Fiji is in the center of Polynesia and the home to the only medical school in the South Pacific- the Fiji School of Medicine. Doctors from many of the larger islands in the South Pacific come there for their medical education as well as post graduate studies in surgery, internal medicine, anesthesia, and OB-GYN.
Fiji is a country of a million people, many of whom are scattered over hundreds of miles on hundreds of islands. Medical care is delivered in remote areas by health care workers, whereas hospital care and specialists are available only in the larger cities on the big island.
Medical school consists of a six year program preceded by one year in the university. The last year is an internship which consists of rotations throughout the country of Fiji.
Diabetes, auto accidents, and infections consume a great part of the health care dollar in Fiji. There is a great shortage of doctors in Fiji. There is one ENT, no neurosurgeon and a shortage of general surgeons as well as anesthesiologists.
With respect to ear disease, Fiji's population sufferes well in excess of the 5% that is commonly quoted in the literature as the prevalence rates for ear disease. Chronic otitis media is the leading ear disease and there is also a large percentage of diabetics that as a result of their illness develop complication assocuiated with ear disease.
At the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva, Fiji, there is a full time ENT that attends to the associated ear disease there. There are visiting specialists that visit the Island and help to provide the support that is needed from time to time.
This location is open to residents and medical students that are interested in a rewarding clinical experience, as well as practicing ENT that wish to asssist in the surgical case load at the hospital.