As I near the end of medical school and get ready to start residency, I decided to do some traveling. I am currently in India completing a community medicine elective that will count toward my MD/MPH rotation requirement for medical school and my public health degree. I will be staying at Manipal University in the Karnataka province of South India. It is just minutes from the Arabian Sea and has given me a good look at what India is all about.
The journey here was a long one. After spending a month in San Diego with Warren and his family doing a pediatric sub-internship at UCSD, I packed up my bags and got on a twelve-hour flight from LAX to Tokyo. From there I flew to Singapore and then on to Bangalore. I picked up my bag and then checked into a regional flight over to Mangalore where a taxi picked me up and brought me to my hostel. Overall it was an almost 40 hour journey and I was quite exhausted when I arrived.
Unfortunately I got in a little after 5 pm and all of the university offices were closed for the evening. I had received little instructions prior to arriving but made it to my room. The woman working did not speak much English. She showed me how to turn on the air-conditioner and the fan. She showed me how to lock the door and the shower in the bathroom. She pointed multiple times at a bucket in my bathroom and tried to explain something. I still have no idea what the bucket is for.
The room was lacking in some aspects. It had no toilet paper, hand soap, trashcan or shower curtain. I hadn’t thought about bringing these things for my month stay. I ventured out briefly in an attempt to find internet access and some of the above items, but without a university ID card or any idea where to get anything I retreated back to my room frustrated and quite lonely. I decided to just go to bed at 6 pm and hope things were better in the morning.
The next day things weren’t much better. For breakfast I ate some snacks in my room before going to the chief warden’s office since that was the one person who had emailed me with instructions prior to arrival. I talked to a lot of people and got directed to many different offices. I filled out all sorts of paperwork and got sent to different buildings. I eventually met up with Mr. Kini in the Kasturba Medical College office who helped me get an ID card.
I also paid for my room and internet access for the month. This is not as easy as it sounds. First you have to go to the main building and fill out one form for the room and another form for the internet. You then have to the bank and pay. They will then give you a receipt. Then go to a different office to get the form stamped and signed. Then you take the form to your hostel to complete the process.
At the end of the morning I met with Dr. Suma Nair who is my preceptor here in Manipal. We discussed my project and what I would be doing for the month. I guess I made her worried when I broke down crying and couldn’t stop. She found me a computer so I could email my family to let them know I arrived safe and sound. She then took me to brunch since I hadn’t had a proper meal for over 24 hours. Afterwards we attended a cancer prevention poster competition put on by the students. I spent the rest of the afternoon completing the rest of my paperwork and purchasing a cheap mobile phone.
The next day things improved. I attended a pediatric clinic with some students from the Netherlands. They had arrived a couple of days prior and invited me to join them at End Point that night where some other foreign students would be hanging out. End Point is a park at the edge of campus where students can run or play soccer or just hangout. There were students there from all over including, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Scotland, Australia and the United States. It was nice to be around people that were going through the same things I was.
The following day I attended a cancer screening awareness program for the community of Malpe. Several community leaders spoke and a group of medical students put on a play to demonstrate the importance of cancer screening and trying to dispel some of the myths. I understood little of it because it was in the local language but I think they did a good job. That night I went to a place called Fab India and bought some Indian style clothing called salwar kameez since almost none of the clothes that I brought are appropriate either for cultural reasons or because of the extreme heat in the area (mid-90s everyday). After that we went out to eat. I took a rickshaw back early in order to work on the questionnaire, consent forms and proposal for my upcoming project.
That’s it for now. I will write more later about my project and the difficulties I have run into attempting to do research here. I will also write about my wonderfully relaxing weekend in Goa over the weekend. For now, things are going much better. Thank you all for your support.
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