Anyone interested in developing countries?

[E-man07]

dats some crazy stuff. Wow!!!!
i juz found out u live in nigeria

I'm a Nigerian living in Asia. I hope 2 study medicine in the UK and do somethin about healthcare in nigeria
I juz had my interview 4 uni of notts. In my opinion, the empathy part didnt go too well as all i talked about was making Nigerian healthcare better. Nothing much about human beings!
And i knw many unis need u to have some kind of sympathy for sick people.
For the motivation part, i think i did well as i rambled on about microorganisms and the brain which are the areas of science i am deeply interested in.
Do u have any advice? for my next interviews? ...esp in the aspect of empathy.

[tooyib]

I really dont hav any advice on interviews, but nice meeting u. I also plan to come to china to learn acupuncture for my elective next year if am able to secure a scholarship. Do u hav any idea if i can secure a scholarship from chinese govt or any school?

[E-man07]

ppl...sorry 4 postin stuff dat really should go by private message. if anyone still has any comments pls spare a few minutes.

[Gizmo says -]

this is a shit angle.
it shows you've not even fort about what you are wanting to do.


developing countries dont need rich middle class peeple trained at med skool who dont have other skills.
they need carpenters, plumbers, good teachers and civic engineers. they need a dozen ealth workers who can acheive ten times more for a tenth of the cost of educating a single doctor who can do very little for them.

and they need us to be less greedy and self indulgent and more honest if we are going to be any use to them.

if you want to elp your country men then spend the tuition fees for university and the costs of your previous upbringing more wisely than for getting to study abroad.
training to be a doctor to elp your less well off neighbours?
thats nothing but a blind ego trip.

[E-man07]

Although i agree wif the fact that other careers might do more help than medicine, juz remember d fact that

ambition (wat u call ego) + compassion (notice there isnt + unnecessarily rich)= happy successful fulfilling life!!!!!!!

And btw docs r needed in developing countries for ur info. Who will help in curing chronic illnessess of those "carpenters", "plumbers"? So wat u r sayin is we can afford to let dem die off and replace them wif new ones spending more money in making new ones and losing the benefit of the dead/chronically ill ones.
Health workers dont hav enough knowledge 2 do this.

Also, common sense shud remind u that development is made up of economic and social. Social aspects involve being able 2 afford good healthcare and so hav a happy long life. Economic means makin ppl healthier so they can work like robots all their life in the name of "makin d country better".

[cat_bach]

Personally i think "developing countries" is a way too generalised, way too vague term covering too many countries with too much variations in politics, culture, diseases, infrastructure for one answer to ever cover it.

I can see how a western doctors coming into an acute crisis situation (such as a natural disaster, a infectious disease epidemic or a famine) could be make a huge difference. I could see how researchers in western universities could develop medicines for diseases that their collegues in countries with less resources couldnt (but then those countries could never afford them..oh the shitty world we live in). On the other hand, many problems facing developing countries (such as endemic corruption, centuries of shameless exploitation, climate change, political turmoil etc etc) are not things that western doctors can ever attempt to solve, and it could be argued neither should they even attempt to.

[Gizmo says -]

Although i agree wif the fact that other careers might do more help than medicine, juz remember d fact that

ambition (wat u call ego) + compassion (notice there isnt + unnecessarily rich)= happy successful fulfilling life!!!!!!!

And btw docs r needed in developing countries for ur info. Who will help in curing chronic illnessess of those "carpenters", "plumbers"? So wat u r sayin is we can afford to let dem die off and replace them wif new ones spending more money in making new ones and losing the benefit of the dead/chronically ill ones.
Health workers dont hav enough knowledge 2 do this.

Also, common sense shud remind u that development is made up of economic and social. Social aspects involve being able 2 afford good healthcare and so hav a happy long life. Economic means makin ppl healthier so they can work like robots all their life in the name of "makin d country better".

that post is so beyond patronising to someone on a developing country - its the reason why we are so ineffective when we go abroad. your argument is based on ONE doctor being effective, my argument is based on a 'undred ealth and civic staff, that being a far more effective solution to elp those abroad. no wonder you took so long to reply.


You want to go 'elp more peeple get 'ealthy abroad,then go give them to 'ang up mosquito nets, remove water retaining rubber tyres and plastics from junkyards and trash, spray areas where mosquitos 'ang out, go dole out vaccines as even a basic volunteer, go restore irrigation systems and plumbing to the same end. the list is endless.
dont train as a doc so that you can recognise symptoms of malria that a volunteer could do, but you cost the entire budget of the town to carry out so that they cant afford other more essential services.
DONT pretend for a secons that you as an individual 'ave the answer to their problems , when you're the least effective patr of their solution even after six years training at med skool.

now no more 'but doctorsdo somefing important', becos thats REALLY not what i'm saying and YOU KNOW IT.

[Yixian]

Also, common sense shud remind u that development is made up of economic and social. Social aspects involve being able 2 afford good healthcare and so hav a happy long life. Economic means makin ppl healthier so they can work like robots all their life in the name of "makin d country better".

Your "social" and "economics" division here is really bizarre.

[cat_bach]

I dont mean this in a patronising way at all e-man, and its more of a general comment on the relationship between developed and developing countries but I really believe if you dont really understand the situation you`re going into then you shoulndt go cos you might/ probably will do a hell of a lot more damage than of help. If the third world is ever going to have a fighting chance the things that are really going to make a difference are in the short term dropping the price of antiretrovirals and making them widely available, gagging the pope and stopping absurd abstinence only sexual health campaigns, the west paying a decent price for the products they buy, allowing women to control their feritility and getting a decent education etc etc. I would disagree with Gizmo saying that the third world needs carpenters and plumers more than doctors- first priority isnt manpower, its resources; but once it comes down to manpower western doctors willing to work for free are gonna be a helluva lot more useful than western plumers and carpenters. I do think that western doctors have a role to play in developing countries, but only as a measure that stops a bad situation getting worse rather than as a part of a long term solution.

[Gizmo says -]

no they arent.
if you get constantly a clean water supply in a permanent well built 'ouse, you eliminate dozen of everyday diseases for years on end that one doctor could waste a lifetime diagnosing. (although note that the doc wouldnt spend much time treating them patients- that'd be the job of a team of much cheaper to educate and more numerous AND more locally knowledged (and therefore better sjuited to working wif their public) 'ealthcare workers. And you'd need far more of them than the one doctor to dole out the treatment everyday for weeks/months of recovery).

one stop. you need plumbers, 'eathcare workers and civics MUSH more than a doctor.


E-Man - sorry to sound argumentative earlier but i really dont fink you should mention this plan, its NOODLE and smells of a public school kiddie (a pleasant one mind, but a right daydreamer) who hasnt got anything real to do but twiddle his thumbs for weeks.

needlesstosay, i dont fink it would harm your interview, since the interview itself is a basic level one at med school entry level, but theres no point in laying stones in your path needlessly.