Visitor FS0605 
| Visitor |
| Sex? |
female |
| Profession/occupation? |
Medical Student |
| Home country? |
England |
| What made you want to go to
Solomon Islands? |
browsing the web |
| Did you go alone or in company? |
alone |
| Arriving in Solomon
Islands |
| When did you arrive in Solomon
Islands? |
December 2006 |
| Did you encounter any
bureaucratic difficulties? |
no |
| What was your first impression
after arrival? |
Honiara is very hot and very dusty, taxi driver was very
helpful |
| Living in Solomon
Islands |
| What did positively surprise
you? |
people generally very friendly and keen to help; being
invited to local events |
| What did negatively surprise
you? |
levels of alcohol use and domestic violence seen in
hospitals |
| What took longest to get used
to? |
the heat, planning not to do things in middle of the
day |
| What did you miss most in
Solomon Islands? |
friends and family |
| What should you have brought
along? |
more high factor suncream as expensive to buy there,
penknife |
| What did you do to prevent
malaria? |
Doxycycline, mosquito net |
| Place and province where you
spent most of your time? |
Honiara, Honiara-City |
| Other places/provinces where
you stayed? |
Gizo, Western Province |
| Where did you stay? |
Kiwi-House in Honiara, Phoebe's Resthouse in Gizo |
| How long did you stay at each
location? |
3 weeks each |
| How much did you pay for
each? |
SBD 150 total for Kiwi-House, SBD 65/night for
Phoebe's |
| Where did you usually eat? |
cooked at home or hotel and Chinese restaurants |
| What did you typically pay for
a normal meal? |
SBD 15 at home, about SBD 70 when eating out |
| What local food/beverage did
you like most? |
fresh bonito (tuna) and coconut bread |
| What local food/beverage did
you like least? |
SolBrew and slippery cabbage |
| Mobile
phone services |
| If you brought along a mobile phone, which
services did you successfully use? |
- |
| Comments? |
couldn't get any mobile service |
| Money
matters |
Used American Express
Travellers Cheques in AUD to get cash
Used Visa card to get cash at ATMs |
| Comments? |
- |
| Working in Solomon
Islands |
| How did you usually go to
work? |
walk |
| Where did you work? |
O&G at NRH, Gizo Hospital |
| What was your occupation? |
medical student |
| What were your working days and
hours? |
Mon-Fri 8am -4pm |
| What was particularly difficult
in regard to your work? |
unable to make use of resources due to lack of basic
supplies e.g. ultrasound gel |
| Did you feel accepted by the
locals? |
yes |
| What did you usually do in your
spare time after work? |
swim at Honiara Hotel, go to the beaches, DVDs on laptop,
nights out at Yacht Club |
| Questions
for medical trainees of all levels (students to
registrars) |
| How was the supervision? |
loose |
| Comments |
little supervision at Gizo due to lack of doctors at
time |
| How was the teaching? |
adequate |
| Comments |
good teaching at NRH but little at Gizo due to lack of
staff |
| Leaving Solomon Islands and
looking back |
| When did you leave Solomon
Islands? |
January 2007 |
| How long was your stay? |
6 weeks |
| How do you judge the length of
your stay? |
just about right |
| What did you learn from the
locals? |
managing patients without lots of investigations, to cook
crab and dance island style |
| Your advice to prospective
visitors? |
Don't panic and give yourself a few days to acclimatise.
If someone invites you to something - go. |
| What did you miss most when
back at home again? |
The relaxed pace of life, the view and the friends I made
there. |
| What did you enjoy most when
back at home again? |
Having a hot shower and wearing really clean
clothes. |
| Would you go back for another
stay? |
yes |
| Estimated total cost of your
stay (including travel costs)? |
GBP 2,000 |
| Additional comments? |
- |
