As part of the legacy of the late Dr Donald Dean, Canford is proud to offer funding each year to support up to Old Canfordians undertaking their medical elective. This award reflects Dr Dean’s lifelong dedication to medicine and global health, having spent his career developing medical services across the world, from Nigeria to Kuwait. Learn more about the award here. 

This year, OC Lucy Chapple Ma18 was a recipient of the award and shares her experience from her elective placement in Sri Lanka:

"I was lucky enough to travel to Galle, Sri Lanka for my medical elective. I had my placement in the National Teaching Hospital, the largest hospital in the Southern Province, and the third largest hospital in the country. The hospital was very busy and had a huge range of departments and specialties, so I was able to see a variety of interesting things during my two months there.

Sri Lanka was a fantastic place to do elective as the medical notes are all written in English. The doctors spoke English during the ward rounds, meaning that I could get very involved with teaching and asking questions whilst seeing patients. The doctors also follow many of the same guidelines as we do in the UK. Having just finished my finals, it was useful to understand most of the treatment plans for the patients. Talking to the doctors, however, they said that in some cases, the limited availability of resources meant that it was impossible to follow these guidelines fully. Medical care in government hospitals is state funded, meaning that there are some treatments and diagnostic tools that are too expensive to be established.

I split my time on elective between the general medical and paediatric wards. My mornings involved joining the doctors and other medical students on the ward round. May is the start of the rainy season, so the hospital was incredibly hot and humid. The wards were open to the outside, so there was no air conditioning, but each bed had an overhead fan. All the elective students were told to bring round handheld fans on the ward round! On the ward round, we saw patients with many similar conditions to hospitals in the UK, like pneumonia and heart failure. A significant difference between hospitals in the UK and Sri Lanka was the prevalence of tropical diseases like dengue, leptospirosis and malaria. Each ward had a whiteboard to track the number of cases of these conditions each day.

In the afternoons, I mainly attended clinics. The hospital also organised trips out of the hospital. I visited a community hospital, which was similar to a GP practice in the UK. Patients would attend to discuss problems like headaches and blood pressure management. We also visited an elderly care home, a children’s home and a maternity hospital. I also attended a psychiatric clinic, where I noticed a stark difference in the way that mental health conditions are treated between the UK and Sri Lanka. I felt there was less recognition and support for conditions such as depression and anxiety. A particular highlight was visiting an ayurvedic hospital, where traditional herbal medicines are given alongside massage and acupuncture therapy. These treatments are state funded in addition to Western medicine at the main hospitals.

Outside of the hospital, we were able to explore the beautiful country. We went on safari, tried surfing, hiked, and ate delicious food! I am hugely grateful to the Dr Donald Dean Memorial Medical Award for helping me to fund a fantastic two months in Sri Lanka."

Applications for 2025 should be received by 9th November 2025 , and the award will be announced by 23rd November 2025.