Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
There are moments when I begin to think that the island has run out of new experiences to offer me – and it is precisely at moments like this when I am pleasantly surprised to find that there is always another page to turn in the book of opportunities here.
Although I am not one of them, several of my friends are interested in pursuing careers in the medical field; applications for universities in the UK, US, Europe and the Middle East all require certain amounts of volunteer work to be completed, and it is often difficult to organise such activities due to age restrictions or logistical problems.
Which is why, when the opportunity arose to witness a heart surgery and take a tour around the cardiac sector of BDF hospital, my friends and I leapt at the chance to learn something about the standard of medical care on the island.
Twenty students were taken on a trip, all studying biology or planning on entering the medical field – we were given a detailed tour around the cardiac wing of the hospital, and all the various protocols were explained to us by the extremely pleasant and helpful staff.
We were allowed to watch several tests being carried out, such as a heart ultrasound (or echo), and a CT scan in action, before being taken in to watch a coronary artery bypass graft live in an operating theatre.
Needless to say, the experience was absolutely breathtaking, with me and my friends leaving the hospital impressed with the standard of care and the extent to which we were allowed to witness the operations.
