Cooperation
During my training for my specialisation in Paediatric Medicine I have become particularly interested in Endocrinology and Diabetology, especially in genetic syndromes and the prevention and treatment of diabetes and obesity. This area of medicine has many social consequences and in recent years has become important in developing countries such as Senegal. For me, going to Senegal would be a great opportunity to observe how these increasingly frequent endocrinological pathologies are managed in a developing country and help me appreciate how different approaches could lead to better practices in my own country.
Marta F.
My motivation for wanting to embark on this adventure can be summed up in the word ‘experience’. Experience is what makes us grow, makes us become adult and independent. Of course, I am driven principally by a humanitarian impulse, but combined with this is a desire to step outside my comfort zone, where we often take refuge, even if we don’t mean to, in routine. Personally, I feel a need for new experiences and for this experience in particular, because being so far from what I am used to and from the macrostructures which govern my daily activities, I’m sure I will gain new insights and ways of looking at things.
Andrea L. T.
Why leave for Senegal? For a range of different reasons; above all for professional reasons, in that this experience offers an opportunity for me to gain insight into a very different way of working, which would be very stimulating for me in terms of reinforcing my clinical skills and helping me grow professionally. It would also be a chance to gain practical experience of pathologies which are different from those commonly encountered in Italy and which we only usually meet in textbooks. Then there are more personal reasons, such as my desire to understand a culture different from my own. I imagine Africa to be a magical place, where it is still possible to count on relationships between people. I want to learn to care for the complete individual. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m ready!
Anna M.
Travelling and especially travelling for a reason beyond enjoying yourself is culturally and personally enriching in a way like no other experience. This is why during my university career I have taken every opportunity to travel and after each trip I can say with great satisfaction that I came back with a greater awareness of my chosen profession and a greater awareness of myself. I think this trip is perhaps the most exciting chance of this kind to come my way, in that it presents an opportunity to witness a reality that is very different and, in many ways more challenging, than ours. I think seeing poverty firsthand and truly understanding the health problems and much else besides, of a developing country like Senegal is an invaluable part of a doctor’s training. Above all I want to come back with a sense of humanity and of having made a difference.
Claudia S.
I have many reasons for wanting to take part in this experience and it’s difficult to explain them all in a few lines. Above all it’s an opportunity for personal and professional development. Ours is the most beautiful job in the world, but also among the most complicated and every new experience serves as a stimulus which adds something to us as doctors and as people, something to be cherished and used to enrich our every-day realties so that we are more open to listen to those who ask, often not through choice, for new chances.
Eleonora F.
I am really excited about the idea of living abroad, especially in a developing country, like Senegal. It would be an incredible experience from a personal, cultural and professional point of view. I think this is a unique opportunity for us to appreciate a country that in many ways is very different from our own. I have lived abroad before but never anywhere that is so different from Italy.
Federica B.
One of my main reasons for wanting to take part in this programme is to gain first-hand experience of pathologies that are common in Africa, especially those in children. Only through a training programme such as this, is it possible to appreciate certain clinical aspects which are rarely observed in our country and gain invaluable expertise in managing these illnesses in young patients.
Filippo C.
One of the most important aspects of anyone’s professional and personal development is an openness to travel, to being challenged, to learning new things, creating new bonds and returning with greater understanding. One of the reasons I chose to specialise in paediatric medicine was that it would offer experiences like this …. For me this project is particularly interesting because it offers an opportunity to study in a clinical context that is different, but in many respects complementary, to the one I am used to. What’s more it has the support of two excellent universities and gives a chance to work in a new and stimulating social and cultural context.
Francesco P.
I would like to take this opportunity to further my studies in paediatric medicine. I think an experience in a country with a very different medical reality from my own, in which resources may not be readily available and health care is managed very differently would be very profitable for me. I hope to come back to Italy with a more global view of patient care and management.
Marco Antonio M.
I would like the chance to participate in this programme because not only is such an experience important in terms of personal growth, but it also offers the opportunity to gain clinical-scientific experience and above all insight into new social and cultural realities. I have never studied or worked in a developing country; I am really excited about the possibility of going to Senegal and I am determined to make the most out of the experience.
Sarah A. R.
I want to take part in this international student mobility project for Study and Traineeship in Senegal because I think having first-hand experience in a developing country is important for my personal and professional growth as a doctor. For me as a future paediatrician, the opportunity to engage with a specialist project of this type, which involves various branches of medicine and above all Endocrinology, is unmissable; I believe that the final objective of specialising in Paediatrics must be to help children grow up strong and healthy and to address problems that could compromise their growth and health as soon as possible. It is this idea that I want to bring to Senegal.
Sara A.
During the first year of my specialisation in paediatric medicine I have worked in various areas and have developed a particular interest in Paediatric Endocrinology and Infective Diseases. I would love to have the chance to study internal paediatric medicine and especially these areas in a context that in terms of environment, society and culture is very different from my own. I am keen to develop skills and acquire further knowledge in managing the diagnosis and management of endocrinological pathologies and conditions (diabetes, poor growth, congenital hypothyroidism) in a hospital setting in a developing country. I would also like to gain insight into the management of Neglected Infectious and Tropical diseases, which are only rarely encountered in Europe but have a high rate of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. I really think that this international training project offers a unique chance for professional and personal development. It will benefit me as a trainee doctor enormously and I hope also the patients who I meet in a clinical context very different from the one I am used to and with limited technical and laboratorial resources.
Susanna M.