Looking backwards, looking forwards, looking east!

The year that was 2012 is slowly drawing to a close.  It's been a busy one.  I've been blessed with many opportunities to head east, visiting quite a few countries for the first time.  This has included: a parisian New Years celebration with old friends (plus oysters & cigars); navigating a crazy interrail route around Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Austria and Germany (with a tour of Chernobyl powerplant enroute); enlightening medical teaching trips to Ukraine (twice); summer camps with teaching opportunities in Lithuania and Belarus; short stays in Latvia and Estonia; backpacking around Russia having chance to see St Petersburg, Moscow and Kursk (with fantastic guided tour); and giving a week long series of lectures as part of PRIME on 'Whole Person Medicine', 'Stigma in healthcare' and medical communication skills to medical students at the University of Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania (Romania).  I've been made incredibly welcome by those I've met and have some great new friends.  I'm always amazed at how despite different cultures, the gospel (aka good news and promises of Jesus) unites people all around the world.  I have been shown such love, kindness and patience by those I've met and often stayed with over the past year - I cannot be thankful enough!  It's also been the year where I've gone from medical newby panicking about taking bloods to scary SHO on-call, being given even scarier responsibilities.  I've had some really great wards, inspiring supervisors and a fantastically supportive and caring church family, who've helped me keep my perspectives in check.  Furthermore, by grace, Preston now has a Christian Medical Fellowship group.

2013 also looks to be another year of challenge and adventure, with potential trips to Czech rep, Austria, Ukraine and Romania on the horizon.  Latvia is another contender.  God willing, I'm hoping there may also be a trip/holiday to Russia in the pipeline (buh-dum-cha!).  This may even be the long awaited year when I embark on the Trans-Siberian railroad and finally reach Vladivostok, the 'Ruler of the East'.  If the pace of work continues, 2013 should additionally herald the completion of year one of the Global Health masters (PG cert - woop!) and also potentially the dreaded MRCP part 1 (medical speciality exam). Mega Слава Богу if I manage that one!

Most excitingly however... there is a likely change of scenery ahoy.  Whilst adminsitrative formalities are ongoing, I've accepted a clinical position in south-west Germany to start in September 2013 (black dot on map beneath).  I can envisage many opportunities and beneficial challenges in working there; I greatly look forward to embracing these!   

So, what have I learnt in 2012?

1. Trust in God; work hard; things happen.
2. Travel is easy, the mind provides barriers, flexible is key. (Haiku!)
3. Effective time management is never to be underestimated.
4. Necessity is the mother of invention.
5. I have the ability to teach.
6. Stereotypes are limitted in truth, isolation helps reenforce them.
7. Aspirations are not limitted to a particular culture.  Neither is self-interest.
8. The Russian language is an enigma slow to unravel.  The reward of doing so however is bountiful.
9. God is faithful, even when I am not.  Praise be purely to him.

Key
-  Yellow : Countries visited previously
- Orange: Countries visited this year
- . Red  .: Countries on the hit list for 2013
-  Green : Germany, planned new home
-  Black  : Location from Sept 2013

România - este un loc frumos!

Hmmm, looks like I might be falling in love with another country and her people…  I’ve just had the great opportunity of teaching medical students for a week with an organisation called PRIME (Partnerships in Medical Education).  The uniting theme was that of ‘whole person medicine’ i.e. when you value the patient as a person rather than just the condition they bring with them, you dramatically improve quality of healthcare, diagnosis, treatment relevance, concordance and compliance.  The concept is drawn from the foundational biblical principle in love and service of God, we value and have compassion for our neighbour, regardless of situation.

As a result, I led a diverse range of lectures and seminars on topics such as:

• Breaking bad news to patients
• Identifying and managing depression
• Stigma in healthcare; including alcohol and homosexuality
• Evidence based medicine in practice
• Corruption and accountability in healthcare

These sessions were complemented by further teaching from a colleague specialising in Breast and Thyroid surgery from the UK.  The students were engaged and had many questions from our teaching sessions!  I am thankful for this and learnt a great deal from them too.  I even managed to get a few laughs and at one point a round of applause – something greatly unexpected.

During the afternoons  I had chance to learn from a series of sessions aimed at teachers within the medical school on methods of teaching medical students.  Again the PRIME principles of ‘whole person medicine’ were the foundation – whole student teaching?!?!  I think around 20 different teaching means and styles were covered, all applied with a mixture of theory, practice and discussion.  I again learnt a great deal from the chance to work with several wise and experienced colleagues from the UK, being privileged to share in their thoughts, preparations and actions.

And as for Romania, her culture and people…  The warmness of the welcome was pretty extreme!  We were very well looked after and supported.  I’ve made some good friends and had chance to experience a culture unlike those I’ve been to before in Eastern Europe.  The food is good and language pleasant to listen to (and sometimes even comprehensible).  As the name suggests, it’s latin-based – perhaps you can guess the meanings of: bună seara, merci, and adio?

The last thing to perhaps say, it that Transylvania is not a scary place (apart from the all-enveloping fog!).  Give it a try!