Sinead Reynolds, Global EM Fellow
My placement in Nanyuki alongside Gemma, another Global EM fellow, proved a fantastic opportunity to develop skills working within a non-clinical setting. As the first pair of EM fellows to visit the hospital we spent time getting to know the local staff and gaining an understanding of how the A&E department and hospital run together. Alongside this post we were lucky to be able to attend the Teamtalk project coordinated by Lucy Obolensky which promotes gender equality and empowers young women through education and community outreach visits. We were also able to visit a series of remote clinics set up by Lucy in the surrounding area. Seeing a healthcare system with cultural differences, and different resources compared to my usual working environment offered a thorough learning experience.
Prior to deployment I found the diploma in Global Health Short Course at Plymouth University particularly useful and would recommend it to future GH fellows for an introduction to healthcare in low and middle income settings. As well as meeting many great people in Nanyuki the post introduced a network of people working on similar projects through the global heath study days that run throughout the year. I’ve gained invaluable experience through my time in Nanyuki and hope to return in the future to see the continued work from ongoing GH fellow placements.