Doctors for Nepal
Doctors for Nepal (DFN) is a UK registered charity that improves healthcare in rural Nepal by empowering students from low socio-economic backgrounds to serve as doctors, nurses and midwives in their isolated rural communities through the provision of scholarships and health projects.
In 2006, Kate Yarrow, a young UK doctor, was posted to western Nepal by the international aid organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The only doctor in a small hospital perched on a mountainside, and several days’ walk from a paved road, she experienced first-hand the desperate medical need of these isolated communities. The situation was exacerbated by the incredibly harsh mountain environment, political instability, and the poor economic status of the
Nepalese people. Her medical assistant, Lalit, dreamed of becoming a doctor to serve his community, but the training fees were far beyond the reach of his impoverished family. On returning to the UK, Kate vowed that if Lalit could gain a place at medical school, she would raise the funds to pay for his training. In return, he agreed to work for a minimum of 4 years back in his community - once he had graduated as a doctor. In this way she could make a lasting contribution to the health needs of his community. Lalit was accepted at a medical school in Nepal, and commenced his medical training; and so the idea of Doctors For Nepal began…
In 2011, DFN was registered as a UK charity; and at that time it pledged to offer at least one new scholarship per year. Lalit graduated as DFN’s first doctor in 2012, and having worked in rural Nepal for four years, continued his postgraduate studies (also sponsored by DFN), graduating as a consultant in 2021. He continues to work a remote western region area of Nepal, as the first ever Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist from his district. He is well known as an ambassador for DFN, and has helped develop the charity to its highly regarded position in Nepal.
In 2016, DFN expanded its activities to include nursing and midwifery scholarships. To date, DFN have enabled 10 doctors, 12 nurses and a midwife to qualify, and all have returned to work back in rural areas. DFN currently supports a further 7 students through their studies, and a number of medical graduates will be commencing DFN funded postgraduate education this year.
Much of rural Nepal has less than 1 doctor per 50,000 people. Patients often walk for several days over some of the world’s most challenging terrain to reach basic
healthcare. DFN has shown that by training students from rural areas in community-based medicine, standards of medical care in rural areas are brought closer to that received by the urban population. Doctors for Nepal graduates are bonded to work for at least two years in the most deprived areas in western Nepal, allowing them to infiltrate local communities and provide more comprehensive care with their unique knowledge and understanding of local cultural nuances.
In 2024 DFN doctors, nurses and midwives will come together to lead and run a women’s multi-day health camp in western Nepal, providing clinical services and educational interventions to hundreds of women from some of the most remote communities in the region. Projects like this are a lifeline for women, many of whom will have had no access to medical care. With DFN graduates now becoming health leaders in their communities, the charity looks forward to continuing its work toward ensuring that everyone has access to safe and effective healthcare in Nepal.
To support the work of DFN, please visit
www.doctorsfornepal.org
