Lucy Parsons, 3rd year diagnostic radiography student, University of Hertfordshire reports from her elective placement in Uganda.
After arriving at Entebbe airport and meeting my taxi driver, we got underway to Mildmay Centre.
The journey was a thoughtful one, the last day had seemed to go past in a blur. After leaving my home and family I was very apprehensive. The sight of a huge pelican sitting atop a lamp post woke me up, I am in Africa!
As we neared the Mildmay Centre where I would be carrying out my second year elective placement, I realised that the difference between Uganda and the UK would be significant.
The Mildmay Centre is a treatment centre for local adults and children that are HIV positive. It caters for a vast amount of outpatients and also paediatric inpatients from the Mildmay Paediatric Hospital. Many of whom wait all day to be seen and no matter what the wait they will never complain, what a difference to back home!
I spent the two weeks I was there working along side Mildmays only radiographer. The equipment was dated and very basic but managed to do the job. Many patients were seen everyday for x-rays and ultrasound scans and for the first time I experienced working with plain film. I found this very interesting and even managed to fog several films.
I was amazed by the fear most patients had of x-ray and that the amount of reassurance they needed to enable images to be taken. I also spent several afternoons playing with the children at Mildmay Paediatric Hospital and visited the national referral hospital in the capital.
Working along side the radiographer at Mildmay I learnt a lot, including how all radiographers are taught ultrasound alongside x-ray whilst at university and how they have recently adapted to a degree programme and a post graduate reporting course, which the radiographer at Mildmay was attending.
I also learnt how HIV positive patients are treated and how radiography plays a big part in diagnosing and managing the other illnesses that come with being HIV positive.
On leaving Uganda and the Mildmay Centre I will never forget the hospitality and kindness I felt from all the people I met, even though many have so little they were always willing to share.
From my experience in Uganda I believed I gained far more than I was able to give.
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