Concluding
Remarks
I gained a great deal from my experience at SFH. Never before have I experienced
life-and-death responsibility. After my time there, I feel in some sense
as having been tested and as having come through with a pass mark. I have
grown in confidence in my ability to make medical decisions and to really
help the sick.
Working on St. Augustine allowed me to become competent at procedures
ranging from ascitic taps to lumbar punctures to the administration of
cytotoxic medicines, some of which I had never even seen performed back
home. My clinical skills and acquaintance with clinical signs, such as
papilloedema and pleural rubs, have also made great gains from my time
in Zambia. Furthermore, I have developed an understanding of the diagnostic
and management issues of a new world of tropical medical conditions.
Living at SFH has exposed me to a whole new lifestyle and broadened
the scope for how I might use my skills in the future and the diverse possibilities
that exist for a career in medicine. I now have a more mature comprehension
of the role that medicine and doctors have world-wide, and a better conception
of the health and social problems that face humanity. In particular,
I have begun to grasp the enormity of the AIDS crisis and the impact of
the gap between the world’s rich and the world’s poor.
Finally, my time in Zambia has given me the friendship and mutual respect
of many people from all over the world. Their numbers include visiting
and resident health workers, engineers, administrators, and other professionals
- as well as cooks, cleaners, and footballers (among others) – and, most
of all, the countless patients I have had the great privilege of caring
for.
Chris Nickson, 10th May 2002
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This
web page was last updated June 26th 2002 by Chris
Nickson.
