THE AIM OF DOCTORS FOR NEPAL IS TO IMPROVE HEALTHCARE IN RURAL NEPAL BY EMPOWERING IMPOVERISHED STUDENTS TO SERVE AS DOCTORS IN THEIR ISOLATED RURAL COMMUNITIES BY:

PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO IMPOVERISHED NEPALESE STUDENTS
SUPPORTING RURAL HEALTHCARE PROJECTS
PROVIDING A STUDENT ELECTIVE PROGRAMME
PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH BOOKS AND LAPTOPS

Once the student has completed their scholarship and qualified as a doctor they return to one of the many rural regions of Nepal for a minimum of four years to provide desperately needed medical care to the isolated communities of Nepal. We also:

SUPPORT HEALTH PROJECTS IN THE FAR WEST OF NEPAL,
FACILITATE RURAL AND URBAN MEDICAL ELECTIVES FOR UK STUDENTS,
HELP UK DOCTORS WITH VOLUNTARY PROJECTS.

Kate, just visible on the far right, treating a Nepalese community at a drop in clinic

DOCTORS FOR NEPAL WAS FOUNDED IN 2008 AFTER DR KATE YARROW RETURNED FROM A MISSION TO NEPAL WORKING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL AID ORGANISATION –MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES.

She experienced for herself the desperate medical need of the isolated communities; a situation confounded by harsh inaccessible mountains, political instability, and the poor economic status of the country.

DFN was registered as a UK charity in 2011 (charity number 1133441) and has grown steadily in size since. It currently supports 4 medical students. Our first student – Lalit graduated as a doctor in September 2012 and is working as an intern in Nepal before he embarks on his rural work.

THE COST OF EACH STUDENT IS IN EXCESS OF £30,000, A SUM THAT ONLY THE RICHEST OF FAMILIES CAN AFFORD IN NEPAL.

The medical system is deeply affected by the “brain drain” with many doctors fleeing to Europe or the States to earn higher salaries. There is little incentive to encourage doctors to return to their communities. Doctors for Nepal believes that by training students from rural areas, and by supporting Patan Academy, with it’s emphasis on community medicine, there is the opportunity to bring the medical care of rural areas nearer the standard expected by the urban population.

With less than 1 doctor per 100,000 population in much of Nepal, the need to train rural doctors cannot be emphasised enough. By supporting Doctors for Nepal, you will be not only changing the life of one student, but potentially helping to bring medical care to tens of thousands of patients who currently have to walk for days to reach even the most basic of medical care.