{"id":17773,"date":"2019-08-28T10:42:24","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T09:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/?p=17773"},"modified":"2019-08-28T10:42:24","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T09:42:24","slug":"an-unforgettable-medical-elective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/","title":{"rendered":"An unforgettable medical elective"},"content":{"rendered":"

This summer I embarked upon the trip of a lifetime to Timor-Leste in southeast Asia for my medical elective. After a few days exploring the capital of Dili, and becoming wonderfully immersed in Timorese culture, the public ferry took us to the island of Atauro, and we were welcomed to our home for the expedition \u2013 Barry\u2019s Place eco-lodge, a tropical paradise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our time on Atauro with Blue Ventures (BV) was truly unforgettable. Each morning we dived twice, in one of the world\u2019s most biodiverse marine environments. Vast expanses of coral, turtles, rays, barracuda, clown fish, huge schools of fusiliers and thousands of other colourful reef fish. Over the first few weeks we learned about the science of the reefs, and how to identify all the different species of coral and fish. We then moved on to surveying the reefs, as part of an international monitoring programme called <\/span>Reef Check<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>
Soft coral garden | Photo: Scott Chan<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
Hawksbill turtle | Photo: Jen Craighill<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

When we weren\u2019t diving or learning about the reefs, there were opportunities to become more involved in the community. Once a week we\u2019d spend an hour at a local school, playing games with the students to help develop their conversational English, and every Friday we\u2019d clean the beach in front of our accommodation, recording the debris data for BV\u2019s partner NGO <\/span>Tangaroa Blue<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Mima<\/span><\/a>, one of BV\u2019s dive and science team, spent an afternoon showing us around her village and would regularly put on Tetun lessons for us. (one of the languages spoken in Timor).<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite being spoiled by some of the world\u2019s best diving, for me the most memorable experience of this expedition was our trip to Makadade, a village in the mountains, for their annual betel nut festival. Each year a handful of visitors attend the festival in the jungle to watch the Makadade community climb up tall spindly betel nut trees to retrieve the nuts – however, we were told that we were the first visitors to stay overnight in the village and join all of the festivities after the harvest. The village members were incredibly excited to have us there and were eager to have us try all their foods, listen to their music and join in with festivities. As the sun went down and the music was turned up, the dancing began, and we were quickly ushered into the middle of the square to dance. I have never experienced such a warm and wholesome culture, with such a strong sense of community.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>
Mima giving a Tetun lesson | Photo: Jen Craighill<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
Visiting the school for language exchange | Photo: Stephanie Rowbottom<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
Makadade betel nut festival | Photo: Nick Hurn<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

For my medical duties, I worked with the <\/span>expedition medic<\/span><\/a> to help keep everyone in good health. The nature of the expedition \u2013 diving every day and living in simple accommodation in a remote, rural area \u2013 gave rise to a range of mainly minor ailments. Ear, nose and throat problems were common due to the effects of diving, and stomach problems were also frequent amongst the group, due to the adjustment to life on a tropical island compared with home. This provided me with ample opportunity to brush up on my General Practice skills, but f<\/span>ortunately our team remained pretty healthy throughout the expedition with no major injuries or illnesses, and no cases of malaria or dengue fever. However, I worked with the expedition medic to ensure that we both knew exactly how to recognise the symptoms of these diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scuba diving is the main activity on a BV expedition and, due to the remote locations of expedition sites, volunteers adhere to conservative dive profiles and stringent health and safety standards. This has resulted in an excellent safety record over the years, but there\u2019s still always a chance that things can go wrong. To ensure that everyone is prepared for that possibility, the BV team runs medical evacuation drills every expedition, which can occur without warning, and provide an opportunity to practice emergency first aid in a high pressure environment. After these drills we would have a group debrief led by the expedition medic, providing a valuable learning experience, especially for someone like me with a keen interest in emergency medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>
Sunset on Atauro | Photo: Nick Hurn<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
Photo: Nick Hurn<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
Nick on a dive | Photo: Nick Hurn<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

