Foreign Medical Students in Jepara
Jepara : June – August 2008
Dutch medical students in Jepara
From June – August 2008, 4 medical students from Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands) were in Semarang and Jepara to do their final clinical rotation before they got their doctor’s degree. During their rotation they have spent 4 weeks in Semarang, 4 weeks in RS Kartini and 4 weeks in Puskesmas Mlonggo. The whole program was part of a cooperation between University Diponegoro (UnDip) and Radboud University. The 4 Dutch students were linked together with Indonesian students from UnDip and they formed a team. Because the skill and knowledge level of the Indonesian students are quite the same, the Indonesian students could help the Dutch’ with translation of the health history of the patients and they made a treatment plan together.
 Indonesian doctors and Dutch (almost) doctors…. |
During their rotation in Mlonggo the students joined the outpatient department (OPD) and learned about infectious diseases and the health policy in Indonesia. They also had to take care of the patients in the ward, with special attention to infectious diseases which are common in Indonesia, e.g. Dengue, Tuberculosis. The doctors from Puskesmas were very helpful and enthusiastic to help the Dutch students with language difficulties. |
They also explained a lot about the Indonesian health system, which is quite different from the Dutch.
 Staff of the Mlonggo Hospital and the Dutch medical students… |
Boudewijn and Marvin were the first 2 students who worked in Puskesmas Mlonggo. They had a great period their and beside the regular care in the PusKesMas, they were also able to go to the Posyandu to join public health care (growth monitoring, immunization), they did home-visit to patients with malnutrition and chronic disease and joined the emergency room to take care of the patients who needed first aid. |
All activities were supervised by the doctors and nurses of PusKesMas.
 International students fun…. |
Sara and Loes first went to RS Kartini. They had a different program which was split in 4 parts: 1 week emergency ward, 1 week internal medicine, 1 week surgery and 1 week obs/gyn and pediatric medicine. The diversity of the program made that they could learn a lot about different specialisms in health care in Indonesia. They could see emergency cases in the ER, assisted in operation theatre, helped with deliveries and were responsible for the patients on the internal medicine ward. |
The cooperation with the Indonesian students was perfect and beside the daily activities in hospital they also spend their free time together by going to Bandengan beach, dinner together or simply discuss about the differences in culture and public health care.
In the future every 3 months there will be 4 students from Radboud University who will come to Jepara for their final clinical rotation.
Next week: the Dutch students in the Jepara “R.S. Kartini” Hospital
