Planning your elective--Egypt

Mark Wilson gives some useful information

Up in the northeast corner of Africa, Egypt has so much to offer the visitor. Despite this it is not generally a popular elective destination. It has some amazing cities, with its capital, Cairo, being the largest city in Africa. Other places with fascinating histories include Alexandria and Luxor. East of the Suez Canal is Mount Sinai and Mecca. In the west you have the Pyramids in Giza and the Nile bisecting the country into arid and semiarid deserts. In the south is the Aswân Dam, which sadly is making the Nile increasingly saline.

Of course, for the divers out there, there is the Red Sea with some of the best diving clubs being around Hurghada.

Healthcare system
With some eminent Egyptian doctors and surgeons in Britain, you would think there must be loads in Egypt. But this is not the case. The doctor and patient ratio is 1:1340 (in Britain it is 1:667) and less than 1% of the gross domestic product is spent on health (Britain sspends 6.6%). There are hospitals funded by taxation, private hospitals, and (increasingly) Islamic medical centres. The average life expectancy is 63, with digestive, respiratory, and heart diseases being the (fairly non-specific) common causes of death. There is not thought to be a big HIV problem compared with most of Africa, but hepatitis C is believed to be very prevalent. There are 12 medical schools in which the language of instruction is English. The medical course lasts six years and is followed by a registration year and then two further years of compulsory work in a government hospital.

Visas and work permits
A six month, single entry visa can be obtained from the Egyptian Embassy in London (tel 020 7235 9719). If you intend to visit one of Egypt's neighbours (Israel, Jordan, Sudan, or Libya) you must discus this with the embassy before you request a visa.

If you intend to work (as a doctor) in Egypt you will need to ask the embassy about the need for a work permit. You should also contact the medical licences department, Ministry of Health, Magless El Shaa'b Street, Cairo, to obtain a licence to practise. The Egyptian medical office in London (tel 020 7370 6944; fax 020 7370 3641) can also provide useful contact information.

You will need immunisations against hepatitis A, polio, typhoid, and yellow fever (if coming from an endemic area), and you may need to take malarial prophylaxis (depending on the area to be visited).

You can check your health while in Egypt at www.masta.org .