RWANDA Medical Electives

The Charities Advisory Trust, a UK registered charity, has joined with SURF (the Survivor’s Fund) to offer medical students the opportunity to spend their elective in Rwanda.

Background

The Charities Advisory Trust has been working with SURF in Rwanda for over five years.

SURF was set up 9 years ago to help survivors of the Rwandan genocide deal with and recover from the tragedies of 1994, support a wide range of services for victims in Rwanda, and assist survivors in the UK

The Medical Student Electives (MSE) programme has been set up to provide medical students in the west with a practical, unique opportunity to experience medicine in a very different setting. We have been running medical electives in India for over five years, and dental electives in India for two years. Following the success of those programmes, we have recently launched our electives programme in Rwanda with SURF.

What you’ll learn

The MSE scheme provides a unique opportunity to see integrated health programmes working with the survivors of genocide in Rwanda. Students spend two weeks with Solace Ministries in Kigali , followed by two weeks at the AVEGA Project (Association des Veuves du Genocide) in Rwamagana.

Both clinics operate with the primary responsibility of providing technical assistance and management of antiretroviral therapy. They also provide ongoing clinical consultation, monitoring procurement of ARV drugs; counselling, laboratory services, hospital referrals, outreach and homebased care, patient support services, and follow up support.
Clinical care services: All patients referred to the clinics are examined and assessed for HIV-related signs and symptoms at baseline and at each follow-up visit using a standardized questionnaire. There is a drug dispensary, and there is a great focus on tackling common community and opportunisitic infections, such as malaria.
Laboratory services: Routine laboratory services at the clinic include microscopic examination for different biologic specimens, syphilis screening, HIV testing, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and microscopic cell blood count (CBC).
Patient support services: Psychosocial and counselling support, as well as nutritional guidance, is part of the continuum of care for HIV positive patients. Patients receive individual counselling sessions at the clinic, and they are visited at home by social workers to address their specific emotional and educational needs. They are encouraged to develop peer social support groups among themselves. The social workers are selected from within the neighbourhood community, spearhead the development of these networks.
Community outreach activities: Community outreach activities are also undertaken.

In addition to HIV, you will see a wide range of cases, including diarrhoea, dysentery, coughs and bacterial infections.

Accommodation and Food

The accommodation is in hostels attached to the projects. All accommodation is fully furnished, and all beds are equipped with mosquito nets.

The food is no different from what we are used to such as rice, potatoes, beef, all kinds of vegetables; plenty of fruits especially baby bananas. Traditional Rwandan food is fried or grilled tilapia, Goat Kebab, Ugali (a stiff maize porridge), matoke (cooked banana) and potatoes. Breakfast usually consists of fruits, tea/coffee/ cereal.

Most of the restaurants in Kigali serve a variety of food to meet everyone’s dietary requirements.

Climate

A combination of tropical location and high altitude ensures that most of Rwanda has a temperature rarely straying above 35°C by day or below 15°C at night. Rwanda has a moist climate, with most parts of the country receiving in excess 1m of rain annually. The driest months are usually July to October. Even if it rains, it is usually quick and heavy, and stops after 15 minutes. The sun will quickly dry you out if you do get wet.

When can I go?

The electives run for 4 weeks, commencing on the first Monday of the month. We plan to run six electives throughout the year, during moths determined by demand.

How much does it cost?

The cost of the 4-week course is £999. This fee covers:

  • The 4 week elective programme in Rwanda
  • Full Board and accommodation for 2 weeks in Kigali, with Solace Ministries
  • Full Board and accommodation for 2 weeks in Rwamagana with AVEGA
  • Collection from Kigali airport.

Over half the fee (£500) goes to SURF (The Survivor’s Fund), as a donation to the work of Solace Ministries and AVEGA. The doctors and staff give their time for free. £499 is the actual cost of board and lodging in Rwanda and airport collection.

Find out more at

Email:

Phone: 0207 433 3636