Issue no 4, 1999 -- English edition -- home
Page: -- Contents -- 1, 2, 3, 4, (5), 6, 7, 8
So says gynaecologist Margareta Piper, from Huddinge, Sweden, after her third assignment on the island of Pemba in the Indian Ocean. However, she also says:
"I am nonetheless grateful to have had the chance to work there. I get new experiences each time, meet new people, and get friends for life. I am totally convinced that we are needed, if only by setting a good example, and by showing involvement in the work and empathy for the patients."
The problems include incompetent local administration, too few native doctors, and lack of medicines and medical supplies.
An article in a local Swedish newspaper begins like this: "After two years as retired surgeon, Dr Ulf Ljungqvist dons his white coat again. This time he helps people in the rural regions of Kenya, in a completely different environment than he was used to at home hospital in Falun."
And how was it to go back to being a doctor?
"I don't regret it one bit," he says. "To be sure, conditions were simple, but concerning the professional contact between doctor and patient, the difference was very small. A large part of the experience was of course to feel that I could do some good. I can consider going out again for the Rotary Doctor Bank, but will then try to convince my wife Anita who is a nurse-anaesthetist to come along."
Dr Ljungqvist is far from the only doctor who, after retiring from his post at home, once again dons his white coat and through the Doctor Bank makes a difference for others. More are welcome.
This recurring section has been moved to a common root page.