FEATURE: Serving as doctor in rural areas

Dar es Salaam. Serving in rural communities as a health worker has been Dr Semeni Nyerere’s ambition since he was at a medical school. He graduated from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences last year. Today, he still hangs on to his dream for a career path that many of his peers would not feel secure to pursue.

Born in Igesu Village, Simiyu Region, the 30 year-old medic thinks that working at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar, where he was recently posted by the government as a medical intern, will nurture his experience and prepare him to deal with rural medical adventures in the future.

‘’I am lucky to work with doctors, who were once clinical officers in rural health facilities. I benefit a lot from their experience. They teach me how to go about helping patients in rural settings, where there are limited facilities,’’ he says. Over the years, researchers have noted that most health workers in Tanzania shun serving in rural areas because of poor working conditions, but Dr Nyerere is not deterred. He believes he has the resolve to keep focused on his dream. 

 ‘’I am naturally motivated to invest and spend my lifetime in a rural area, where I grew up,’’ he told The Citizen on Saturday in an interview this week.

A new study

While this may seem unique to the young and ambitious medic, a new study published on Tuesday in the World Health Organisation Bulletin shows that he is not alone. Doctors and nurses with rural background are more likely to prefer working in rural settings, it has been revealed.

Out of more than 3,000 medical and nursing students from leading medical schools, who were interviewed in Tanzania, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal as well as Zambia, there were a good number of them, who preferred a career in rural areas. While 28 per cent of the surveyed students expected to seek employment abroad, the rest, 18 per cent anticipated choosing a career in rural areas, according to the new study.

‘’Nearly one third of medical and nursing students in developing countries may have no intention of working in their own countries after graduation, while less than one fifth of them intend to work in rural areas, where they are needed most,’’ reads the study in part. The researchers are suggesting that medical universities in those countries should start strategising on new admissions targeting students with rural backgrounds, who can feel more motivated to work in rural areas, where they are needed most.

According Dr David Silvestri from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who is the lead author of the study, this is possible. He suggests, students’ career intentions may be identified before matriculation, which means that countries could selectively admit those most likely to work in high-need areas.

“We found that students raised in rural areas were most likely to want to pursue rural careers and were least likely to want to move abroad,” he states in a press release.

Dr Silvestri and his team believe that health workforce shortages have been a major factor driving the current outbreak of Ebola in western Africa. The disease initially spread rapidly in rural parts of three of the world’s poorest countries (Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia), where health workers are scarcest.

Source: The citizen