A trainee doctor from Ringwood is embarking on an expedition to bring medical care to some of the most isolated communities in the world.

Former Ringwood School pupil Lucy Rothwell, 22, is to travel to the Indian Himalayas this summer to help set up health clinics for populations cut off by ice and snow for eight months of the year.

She said: "Many in the area are displaced Tibetans. I'm interested in psychiatry and that's the reason I'm going as many people will be victims of torture at the hands of the Chinese Government."

Lucy, who is in her fourth year studying medicine at the Peninsula Medical School in Devon, will be part of a team of doctors, dentists and medical students.

They will need to carry all their equipment and medical supplies up to 16,500ft in the Himalayas to provide a free medical and dental service to those in need The expedition will last a month and Lucy says the team expects to see around 1200 patients.

After this the intrepid medical student who is due to qualify in 18 months time, will go on to in a North Indian hospital in the foothills of the Himalayas.

The organiser, Himalayan Health Exchange is a humanitarian programme bringing together healthcare professionals who give their time, expertise and resources to care for people in the remote areas of the Indo-Tibetan borderlands.

The organisation began arranging health expeditions in 1996 whereby a team of healthcare professionals and other volunteers sets up health camps in local schools, monasteries or clinics.

Lucy needs to raise funds to pay for the expedition and anyone who can help can contact her on 07989 258452 or by email to lucy.rothwell@students.pms.ac.uk.