Well, I am officially the first student to get sick. Thankfully it wasn't too bad, only in that it could have been much worse!! I am to blame, as I shared food with my new intern friends twice, and both times it was purchased at the hospital canteen, and than sat around for 45 min while we continued to deliver babies and such. I had some antibiotics already, but my mew pharmacist friend thinks I may have Giardia, so I'll probably head to town for some flagyl.
I am much better today, as I proved by shopping a lot in town. I managed to spend a few thousand rupees, which trust me, is not easy to do. I actually had an excuse, as I brought scrubs to wear to work, since I would be doing OB Gyn and Surgery, but I did not read the instructions that said we have to wear Indian professional clothes to the hospital. That means no sleeveless, and no ankles showing, which has been a problem for me, as I brought really loose skirts and pants, but they are all a bit shorter than my ankles. The interns joke that they can always find me because my "little white feet" show from under the curtains dividing the beds. Which is a bit ironic, because my whole life my family joked about my "little indian feet" as my feet are somehow always significantly tanner than the rest of my body. Yes, we do wear sandals in the labor room, and yes, it leads to some gross close encounters with all kinds of unseemly things.
We headed to town today to check out the 500 yr old fort, which is made with huge stones easily equivalent to the size of stones of the pyramids, I have no idea where they mined them from, or how they got them to where they are. There is a huge, river-sized moat around the fort, as well as a very ornate Hindu temple, easily 10 stories high, with intricate designs all the way to the top. You can see the whole town and all of the mountains around it when you climb to the top of the fortress wall.
I am looking forward to getting back into the medical learning mode, as I missed a day and a half from being ill. I really think I will learn more in 3 weeks here than I ever could in 3 months at a regular US hospital! I can't wait to see what I learn next!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
First Days in Vellore
The CMC medical school campus is like a jungle oasis in the middle of a crazy rickshaw-filled city, so living here is very nice. Our accommidations are different, I learned we are lucky to have "squat" toilets, as opposed to hole in the ground, but there is a bucket and pitcher whose use I have not yet identified. I have learned you can shower with the equivalent of a faucet which is barely turned on, just beyond dripping.
Our room is on the fourth floor, so our view is pure tropical jungle plants, and our noises include supposedly "aggressive" monkeys, and the 4am music playing from the temple across the street. Apparently it is a holiday month, and that is part of how they celebrate. Good thing medical school taught me the beauty of ear plugs. I initially began using them as a way to keep myself from chatting too much with my studying neighbors at Starbucks, but this new use tops that, except for the fact that I overslept this morning, which meant 1. I missed breakfast and coffee, and 2. I had to sprint to the bus- which was actually a great bonding experience, as 4 Indian students were sprinting right along side me!
I worked in the Labor and Delivery ward all day today, which was definitely a learning experience! I saw 2 forceps deliveries, one resultant facial palsy (which thankfully resolved rather quickly, according to the neonatologist), a woman with severe hirsutism, to the point that she was truly a bearded lady, but after 9 yrs of infertility she had finally conceived. I learned that not all suture comes pre-attached to the needle, and that no one seems to mind when the doctor calls for cat gut. Just about every basic medical supply can be used for multiple purposes (ie. gloves are tourniquets), and the basic paperwork/lab tests/delivery notes are pretty much the same everywhere.
The biggest difference was the total lack of pain medications, epidurals, or spinals. All births are "natural", and the level of screaming does not seem that different than our typical labor and delivery sounds, except all 20 women are in one long room, a true "ward", separated only by the occasional cloth curtain. I realized all interns have similar experiences, sometimes praised, often scolded, always crazy busy, with no time to eat or drink, much less sit down. I actually went out and bought new shoes after work today because I only sat down once all day, and I was wearing flat sandals. Yes, I did say sandals, everyone wears open toed shoes, regardless of water breaking and other wonders of childbirth, and no, they don't have shoe covers.
I am sure I will continue to learn about similarities and differences between medicine here and at home, and I look forward to all the amazing learning experiences ahead of me!
Our room is on the fourth floor, so our view is pure tropical jungle plants, and our noises include supposedly "aggressive" monkeys, and the 4am music playing from the temple across the street. Apparently it is a holiday month, and that is part of how they celebrate. Good thing medical school taught me the beauty of ear plugs. I initially began using them as a way to keep myself from chatting too much with my studying neighbors at Starbucks, but this new use tops that, except for the fact that I overslept this morning, which meant 1. I missed breakfast and coffee, and 2. I had to sprint to the bus- which was actually a great bonding experience, as 4 Indian students were sprinting right along side me!
