A taste of overseas
Arnaud Peytremann. DTMH February 2018
le blog en Francais
Liverpool, the eastern port, the Gate to elsewhere. A city with an important history, where culture, people, traditions and discoveries meet. A real melting pot, where anyone can find a bit of home, and even bring one with him to help forge Liverpool's identity.
Built before the roman conquest, Liverpool was used as a base during the establishment of the United Kingdom by the English, and expanded alongside the British Empire. Despite the dark side of this city's expansion it has kept its own identity which continues today.
In Liverpool you meet not only Scousers (the locals of Liverpool) but many people from far afield. It is also the city, which hosts the first institute specialising in tropical medicine in the world! The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) was founded in 1898 when Liverpool was a prominent port city, in response to a rise in diseases acquired through trading with tropical regions and, linked with some colonial medicine, has forged a well renowned international reputation in the fields of research, treatment, and teaching of tropical pathologies.
So here we are, embarking on the DTMH (Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene)! Almost 80 junior doctors from all around the globe, with some 15 nationalities represented in this spring 2018 edition. Chatting with each other, we can feel the excitement and curiosity to discover something new, alongside the disappointment of current western heath care systems. But surpassing these emotions is the will to help, and to contribute in alleviating human suffering throughout the world.
And so we learn, we listen to our lecturers who have such a wide range of experience and infectious passion. We train ourselves to manipulate the microscopes, to analyse poo and blood, to understand the mechanisms of these diseases that are somewhat forgotten under our temperate latitudes. We discuss the data of the latest research, we assess public health models. In short, we get ready to become tropicalist.
As well as an educational experience, the DTMH is also a wonderful human adventure. We share a lot, our past experiences, our wishes, our hopes and our dreams. We get to know each other outside of LSTM too, and have lots of fun which surely helps us to learn better!
Let's let the dreams come in while listening to the seagulls fighting against the wind in the morning. Imagine boarding a ship in the port to sail away and discover new horizons. The mind goes wandering on the waves… So we take a deep breath of the salty air, we open our eyes and we continue our way, or our reading…
The future belongs to those who dream big, and who give themselves the means to reach them. So let the dream awaken, there is still a long way to go, but so fascinating!
Doc Peytro