I expect I\u2019ll never dive anywhere as pristine and beautiful as the reefs of Atauro again, and I\u2019ll have a hard time matching my experiences on the island. I hope that later in my career I\u2019ll be able to join another expedition as the medic, and in the meantime I\u2019d urge anyone who\u2019s interested in trying something a little different to join a BV expedition in Timor-Leste<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

If after reading this far you have any questions about what an elective with Blue Ventures is like, please don\u2019t hesitate to get in touch. The Blue Ventures office<\/a> will be happy to pass on my email address.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Read about Hina\u2019s experience spending her medical elective in Madagascar<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Join our next expedition in Timor-Leste<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nick spent four weeks in Timor-Leste diving the most biodiverse reefs in the world and helping his fellow volunteers stay in good health<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":17802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[587,471,478],"tags":[514,690],"class_list":["post-17773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-timor-leste","category-volunteer-expeditions","category-volunteer-stories","tag-medical-electives","tag-scuba-diving"],"yoast_head":"\nAn unforgettable medical elective - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nick spent four weeks in Timor-Leste diving the most biodiverse reefs in the world and helping his fellow volunteers stay in good health\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An unforgettable medical elective - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nick spent four weeks in Timor-Leste diving the most biodiverse reefs in the world and helping his fellow volunteers stay in good health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-28T09:42:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@blueventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@blueventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest author\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de2ad9fe48289f345b4ff2f37b953ecc\"},\"headline\":\"An unforgettable medical elective\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-28T09:42:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":833,\"commentCount\":3,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"medical electives\",\"scuba diving\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Timor-Leste\",\"Volunteer Expeditions\",\"Volunteer Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/\",\"name\":\"An unforgettable medical elective - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-28T09:42:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de2ad9fe48289f345b4ff2f37b953ecc\"},\"description\":\"Nick spent four weeks in Timor-Leste diving the most biodiverse reefs in the world and helping his fellow volunteers stay in good health\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":660,\"caption\":\"Photo: Nick Hurn\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An unforgettable medical elective\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\",\"description\":\"Voices from the front line of marine conversation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de2ad9fe48289f345b4ff2f37b953ecc\",\"name\":\"Guest author\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest author\"},\"description\":\"We regularly invite guest authors, including expedition volunteers, independent researchers, medical elective students and former staff to contribute to the Beyond Conservation blog.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/guest\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An unforgettable medical elective - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","description":"Nick spent four weeks in Timor-Leste diving the most biodiverse reefs in the world and helping his fellow volunteers stay in good health","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An unforgettable medical elective - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","og_description":"Nick spent four weeks in Timor-Leste diving the most biodiverse reefs in the world and helping his fellow volunteers stay in good health","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/","og_site_name":"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","article_published_time":"2019-08-28T09:42:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":660,"url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest author","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@blueventures","twitter_site":"@blueventures","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest author","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/"},"author":{"name":"Guest author","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/de2ad9fe48289f345b4ff2f37b953ecc"},"headline":"An unforgettable medical elective","datePublished":"2019-08-28T09:42:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/"},"wordCount":833,"commentCount":3,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg","keywords":["medical electives","scuba diving"],"articleSection":["Timor-Leste","Volunteer Expeditions","Volunteer Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/","name":"An unforgettable medical elective - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-28T09:42:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/de2ad9fe48289f345b4ff2f37b953ecc"},"description":"Nick spent four weeks in Timor-Leste diving the most biodiverse reefs in the world and helping his fellow volunteers stay in good health","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Adara-Tree-2.jpg","width":1200,"height":660,"caption":"Photo: Nick Hurn"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/an-unforgettable-medical-elective\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An unforgettable medical elective"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/","name":"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","description":"Voices from the front line of marine conversation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/de2ad9fe48289f345b4ff2f37b953ecc","name":"Guest author","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest author"},"description":"We regularly invite guest authors, including expedition volunteers, independent researchers, medical elective students and former staff to contribute to the Beyond Conservation blog.","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/author\/guest\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}