I was keen to focus on oncology in Africa for my medical internship, but as soon as I began researching I realised that Africans do not recognise it in the same way that we do in the UK. I thought I would have to change either my specialist area or choice of destination, so I was thrilled when Work the World used their contacts to find me a placement in Tanzania with one of the only oncologists in the country. He had just finished specialist training in Italy and had set up a department in a tertiary referral hospital in Mwanza just 8 months earlier – this was an amazing opportunity to observe an entirely new range of conditions and procedures as part of a new area of study in Tanzania.
Whilst in Mwanza, I was able to attend ward rounds with the oncologist and work in the daily clinics. I saw countless patients with cancerous lesions greater than I had ever imagined possible, many of whom were terminal before they even presented to a healthcare professional. The oncologist told me that many delayed visiting the hospital because of the stigma attached to disease in Tanzania or because their first port of call was to a herbalist or traditional healer. Amazingly some patients knew so little about cancer they thought their problems were due to charms set against them.
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