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Medical placement in Ghana

Medicine... the African way
Ruth Malthouse spent four months volunteering in a hospital in Ghana with Teaching & Projects Abroad. Here she tells her story...

"I decided to sign up to a Teaching & Projects Abroad medicine placement, specialising in physiotherapy in Ghana. As I adapted to working and living in a developing country, I encountered some truly amazing experiences.

I worked in the Central Regional Hospital, Cape Coast, which was only a 20-minute walk from my host family’s house. The work at the hospital was brilliant: I couldn't have asked for better work experience in physiotherapy. My placement supervisor, Albert, had taken a postgraduate degree in Amsterdam and he explained that the treatment here was different from treatment in developed countries. I had to show him that I could massage a patient and for the first week I was sent from one cubicle to the other massaging patients with Deep Heat (not so good in hot climates as it really stings the eyes of the masseuse!).

After just three weeks, armed with my Biology A Level, a splendid white lab coat and a medical guidebook I was given ‘clinician status’ - and my own patient list! I wasn’t thrown in at the deep end though, as the team was really helpful.

My average working day was 8am to 3 or 4pm. The department shut at 2pm but I then went on house calls with Albert. I met so many amazing people and it made me realise how lucky we are in this country. I met infants suffering from cerebral malaria and many stroke victims. Each patient I treated would try and teach me the local dialect of Fanti - which isn't that easy!

As for Teaching & Projects Abroad, they were great. They met me at the airport and looked after me until I arrived at my house. Every week the regional coordinator would come round either to the house or hospital to check up and see if we had any problems. I was also lucky to have the country director living in our region. He and his girlfriend arranged quiz nights every Tuesday and a night out at a different 'spot bar' on Thursdays.

I was lucky enough to get involved with a group called ‘African Footprint International’. They perform original African dancing and drumming with the help of able-bodied and disabled people. The people in the group don’t have much, but with the help of the drums they express feelings in a way that I have never seen before. I was so touched by their work that I bought three drums and took some lessons. I was amazed at how much your hands hurt after drumming for an hour!

Once the placement ended I travelled around Ghana for a month. My partner Katrin and I decided that we wanted to see as much of Ghana as possible so we planned a route taking us around the sights. We travelled by bus, which was very cheap but quite an experience! The buses are old minibuses with very bad suspension and cramped seats. Plus, when it gets really hot, you just stick to the seat... and to the person next to you!

We saw some remarkable sights: waterfalls, three-headed palm trees, caves, botanical gardens, Lake Volta and many gorgeous beaches, not to mention the castles for slaves. That was one of the things that really hit me hard - learning about how the English, Dutch and Portuguese treated the native Africans.

I will definitely go back to Ghana when I have completed my degree. Teaching & Projects Abroad were extremely supportive and made my time in Ghana even more enjoyable."



Name: Teaching & Projects Abroad
Address: Aldsworth Parade, Goring, Sussex, BN12 4TX
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Tel: 0845 344 7562