The Kambia Appeal is running a 3-day course for doctors, senior midwives and nurses who are contemplating working in a developing country.

Wednesday 21 March - Friday 23 March 2012

£350 per participant (includes first night dinner)

Venue: Cheltenham General, Gloucestershire

View the crash-course-flyer here

If you are reading this because you are a medic considering a spell overseas, this is to give you some background on the course and how it came about.

The Kambia Appeal has been working in the Kambia district of Sierra Leone for 20 years and is a UK registered charity with a formalised link to NHS Gloucestershire under the International Health Links Funding Scheme/Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET).

This course evolved when a surgeon from Gloucestershire, due to go out to Sierra Leone, was researching what was available in terms of training and preparation – something for a busy surgeon who would be unable to take a large amount of time out before the trip, but who equally didn’t want to go without an awareness of some of the problems and situations likely to be encountered.

He found that there were essentially no short courses available. Upon returning to the UK he set about putting together this course based on his experiences, thereby giving colleagues the opportunity he didn’t have; and built in a fundraising element so that a percentage of the money goes back to the Kambia Appeal.

The course runs for three days, timing as follows:

Day 1: 08.30 – 17.30 (including dinner at a local restaurant)

Day 2: 09.00 – 17.30

Day 3: 09.00 – 17.00

The course is delivered by a combination of local and National experts in their field. All speakers have experience, often extensive, of working in developing countries.

If you are wondering how relevant the training will be for your particular project or destination - and how does Sierra Leone compare - the following facts and figures might help:

Facilities, equipment and infrastructure in Kambia, at the time of writing, are very poor. Sierra Leone lies 158 out of 169 in the 2010 UN development index, life expectancy is 48.2 years and it has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Kambia district is one of the poorest of the 7 districts within an already poor country.

For further information please contact:

Queries about the course content: mark.whyman@glos.nhs.uk

Course bookings: alex.townsend@glos.nhs.uk

Testimonials from the 2011 Course:

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the course last week. I thought it was an excellent balance of very well presented subjects & the whole thing seemed very organised & ran very smoothly. The opportunity to do some of the simulated procedures was fantastic too.

I think we all felt inspired & hopefully gained a bit of confidence whether about to go off for a year or just at the pre-planning stage.

So thank you very much for organising it-a great success.

Dear Mr Whyman

Just a quick note to thank you for organising the Crash Course.  It was a fascinating course, really informative teachers who had relevant experience.  I’d be very interested in going out to Kambia if my E.D sills could be useful.

I am writing on behalf of myself and my brother to thank you for arranging and facilitating such an excellent course.

It was only after a period of ‘reflection’ (something we are supposed to be doing these days apparently) that I realised how much we had got from the course and how it had made me think about what, why and for whom any work in Developing Countries is about.

The course contents was excellent; the most important and relevant issues being covered and anything not specifically timetabled was probably discussed informally over coffee or lunch. These interactions were a very important part of the course from my perspective.

The mixture of clinical medicine and practical procedure was well balanced. You used Consultants with first hand experience of this type of work and knowing that there is someone with an interest at the end of the phone or email is a comfort. There is a danger of giving too much information and missing the important practical advice, eg in microbiology.

I was able to create a list of useful things to take on the trip; this was extracted from the individuals as they spoke and may be could form part of the ‘book’ that you have planned for next year.

I particularly enjoyed your own personal experience of trying to operate under such conditions; using head torch and daughter! Your own altruism and wish to give back by helping others comes across very strongly. This was more relevant for us, however the MSF and VSO contribution balanced it well. Grania was inspirational.

“Overall a brilliant course, very well organised – thank you”

“What a brilliant course, Ab Fab!  Please do it again, keep it up it’s brilliant”

“ A great course overall.  Would recommend this to anyone going abroad to a low income country”

“Hugely useful, relevant, inspiring and interesting course – thank you”

“Fantastic Course, really interesting”

Disclaimer: Although this course is run and organised by NHS employees, there is no NHS responsibility for the course or its content as it is organised and run on behalf of The Kambia Appeal, not NHS Gloucestershire. This course is designed to give a brief overview of what you may encounter whilst working in a medical capacity within a developing country.