Lots of people have been asking how I'm getting on and why I have come back to Malawi for a 3rd time so here's a bit of info...
Malawi is a very special place for me and has influenced my medical training hugely. I visited first in 2009 as a medical student, which gave me my first experience of developing world medicine and again in 2013 and learnt to give my first anaesthetic!! On both occasions I gained so much from my Malawian colleagues, learning how to rely on my own clinical acumen, not just tests. I gained incredible experience, was able to write papers, and learnt lessons that have stayed with me through out my career.

I'm now back again, really hoping to give something back. I'm working in a far more rural hospital, in the far north of Malawi, wanting to see how a hospital runs without the laboratory tests, ct scans, and medical professionals available in the central city hospitals. The work the staff undertake here is truly astounding and again, the help they provide to their patients within this setting is through true dedication to the job. There are no malawian doctors here. The clinical work is carried out by clinical officers, trained for 3 years in general skills and then develop on the job. The lack of even the most basic equipment has really been an eye opening experience and has led me to want to raise awareness and hopefully some money for equipment the hospital could really need. Through discussions with the staff there are a number of basic equipment that would be useful. This includes sharp bins (£5) (currently they are using cardboard boxes), oxygen saturation probes (£10) batteries (£2) as well as more technical equipment that we would never consider anaesthetising a patient without in the UK, yet this is undertaken day in day out here.

If you feel you can help, please consider donating to this wonderful hospital, and the patients they serve. thank you xx