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Bell-Wade, Tancred & Ackroyd scholar John Louca (Medicine 2017) spent two weeks of the summer working with the charity in Ethiopia, carrying out medical and humanitarian work. John, pictured second left, who was awarded the Ian-Gordon-Smith prize for Medicine, reflects on the experience.

I travelled to Ethiopia for medical and humanitarian work with Wings of Healing, an international charity that was established in 2011. It performs medical and humanitarian work all over Ethiopia, which has the second largest population in Africa, with 112 million inhabitants. It is also one of the poorest countries on the continent and has a poor record when it comes to maternal health, with a high maternal mortality ratio and healthcare poorer in rural areas. A particularly prevalent problem is pelvic organ prolapse, affecting almost 1 in 4 women as an estimate. A civil war in the northern region of Tigray, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and the displacement of 2 million people, means resources are further stretched and humanitarian aid is essential.

I was part of a surgical mission, alongside a consultant urogynaecologist and the project coordinator and director. We travelled to work in a Catholic hospital in Wolaita, a city in the south of the country. Over the course of the week the team performed 54 operations (50 vaginal hysterectomies and four cystocoels) with the help of the local general surgeon. The local surgeon was also trained to perform vaginal hysterectomies properly and safely. The local scrub nurses were also taught about safe surgical practices with the aim of making surgery safer for both the surgeons and the patients. I assisted in 24 cases and closed 12 times. The 54 patients were also supplied with 5kg of flour and a thick blanket after the operation as all the patients were severely underweight. This flour not only benefits the patients and their families post-operatively but acts as an incentive for patients to have the operation as well.

In addition to the medical work, we also visited several homeless shelters both in the south and in Addis Ababa, the capital, including some compounds set up by Mother Theresa. We served food and provided care packages for children. A memorable experience was taking 16 street children – orphans between the ages of 7 and 16 – to a local restaurant and afterwards bought them new flip flops.

The trip was eye-opening. It was amazing to see medicine performed in such resource-low conditions and the massive impact it could have on patients who would otherwise not have been treated. Further to this, the stark contrast between the anxious patients we saw pre-operatively and the grateful and relieved patients that we saw post-operatively was remarkable.

The trip also highlighted the importance of actively finding, facilitating and incentivising patients to come for treatment. Words do not do justice to the impact that the operations had on each patient, many of whom never dreamed that they would receive any form of treatment for their prolapse. The positive outcomes of the trip are a testament to the skills, the training and the determination of the surgeon. This potential is both a heavy responsibility and also an exciting opportunity to really make a difference to people’s lives.

I feel passionately about becoming a surgeon in the future and having the ability to help patients, especially those who don’t have anyone else to turn to. Whilst the 54 operations were a great success, what is perhaps an even greater triumph is the fact that the local surgeon can now carry out this essential operation which will hopefully let him treat hundreds of patients in the coming years.

A fundamental element of the charity’s work is the training of local healthcare professionals to change the system from within and enable a safer and more effective form of medicine to be performed.

The humanitarian work that we performed showcased the extreme poverty that is still widespread throughout the country, and how important it is that aid continues. Especially in these turbulent times.

The trip was an amazing experience and is something I plan on doing again in the future. I am currently planning my medical elective with the charity. We will focus on safe surgical practices and how they can be better implemented in a low-resource setting.

Ultimately, I would like to become a surgeon that can work in a variety of settings to treat patients who are in desperate need of healthcare. I intend to continue working with the charity as we try to gradually improve the healthcare system in Ethiopia.