It doesn't really matter which part of the world you're in as long as you know how to get around, suggests ALLAN KOAY.

A FRIEND of mine who had worked in Saudi Arabia for two years decided to head home for good because he couldn't find anything to do there after work. But medical editor Nithiyananthan Nesadurai begs to differ.

"Life is comfortable there," said Nithiya- nanthan, or Nithi to his friends, during a recent interview in Kuala Lumpur when he was back for a holiday. He has been working at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia since February 2004.

The hospital is located in a complex, adjoined to a compound where the housing units are located. It is only a five-minute walk from the houses to the hospital. Nithi lives in a two-bedroom flat, fully equipped with a 40-channel satellite TV.

Nithi riding a camel in Madain Saleh in northwest Saudi Arabia. Trips like this are organised by the recreational centre where he works.

"We also have a very effective recreational centre that ensures the staff are kept fully occupied. On weekends, they organise day-trips into the desert or to the museum. And once every two months, they organise two-day outings to different corners of the country.

"The one thing that was clear in my mind when I got there was that I wanted to get to know Saudi Arabia better. So I participated in every single one of the outings and have already been to the four corners of the country in a very short time."

Nithi, 46, enjoys adventure trips, trekking, mountaineering and kayaking whenever he gets the chance. He has 45 days of leave in a year, and apart from the three trips back home every year, he also embarks on action-adventure trips to exotic locations. Last year, he went trekking in Nepal, and this year, he plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. No wonder the opportunity to start a new life and job in Saudi Arabia was difficult to resist. The places he has been to in Saudi Arabia include Hofuf in the east, Abha in the west, Madain Saleh in the northwest and Najran in the southwest.

"I have a group of friends in similar executive positions and we meet up to chat after work," said Nithi who hails from Kuala Lumpur and is the only son in the family. He has two sisters in Kuala Lumpur and another in Melbourne.

"During the weekends, a popular place to visit is Bahrain, which is about an hour's flight away. I've started going there more frequently now, to horse-ride and sail. I also get to catch up on my movies as there are no cinemas in Saudi Arabia."

The King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is a Health Ministry-owned national referral centre and it boasts of staff from 20 different countries and provides free treatment to Saudi citizens. As medical editor, Nithi edits research manuscripts submitted by the hospital's doctors for publication in journals. According to him, there are 60 specialists in the hospital and a very important part of their work is research. The results of their work are ultimately aimed for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

"That's very important for their professional development and promotions," Nithi explained. "The hospital also provides support for them because the specialists are very busy in their clinical work and have many patients to see."

A lot of the support comes from the research department's coordination section, where staff members help to interview patients and collect data which the doctors need for their manuscripts. This helps to cover the groundwork for the doctors.

Once the manuscripts are finished, Nithi edits them before sending them for publication. He makes sure each manuscript meets the requirements of the journals for which it is intended, and that it also adheres to the basic structure of a scientific paper.

In the 11 months that he has been there, Nithi has increased publication by 78% compared to the previous year. He also helped to boost other publication-related output by 450%! "Before I got there, there was a period when they didn't have a medical editor for one year," Nithi elaborated. "And because of that, a lot of the doctors held back their manuscripts. But the moment I came in, all the manuscripts came flooding in. The international journals have a 75% rejection rate whereas with our manuscripts have an 80% acceptance rate.

Nithi said his experience in the late 1980s with the Malaysian Medical Association as executive editor of the Medical Journal of Malaysia came in useful.

Nithi at the ancient tombs carved into the rocks by the Nabatean people between 1BC and AD1 in Madain Saleh, Saudi Arabia.

He holds a degree in Mathematics and Computing, and a Masters in Arts and Communication. After leaving the Malaysian Medical Association, he worked in several trade publications and was also founding editor of Malaysian Doctor, the country's first independent newspaper for doctors. He was also a correspondent for Travel Trade Gazette Asia, a regional paper for the travel and tourism industry.

He feels his current job is a luxury. "I knew it was going to be a fantastic professional opportunity," said the still single Nithi. "When I was with the Malaysian Medical Association, I was doing other things as well while I was editing. Here, it is a professional challenge to be in another country working with a multi-national assortment of medical researchers. It's also a great opportunity to live in the Middle East and learn about the culture from the inside."

Asked if the previous incidents of terrorist attacks in expatriate areas of the country caused him any concern, Nithi said: "A cluster of violent incidents last year resulted in heightened concern among hospital staff about safety and security issues. At the same time, when incidents like these are reported outside the country, they tend to be magnified more than the actual situation is. I have never at any time felt any fear or concern for my personal safety or security. Our compound is well protected by our Security Department and the Army, and this has helped assuage my family's concerns about my safety."

Post your feedback >>