Poe Poe – Scholarship Holder 2015/16
(Clinical Tropical Medicine)

My name is Poe Poe. I come from Taunggyi, located in the southern part of Shan State. My parents are U Htun Myint and Daw Khin Win. I passed the university entrance examination in 2001 at Basic Education High School No. 4 in Taunggyi.

I studied medicine at the University of Medicine in Magway (central Burma). I completed internships at Lashio General Hospital and Taunggyi Sao San Htun Hospital from January 2007 to December 2007. I received my diploma in March 2008.

Visions

• To help people in need who live in areas where it is difficult to access health care. Myanmar is one of the developing countries. The situation there must improve in economic, educational and health terms.
• And, though we face difficulties, to fight for the lives of the poor, because there is always a way forward.
• I want to use my medical knowledge not only to promote health care for the people of my country, but also to help sick people around the world.
• I particularly want to give more support to those who have been abandoned because of their infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB).
• I have shared my knowledge with colleagues and will continue to do so.

Medical experience

My first experience as a doctor was in May 2008. I worked as a volunteer emergency worker in the Irrawaddy Delta for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) – Holland after the Nargis cyclone – for one month each in Hygyi and Laputta. The two months in the Delta have opened my eyes wide. Many people suffered psychologically and mentally and the storm left many people traumatized.

There I understood the value of volunteering to help people suffering from natural disasters. My involvement in this emergency situation has strengthened my commitment to help poor and needy people. I consider volunteering for those in need to be a generous job. So I decided to continue working with MSF-Holland for the people who are abandoned and discriminated against because of their illnesses. I am very proud to have been part of the hard work of MSF.

I then spent almost five and a half years working for MSF Holland in Myanmar, whose work focuses mainly on HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). My field of work was the projects in Myitkyina and Yangon. I was also responsible for HIV prevention in the area of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) in the Myitkyiana project as a focal point.

During this time, I realized that I can recognize and share the feelings of people who are discriminated against by others because of their health situation.

I have also found that low education, low income, and lack of knowledge are important barriers to accessing care. During my work, therefore, my efforts were directed not only towards the treatment of disease, but also towards the dissemination of knowledge about the causes of disease and family planning. So my medical skills have improved through my patients. And my interest in infectious diseases has grown steadily since then.

After my time with MSF-Holland I worked as a medical trainer for the organisation PU-AMI Thailand in Maesot and other places. This international NGO works in the field of primary health care, disease prevention and capacity building for refugees from Myanmar. My task was capacity-building: I imparted medical knowledge to refugees to enable them to work as paramedics in camp clinics.

During this work, I focused on deepening my medical knowledge and continuing my education. After some time, I decided to specialize in infectious diseases. For this I chose the Mahidol University of Tropical Medicine in Bangkok. I was looking for financial support for my studies. I found this through the Bettina Kattermann Foundation Scholarship Program from Germany, which is run through the Catholic Academic Alien Service (KAAD).

Fortunately, I was selected as one of the scholarship recipients for 2015/2016. Therefore, I am now able to study at the Faculty of Tropical Medicine at Mahidol University with the aim of obtaining a Master Degree in Clinical Tropical Medicine.

With sincere thanks
Poe Poe

Email: ps.poepoe@gmail.com