Hi everyone, hope you are all well and enjoying some good summer weather! We have a few success stories to share from NJT UK, and today here’s one from a medical student heading to Cuba ð ̈ðo ðð»â¤ï ̧
‘As a medical student in the UK, I had the opportunity to go abroad for a placement. I chose Cuba after having heard so much about the healthcare system. In preparation for my elective placement, I learned a lot about the country’s current social and political situation and understood that medical supplies were scarce there – which is why I decided to bring supplies via NJT. I contacted them online and they sent me a package worth 5kg of medical supplies to add to my suitcase. I stopped by France for a couple of weeks before flying to Cuba from Spain and had no problems at the British, French and Spanish borders.
I started my placement at the Policlinico Van Troy in Centro Habana a few days after landing in Cuba. I let the director of the primary care centre kbow about my donations and we scheduled a meeting with her and the secretary on another day to do the inventory of the equipment. They were pleased with the donations and explained how useful they were going to be in practice. For example, the stoma bags I brought were probably going to be used with a young boy in the area who was going to have a gastrostomy, the small plastic speculum could be used in a younger girl needing gynaecological attention and the neurotips could be used in teaching neurological examinations to students.
It was a very rewarding experience! And having spent 4 weeks observing the Cuban healthcare system from the inside, I could see how important such donations are. I encourage anyone travelling there – as a tourist, or like me, as a student, to bring donations with them!’
