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Where we do it > Zambia - June Mcintyre
32-year old Glasgow based GP June Mcintyre wanted the opportunity to contribute something more to developing countries than just a passing interest and some cash. VSO gave June that opportunity. She volunteered at St Luke’s, a Catholic mission hospital in Zambia.
St Luke’s is in the rural village of Mpanshya, 200 kilometres from the capital Lusaka. With no electricity other than that provided by a generator for a few hours at night, it serves a population of 180,000 people. 20% of adults here are HIV positive. ‘The hospital had an antiretroviral (ARV) clinic, which had been running for two years with about 100 patients receiving treatment,’ says June. ‘My job title was ARV support doctor. My main focus was to be helping the staff with the development of the ARV clinic and looking after hospice inpatients.’
But the hospital hadn’t had a resident doctor in 18 months, so on June’s arrival expectations were high. ‘Trying to make local staff understand what they could reasonably expect a UK-trained GP like me to do was difficult,’ says June. ‘It took me a while to feel like I was a useful member of the team. But over time, I learned new skills, and I rediscovered skills that I’d forgotten I had.’
Though June didn’t have much professional experience of managing HIV or TB, she did have access to information resources. She realized that she could improve standards of care at the hospital by making this information available to her colleagues. ‘In mid 2006 the World Health Organisation published guidance on septrin prophylaxis for HIV patients,’ recalls June. ‘I produced a summary of this document, met with the nursing staff, and within a month the guidelines were being implemented consistently in the hospital.’
Another success involved extending the scope of the ARV clinic. June visited another Zambian mission hospital to see how their service was run. She then took her learning back to St Luke’s. ‘My colleague Bernadette and I decided to start seeing pre-treatment patients and infants born to HIV infected mothers in addition to those receiving ARV medication. As a result, we were able to monitor people with early stage disease for signs of progression, and also to identify patients with TB co-infection.’
Back in Glasgow, June is missing the extraordinary variety and excitement of her job in Zambia. Volunteering in such difficult circumstances has made her far more confident, and as a result she has learned to trust in her own judgment. ‘Volunteering wasn’t easy,’ says June, ‘but I’m so glad I did it. I’d say to any health worker contemplating doing the same: what you’ll be able to contribute is probably far more than you might expect.’
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