Dr Gustodio Alves de Jesus – known to many as Todi – is a Papua New-Guinea-trained Emergency Physician from Timor Leste. He was the first EM Physician in Timor Leste which has a population of 1.3 million people. He was inspired to become an Emergency Physician after supporting refugees who sheltered in his high school post the 1999 referendum with their basic health needs. Todi completed Clinical Leadership and Management in 2020.

“I am an Emergency Medicine Physician; trained at the University of Papua New Guinea School of Medicine and Health Sciences. I completed my full training in Emergency Medicine in 2019 and have been practising Emergency Medicine in my country – the Republic Democratic of Timor Leste (East Timor) – for almost two years. I decided to be trained in Emergency Medicine because there are many emergency cases poorly managed as we are lacking Emergency Medicine knowledge. I am the first Emergency Medicine Physician for my country with a population of 1.3 million people.”

“I decided to do Medicine after we separated from Indonesia 20 years ago. I was in year 11 of senior high school and it was post referendum (September 1999) where the outcome was creation of an independent state. I then separated with my parents for almost three months as I had to stay with 19 other students in our school to serve more than 1000 refugees; mainly children, elderly and women, who sought shelter and protection in our school.”

“With our knowledge and understanding of medications and written communications, we managed to save lives. There were no doctors, nurses or other healthcare workers to assist us helping those vulnerable refugees staying in our school. These were the experiences that inspired me to do Medicine. I received an Australian Aid (AUSaid) scholarship to do Medicine at Fiji School of Medicine from 2004-2009.”

“The element of Emergency Medicine I am most passionate about is being an advocate and pioneer for my country given I am the first Emergency Medicine Physician for Timor. In the last 18 months we have been working tirelessly in Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares Emergency Department to establish our Emergency care system. We hope to be able to share this passion with other colleagues in peripheries and remote areas to promote the importance and value of emergency care.”

“I am currently working at Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares Emergency Department (HNGV ED) in Dili, the Capital of Timor Leste. It is the only tertiary referral hospital for the whole country of Timor. You can imagine we see and manage all sort of cases from around the country. HNGV ED sees approximately 150-200 cases daily. In addition to the need for tertiary and specialty care, patients are commonly referred to us for a number of system-based reasons including a lack of basic emergency and primary healthcare in peripheries and remote areas. We have almost 70 ED Staff working in HNGV ED with approximately 20 doctors, 40-45 nurses and the rest being non-clinical staff (porters and cleaners).”

“I decided to do the Clinical Leadership and Management (CLAM) course as I noticed that I need to learn more about management and leadership in Emergency Department. I am glad that I finished this course six-months prior to Covid-19 Pandemic. However, even now living under Pandemic there is so much work to do in order to keep HNGV ED going.”

“The CLAM course appeared fascinating as it fitted well with my current situation as Head of Emergency Department. The course really developed me in my determination to build a proper system of Emergency Care in Timor. The supervisors were great and indeed helpful, and easy to communicate especially with. Completion of the course really boosted my leadership in our Emergency Department. It also enhanced my Emergency Medicine knowledge and skills into another level.”

Clinicians living and working in lower-middle income countries are provided fee support from Alfred Health Emergency Education to undertake Alfred Emergency Education programs.

Please contact etc@alfred.org.au for more information.