Medical and Healthcare Volunteering Review

My name is Joshua Boyes, I am a doctor in the UK about to start training as a specialist in Obstetrics
and Gynaecology. I chose to come to the Excellence Centre to do the Medical and Healthcare
Programme for 3 weeks. For me, this involved visits to various hospitals in the Al-Khalil including a
government hospital, a private hospital and a newly built but non-functioning hospital. On these
visits I was able to meet with and discuss healthcare in Palestine with doctors and other healthcare
professionals. I was surprised to learn that the main barrier to improved healthcare is the allocation
of equipment to the hospital. There are plenty of very competent doctors that I met throughout my
time and their main complaint was not having the resources to do their job. The other challenge was
the sheer volume of patients in a cramped government hospital, while the new hospital struggle to

exist at capacity due to the lack of equipment.

After learning a bit about the healthcare situation in Palestine, I was then able to provide some
lessons to students at the local Hebron University. For me this was the best part of the whole
programme. The students came from a wide range of disciplines including medicine, nursing,
pharmacy, midwifery, lab science and biology. In these sessions I was able to share with them some
of my own clinical experiences and provide some training on communication skills, medical ethics
and academic writing. The students were very engaging and asked lots of good questions, I was
impressed with their knowledge and enthusiasm. They were incredibly grateful for the information I
shared with them. Through this teaching I was also able to learn a lot about them and asked many
questions about the healthcare system in Palestine. We discussed life at university, what they think
of the doctor-patient relationship in Palestine as well as ethical issues in both the UK and Palestine.
My favourite moment was seeing the students debate real ethical cases and present their arguments

for and against.

Alongside the Medical and Healthcare, I also received Arabic lessons from one the of the brilliant
teachers at the session, Saja. The lessons were really fun and interactive, and I learnt lots of useful
phrases that I could then use in daily conversations. The overall environment of the centre was
equally conducive to speaking Arabic, as there were constant opportunities to speak with others and
ask questions. To be honest, there were definitely times when I wish I was studying Arabic at the
centre full time rather than teaching medicine. Furthermore, this experience has given me a great
boost and inspired me to continue to learn Arabic so that I can hopefully come back and explore the

Middle East some more.

As for Palestine itself, there is so much that I could say or write. It is difficult to put fully in to words
all that I have experienced in Palestine and all the emotions that I have felt whilst here. Whilst
initially I was worried about what the situation might be like, I have had no concerns during my time
here. In all my interactions with Palestinian people I have felt welcomed and a desire to connect.
People have been incredibly kind and generous and approach life with a great joy. This has been true
of the Palestinians I have met but also the other volunteers. I cannot speak highly enough of this
experience and programme. On a slightly lighter note, the food has also been a definite highlight.
Every single dish that I have tried here has been delicious and full of flavour. My particular favourite
was eating fresh figs for breakfast, one day I managed to get through about 12!
When I applied to the programme at the Excellence Centre, I did so without any particular
enthusiasm or excitement. I was simply looking for something interesting to do whilst awaiting to
start my new job. However, the time here has far exceeded my expectations. Whilst it hasn’t all

been easy and there have definitely been challenges, I have really loved my time at the centre, and I

truly hope that I can come back some day.