Experiences as a UK trainee in the developing world

Abstract

Indonesia is a developing country with high levels of poverty and deprivation. There is a shortage of skilled birth attendants and in spite of some progress in reproductive health programmes in the last decade maternal mortality rates remain high. After taking up an RCOG/VSO fellowship I went to practise as an obstetrician/gynaecologist and medical trainer on a small island in Indonesia for a year. This article is an account of the challenges and rewards of this experience.