Dr Tim Heymann Memorial Travel Prize awarded

The first Tim Heymann Memorial Travel Prize winner, Alisha Chauhan, was presented with her certificate and cheque by the Master Jane Stapleton at the Christ’s College Medical Alumni Association Conference in April 2018.

Alisha gave a presentation about her elective to Australia where she worked in three locations – the New South Wales Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), Nepean Hospital and the Blue Mountains Hospital. These two hospitals are in New South Wales and are linked to Sydney University but located outside the metropolitan area. Alisha was able to experience paediatrics and stroke/rehabilitation medicine in these district hospitals.

Alisha reported back that the HEMS provided her with experience in managing acute cases such as stabbings, falls and road traffic accidents. Immediate measures to stabilise cases and conducting safe transfers in the helicopter was very useful for her training especially in resuscitation and anaesthetic care. Her most memorable experience was attending to an 8 year old who had fallen from the 4^th Floor flat and having to assist the assessment, sedation and management of the open femoral fracture.

The hospital experience was similar to her UK experience with clerking patients and presenting them to the consultant led teams and she found all the staff to be keen to teach and provide opportunities for direct clinical care. Her paediatric work involved attending emergency caesarean sections and assisting with the neonatal resuscitation and transfers to the NICU. Working in these different settings helped her understand the Australian healthcare system. The cost of living in Australia is comparatively high so the prize cheque from the Tim Heymann Memorial fund was gratefully received!