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Student Life

Planning your elective - Papua New Guinea

BMJ 2001; 323 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0109336 (Published 01 September 2001) Cite this as: BMJ 2001;323:0109336
  1. Stephen Ford, fourth year medical student1,
  2. Mark Wilson2
  1. 1University of Liverpool
  2. 2The Medics Guide to Work and Electives Around the World

Stephen Ford and Mark Wilson discuss the people, culture, medical problems, and contacts in Papua New Guinea

Geography and people

Papua New Guinea's variety belies its small population. Ethnically, it is a transition zone between the Pacific, Australasia, and the Indonesian archipelago. This amazing fusion produced around 800 different ethnic groups, each with their own language. The ethnic groups are known as wantok (“one talk”), and wantok forms a major part in the formation of personal and corporate identity. Geographically, the country is also highly varied, with some of the highest mountains in Asia, mighty rivers, swamps, humid coasts, and tropical islands.

The major cities of Port Moresby and Lae are unattractive and have significant crime problems. Girls should take particular care if alone. Some of the larger highland cities are also going the same way, although yearly festivals (sing-sings) are a cultural delight. Papua New Guinea is also noted for its diving, having beautiful coral and many maritime wrecks from the second world war in shallow waters.

Remarkably, Papua New Guinea is alone in Asia in being a Christian country by constitution, and Christianity permeates every aspect of national life. Eighty …

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