I worked in the Labor and Delivery ward all day today, which was definitely a learning experience! I saw 2 forceps deliveries, one resultant facial palsy (which thankfully resolved rather quickly, according to the neonatologist), a woman with severe hirsutism, to the point that she was truly a bearded lady, but after 9 yrs of infertility she had finally conceived. I learned that not all suture comes pre-attached to the needle, and that no one seems to mind when the doctor calls for cat gut. Just about every basic medical supply can be used for multiple purposes (ie. gloves are tourniquets), and the basic paperwork/lab tests/delivery notes are pretty much the same everywhere.
The biggest difference was the total lack of pain medications, epidurals, or spinals. All births are "natural", and the level of screaming does not seem that different than our typical labor and delivery sounds, except all 20 women are in one long room, a true "ward", separated only by the occasional cloth curtain. I realized all interns have similar experiences, sometimes praised, often scolded, always crazy busy, with no time to eat or drink, much less sit down. I actually went out and bought new shoes after work today because I only sat down once all day, and I was wearing flat sandals. Yes, I did say sandals, everyone wears open toed shoes, regardless of water breaking and other wonders of childbirth, and no, they don't have shoe covers.
I am sure I will continue to learn about similarities and differences between medicine here and at home, and I look forward to all the amazing learning experiences ahead of me!
Travel to India
The flight to India was a good primer for the trip. We befriended our neighbor for the 13 hr flight, who was an Indian living in LA, so he gave us some good tips. I watched a movie or two on my personal screen, but then found a Berlitz language program was an option, so I worked on learning a little Tamil (language spoken in Vellore), and Hindi. That was rather hard to concentrate on by hour 6, so then I practiced some Italian and Portuguese as those were more familiar to me. Somewhere in there I managed to fall so dead asleep that Kristen, my classmate, was worried she would not be able to get me off the plane- I have realized neck pillows are the key to sleeping on planes. They prevent me from leaning on and/or drooling on, my neighbors.
Our arrival in Delhi was interesting, as we deboarded off the back door, as it was closer to our seats, onto the tarmac, and then boarded a bus to the terminal. I realize US-style boarding indoors is nice when there is inclement weather, but it would be nice to be able to board/deplane from both ends- sure would save time!
Right as we entered the terminal, we noticed it was extremely hazy inside- almost like there was a fire somewhere- but it did not smell and no one was running for their lives. Supposedly this was due to construction, but when we went outside, there was still quite a thick haze. When we boarded another plane to Chennai, the pilot said there was a visibility of 2 km! Other planes on the runway were even hazy. As a person with pretty bad asthma, this was a bit disconcerting.
On our flight to Chennai (which I discovered is pronounced CHEN-ay), we met another nice man who worked at a nice department store in the city, who spent a good hour going over our Lonely Planet India book and giving us advice on what to do, where to stay, and where to shop!! Everyone we meet here is amazingly friendly and so helpful, I have never experienced anything like it in my travels.
Finally, we arrived in Chennai, there was no haze to be seen, only lush green palm trees and blue sky, as well as a nice 80 degree temp- where we met up with the rest of our classmates- and we headed out to Vellore, 2 hours away by van.
Our arrival in Delhi was interesting, as we deboarded off the back door, as it was closer to our seats, onto the tarmac, and then boarded a bus to the terminal. I realize US-style boarding indoors is nice when there is inclement weather, but it would be nice to be able to board/deplane from both ends- sure would save time!
Right as we entered the terminal, we noticed it was extremely hazy inside- almost like there was a fire somewhere- but it did not smell and no one was running for their lives. Supposedly this was due to construction, but when we went outside, there was still quite a thick haze. When we boarded another plane to Chennai, the pilot said there was a visibility of 2 km! Other planes on the runway were even hazy. As a person with pretty bad asthma, this was a bit disconcerting.
On our flight to Chennai (which I discovered is pronounced CHEN-ay), we met another nice man who worked at a nice department store in the city, who spent a good hour going over our Lonely Planet India book and giving us advice on what to do, where to stay, and where to shop!! Everyone we meet here is amazingly friendly and so helpful, I have never experienced anything like it in my travels.
Finally, we arrived in Chennai, there was no haze to be seen, only lush green palm trees and blue sky, as well as a nice 80 degree temp- where we met up with the rest of our classmates- and we headed out to Vellore, 2 hours away by van.
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