African adventure helps student experience personal and professional growth
A GCU student has described her three-week summer placement in Tanzania as a “once in a lifetime experience.”
Lucy Napier was one of five BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Imaging students who rounded off their third year at GCU with a trip to East Africa.
A number of Undergraduate health courses offer students the chance to complete an Elective Placement, giving them the opportunity to gain an insight into a specific area of healthcare at home or abroad.
“Elective Placements are amazing because they allow you to go anywhere you want,” said Lucy.
“My original plan had actually been to go to New Zealand because I’ve got family there, but I found out four of my other friends were going to Tanzania and there was one space left.
“I just really fancied it because it is so different to the UK in terms of both healthcare and culture. The patients you come across are just so appreciative and thankful for everything you do. It really was a once in a lifetime experience that I already wish I could do again.”
Lucy flew out to Tanzania on the 8th of June and spent the following three weeks soaking up all that the country had to offer with her class-mates Tayyiba Sheikh, Laiba Khan, Leah Crozier and Lorna Cameron.
She said: “We all got accepted through the website Work the World – it was just lucky that there were five places available for radiography students.
“We stayed in Dar es Salaam and we were in a house provided byWork the World. There was actually 34 of us all staying in this house at one point – it really was the perfect place to make new friends.
“Tanzania is still developing as a country, but where we were staying in what was classed as the richer area. Every local we met was just so lovely – everyone wanted to know what we were doing there. Tanzania really does just have a lovely culture and it just seems like there is a real tight-knit community feel – everybody seemed to know each other. The food was really good too; a lot of plantain and a lot of chicken.”
Having spent time on placement across a variety of different healthcare settings throughout her degree, Lucy was keen to experience her profession in a new environment.
“We were quite lucky because you could basically choose your hours at the hospital, as long as you worked a certain amount each day. It got really hot in the afternoon so we tended to go in for 7am and come home mid-afternoon.
“We went to and from the hospital by tuk-tuk, which was crazy. They would weave in and out of the traffic and we were clinging on in the back as the driver tried to avoid the massive potholes.
“We would then get to the hospital, sign in, and head to our department. There was quite a lot of Tanzanian radiography students there – there was about 15 of us in one X-Ray room at one point. It was interesting to see the dynamic between the students and the mentors.
“It was actually pretty similar to the UK in terms of actually doing the X-Rays. Obviously there was a bit of a language barrier there – even with our two Swahili lessons we got each week as part of the placement!”
Lucy went on to explain that the stark contrast between the UK and Tanzanian healthcare systems have made her more appreciative of the NHS.
She said: “Healthcare in Tanzania is available to anyone, but it can be quite expensive for the people that live there. The basic rate of daily pay is $1 and a chest X-Ray there would cost $10, so it is quite a lot.
“The way they access healthcare there is different to us. If there is something remotely wrong we would tend to go to A&E in the UK. Over there, it is life and death. People don’t tend to go to hospital until it’s far too late for anything to be done. It was pretty heartbreaking at points.
Lucy added: “I would say it helped me recognise just how good the NHS is – I’ll definitely not be taking anything for granted.
“It was really beneficial because we learned a lot more adapted techniques in Tanzania because of the pain that patients were in, whereas in the UK it’s pretty standard with the X-Ray machine. You also get the chance to actually get to know the patient a bit more - that doesn’t happen in the UK because we’re seeing so many patients.”
With Tanzania more than ten times the size of Scotland, there was also plenty for Lucy to experience on her well-earned weekends off from the hospital.
She said: “We definitely made sure we go the chance to explore! We took the ferry over to Zanzubar, which was about 2 hours away, and we stayed in a beautiful resort. We got to go snorkelling and went horse riding on the beach. We also visited Prison Island, which had massive tortoises. The beaches were just amazing, and the whole experience was definitely helped by the sunny weather.
“We also got the chance to do a safari on the other weekend, which was incredible. We did, however, have a baboon jump into our car and steal our packet of crisps…”
Despite the sad loss of a perfectly good packet of crisps, Lucy would definitely recommend the whole experience of a placement abroad to other students.
She explained: “I honestly couldn’t recommend it enough. If you are ever in doubt about it then just do it.
“A couple of months before I was worried I hadn’t picked the right place, but I have absolutely no regrets. It really was amazing.”
Find out more about GCU’s BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Imaging course here
By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter