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Hospital Doctor, 29th June 2006
A qualification from the School can open many doors, and lead to
some fascinating opportunities. Here we catch up with Michael Woodman,
who took a Diploma in Tropical Health at the School and who is now
working with the international humanitarian agency GOAL in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
British doctor, Michael Woodman, 35, has a wealth of experience
working in remote clinics with limited resources in the developing
world. On 1 June, he arrived in his third conflict zone in the last
five years to administer health care to the beleaguered population
of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa, with
humanitarian aid agency GOAL.
With a British father and African mother, Michael was born and
brought up in Harare in Zimbabwe but has spent a significant amount
of time working throughout the UK, including seven months as Senior
House Officer of Emergency Medicine in the Bristol Royal Infirmary,
a similar amount of time as House Officer in Torbay Hospital in
Torquay, a year in Princess Royal Hospital in Yorkshire, and seven
months in Telford. However, it was in Zimbabwe that he first realised
his destiny of dedicating his working career to those less fortunate
than himself. ‘I’ve always wanted to work with the underprivileged’,
he said. ‘For the last six years I have been following this
career. I will never go back to working as a GP or in a hospital
after what I’ve seen and done abroad’.
From a very young age Michael saw, first hand, the major problems
facing Zimbabwe, and his resolve to make a difference has never
left him. He has spent the last five years travelling and working
in countries as far flung as Indonesia, where he was Medical Director
in Batu Hijau Medical Service with medical agency International
SOS. Here he was responsible for setting up and running clinics
in some of the remotest areas of the province. He worked in Sri
Lanka with the same agency, and before that with the French aid
organisation, Medicins Sans Frontieres, in Afghanistan.
Michael got his primary medical degree in South Africa, his masters
in public health in Australia and his diploma in tropical health
here at the School. While working for Medecins sans Frontieres,
Michael heard about the work that GOAL does in the developing world.
GOAL works in sixteen developing countries implementing projects
in response to humanitarian disasters, HIV/AIDS and street children.
‘I liked GOAL’s vision and mission statement’,
he explains. ‘They work to ensure that the most vulnerable
in the world have access to the fundamental needs and rights of
life’.
Michael is visibly excited about the time he will spend in DRC.
The country is emerging from seven years of war, which has contributed
to the deaths of approximately four million people, 98% of whom
died from disease and malnutrition, caused by a healthcare system
destroyed by conflict. He says: ‘This part of Africa has always
fascinated me, especially in terms of the conflict and how it has
affected the health care system. It will be a great challenge. I
will be working in areas where the need is greatest. It will also
be a challenge working in French, but I have no doubt I’ll
get a lot out of the whole experience’.
Michael advises: ‘An important issue to realise if you are
going to work in the developing world is that it’s not possible
to produce the same level of care that people are used to in the
West. It’s about how you can do the best you can with what
resources are available. For people who come from the developed
world, the feeling of frustration can be overwhelming, so it is
a challenge’.
He continues: ‘The logistics can be a major problem. Where
I’m going in the Congo there are no roads; everything has
to be flown in. It’s difficult to be in the one place all
the time to receive equipment. Another challenge is spending enough
time training the national staff so that when GOAL moves out, they
are left with enough skills to carry on the work’.
Michael has worthwhile advice for any professional from his field
thinking of going abroad to offer their medical services to the
poor and dispossessed. ‘If you’re even considering it,
go! It can be very difficult to step off the medical conveyor belt.
There is so much pressure to move up the latter and become a consultant.
But it’s a big world; I would encourage people not to be afraid
to take that first step’.
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