Rafael Bastos and Carolina Costa: Brazilian medical students in Wales
Health systems have many common factors as Rafael Bastos, a second year medical student from Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora and Carolina Costa, a Fourth year medical student from Suprema Faculdade de Ciências Médicas e da Saúde de Juiz de Fora, Brazil found out on a recent trip to Cardiff, Wales- Rhona
From Rafael Bastos and Carolina Costa
It goes without saying that some people are more public than others when it comes to Public Health. Poorer people who can not afford to go private have no way but relying on the Public health System. This usually means long waiting lists and less time with their doctors.
As part of our training programme, Brazilian medical students are supposed to visit Health Centres in the poverty stricken areas of the country. Once there, one can witness weary doctors and nurses spending less and less time with their patients. Every now and then we even meet well-meaning health professionals being defeated by the system. The patients, most of the time, do not seem to have their expectations met. Some of them say: “It’s as if the doctor and I want different things.”
In Brazil, if you happen to be in the need of medical assistance, the first thing you should do is to get an appointment with a G.P. at your local Health Centre. Once you are there, you would have to wait a couple of hours to see the doctor. Most likely you would spend around ten minutes answering questions and undergoing simple procedures before leaving with a prescription. If you are lucky enough you would get the medicine you need for free right away.
Now, if you want to be seen at a moments notice or if you want to spend more time with a doctor you would have to pay for it.
It is also part of our syllabus to study the well-known National Heath System. In theory, the British Health System works very well. We found out, however, that most of what we have described above is also the order of the day in Wales.
When visiting a Health Centre in the outskirts of Cardiff, we could not help noticing that protocols often came before patients and again, more than once, doctors and patients spoke different languages. “We are in, we are out” one of the patents told us. “Ten minutes is enough to see our patients and solve their problems” said one of the doctors.
All in all, Health systems are everything but perfect and although Brazil and Wales are very different countries, the challenges they face in Public Health are not that different at all. After all, there is much more to Medicine than just rules and guidelines. We believe that when it comes to the sacred space between a patient and their trusty doctor there is absolutely no room for thoughtlessness. Rafael Bastos and Carolina Costa rafael@cursofreeway.com.br
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