK.
Being faced with conditions that are treatable in the West, but for which no therapy is available in the developing world is also very difficult to accept. ‘One day a two month old baby with congenital cyanotic heart disease presented with increased distress. It rapidly became apparent that that the child's cardiac function was deteriorating and the parents elected to take the baby home to die. I was very upset and angered by such a young child dying, particularly from a condition that is treatable in a more affluent community’. A student in Nepal pointed out that, even more than in the UK, economic rather than clinical factors determined what treatment and tests were used. However, in this case it was the patient's financial status, not the hospital's that was the determining factor - 'every single blood-test, every x-ray and every pill must be paid for'.
On the other side of the coin, most students got chances to stretch their skills in many directions they would never normally have done in the UK. One discovered a previously unknown interest and gift for surgery, and a dental student felt after her experience that ‘I could tackle “most” extractions’.
Spiritually too, most people found that they got more than they bargained for. Many were amazed that each day started with prayer and worship, that there were regular times to pray with patients on the wards, and that each operation would start with a brief prayer. Faith was woven into the life of the Christians at these hospitals in a way not familiar to the secularised West. The local churches were often a revelation as well. One student in Kampala was amazed that she had to turn up an hour early for church to get a seat. '[And] this was just one of a number of services running back to back throughout the day. I have never seen so many people praising God with such enthusiasm as I did that day…It made me ashamed of our country, we who in comparison have everything… but either do not know God or cannot find time to thank him'.
The attitude of local Christians in the face of the daily grind of poverty was humbling for all the students who fed back. The generosity, willingness to share, and to praise God in hard circumstances made students re-assess their own beliefs and values. 'I think we can probably all learn something from the way that they are so focussed on people and relationships, rather than meeting deadlines at the expense of everything else!'
As another student put it - an elective is like an 'emotional roller-coaster'. One learns about God, oneself, and about the world in a dramatic way.
Conclusion
Electives are a starting point for many who go into mission long term. Some go with only a general interest and find God calling them to overseas mission through what they see and experience. Others feel called already and their elective is more a way of finding out more and confirming what God is saying. The challenge for all the students who go is to keep hold of what God has said. They need our prayers both before and after they return. Our new prayer letter acts as a guide to this
If you would like to know more about going on an elective visit the following links:
going on an elective
elective reports
request a prayer guide
or contact us at the HealthServe office: healthserve@cmf.org.uk
Where have they gone?
Over the past year, we have helped to send students to the following hospitals, projects and countries, amongst others:
- Botswana - Princes Marian Hospital
- India
- Duncan Hospital
- Herbertpur Hospital
- Vellore Christian Medial College
- Ludhiana Christian Medical College
- Lok Hospital
- Nagorno Karabakh – Stepanakert Medical Rehabilitation Centre
- Nepal
- Andaban Leprosy Hospital
- Patan Hospital
- UMN Oral Health Programme - Kathmandu
- Niger - Galmi Hospital
- Pakistan - Kunri Christian Hospital
- Papua New Guinea - St Barnabas Health Centre
- Sri Lanka - Nuwara Eliya District Hospital
- Thailand - River Kwai Christian Hospital
- Uganda
- Kisiizi Hospital
- Hospice Uganda
- Mildmay International Hospice
- Ukraine - Cherkassy hospital
- Zambia - Chikankata Hospital
What have they found? As one student put it ‘I wanted to be able to learn about diseases I had not seen before…how poverty …can impact disease and the complexities of developing healthcare systems in a country of limited resources. But… here was an opportunity to learn about the work of God in a far off land’. The challenge of an elective placement generally is to create a chance to experience healthcare provision outside of one's usual context. For a Christian, the added motivation (indeed, for some the primary motivation) is to see what God is doing, and whether He has a place for them in it.
Most students report that they find more than they bargained for, on all accounts. Probably the hardest thing is the contrast between our National Health Service and the provision of healthcare in developing nations. Seeing people having to pay for the most basic care is hard when you know that those you are seeing are so poor already. One student reported a junior doctor having to break the news to a mother that her child had a cancer that could only be cured on a course of treatment that would costs the equivalent of 20 - 30 years wages for an average worker. The fact that most patients only present at hospital very late in the progress of their illness (usually at a stage where cure is impossible or at best difficult) is usually because they cannot afford to present until their condition is serious. This is both because of the costs of travel and the costs of treatment (other factors also play a part, such as local health beliefs, especially those about the use and power of Western medicine). Consequently, students often see patients with far more advanced health problems than they would ever normally see in the UK.
Being faced with conditions that are treatable in the West, but for which no therapy is available in the developing world is also very difficult to accept. ‘One day a two month old baby with congenital cyanotic heart disease presented with increased distress. It rapidly became apparent that that the child's cardiac function was deteriorating and the parents elected to take the baby home to die. I was very upset and angered by such a young child dying, particularly from a condition that is treatable in a more affluent community’. A student in Nepal pointed out that, even more than in the UK, economic rather than clinical factors determined what treatment and tests were used. However, in this case it was the patient's financial status, not the hospital's that was the determining factor - 'every single blood-test, every x-ray and every pill must be paid for'.
On the other side of the coin, most students got chances to stretch their skills in many directions they would never normally have done in the UK. One discovered a previously unknown interest and gift for surgery, and a dental student felt after her experience that ‘I could tackle “most” extractions’.
Spiritually too, most people found that they got more than they bargained for. Many were amazed that each day started with prayer and worship, that there were regular times to pray with patients on the wards, and that each operation would start with a brief prayer. Faith was woven into the life of the Christians at these hospitals in a way not familiar to the secularised West. The local churches were often a revelation as well. One student in Kampala was amazed that she had to turn up an hour early for church to get a seat. '[And] this was just one of a number of services running back to back throughout the day. I have never seen so many people praising God with such enthusiasm as I did that day…It made me ashamed of our country, we who in comparison have everything… but either do not know God or cannot find time to thank him'.
The attitude of local Christians in the face of the daily grind of poverty was humbling for all the students who fed back. The generosity, willingness to share, and to praise God in hard circumstances made students re-assess their own beliefs and values. 'I think we can probably all learn something from the way that they are so focussed on people and relationships, rather than meeting deadlines at the expense of everything else!'
As another student put it - an elective is like an 'emotional roller-coaster'. One learns about God, oneself, and about the world in a dramatic way.
Conclusion
Electives are a starting point for many who go into mission long term. Some go with only a general interest and find God calling them to overseas mission through what they see and experience. Others feel called already and their elective is more a way of finding out more and confirming what God is saying. The challenge for all the students who go is to keep hold of what God has said. They need our prayers both before and after they return. Our new prayer letter acts as a guide to this
If you would like to know more about going on an elective visit the following links:
going on an elective
elective reports
request a prayer guide
or contact us at the HealthServe office: healthserve@cmf.org.uk
