International Health Initiative Workshops September 27, 2006
Posted by jaotte in Medicine.add a comment
Today, we had a student group meeting about workshops to be put on as part of an International Health Initiative. We had some great ideas on the white board, and I acted like a bit of a shit (for lack of a kinder way to phrase it). My biggest complaint with events I’ve experienced in the past is that they don’t teach applicable skills, only inspiration and idealism; these are great things sometimes, but on their own, insufficient to evoke change. I just wanted to make sure we’d get some juicy knowledge out of these workshops.
I made it very clear that students have to be realistic in their expectations when going overseas and that these workshops should give them the ability to define concrete goals for their work and provide them with tools they need and to achieve them. Everyone knows this, but it always has to be pointed out. For example, it is great to learn about sustainability, but how can a lowly medical student revise an entire NGO’s operational strategy? As an alternative, someone suggested the biggest role that medical students can play – being relatively incompetent in medicine, let’s be honest – is public/patient education. Outreach programs for preventative health care, hygiene, etc. seem like a good place to make a measurable impact, so why not have a workshop about strategies to educate despite language difficulties and cultural barriers? Good thought.
At one point in the meeting, I regurgitated something that was raised last year at the Medical Overseas Research and Electives (MORE) Global Health Conference, in several classes, and mentioned by several peers: global health also exists at the local level. Learning about marginalized populations within our own community is just as important as taking part in aid missions to other continents. One of the First Year students suggested that a Public Health Nurse from a remote, Northern BC community might be able to speak about working in Canada with language, education, financial, and other barriers – which we often only think of as phenomena of far away places. Furthermore, the way in which our actions fit in to the health of those around the world is another way to consider local approaches to international health
The organizers of today’s meeting did a good job of asking students to outline our interests and needs. It will be wonderful to see (and possible be involved in the development of) the end product. The lovely ladies in charge have managed to swing some serious funding and I’m curious to see how it will be used.
Rapid Fire Article for The Appendix September 18, 2006
Posted by jaotte in Healthcare, Humour, India, Medical School, Medicine, Nepal, News, Travel, Volunteering.add a comment
Our free student newspaper, The Appendix, was soliciting articles for the next edition. I threw something together in just 12 minutes, as my family was waiting for me so we could go to the beach! It’s a bit rough due to the haste with which it was written, but the exercise did teach me that summing up my summer properly in a few paragraphs or photos is not possible, nor should it be. The ending is quite facetious, but maybe it will help with sales. *wink*
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Working overseas isn’t always glamorous, but it sure can be an adventure. In the Indian Himalayas, I got to know my fellow workers well, as we huddled together for warmth in our tents at night, and frankly, when you’ve smelled someone’s feet and borrowed their toilet paper, you get pretty close, pretty fast. On the clinical side, I swallowed my pride while dressing a natural healer’s wound with some dental gauze and securing it with 5 Winnie the Pooh bandages. Patients were diagnosed with GERD left and right, and when trying on glasses they giggled at us when we asked “zim zim?” to see if they were dizzy from too-strong a prescription. The Ladakhi and Tibetan people were all smiles, no matter what gadgets we stuck in whichever places.
En routeto treating some Tibetan nomads in Tangste, our group of health workers had a snowball fight at 17 000 ft and learned the hard way how exertion can exacerbate altitude sickness. A day of lovely gastroenteritis allowed me to hang out with some Himalayan marmots, who would scuttle away every time I ran to the “toilet tent,” a structure designed for privacy around the latrine.
At my rural clinic posting in Nepal, I lived with a great family. It took me a few days of being stuffed with Dal Bhat Tarkari (rice, lentils, and vegetables, eaten by hand) to learn the word ” Pugyo” (“Enough!) to tell my Nepali grandmother to stop feeding me before I exploded. A lot of tough kids came in with rabid-dog bites on their heads, but the most memorable patient was the one whose heart could be seen beating through his shirt. I quickly learned to walk nonchalantly past patients vomiting gallons of ORS and dal-bhat, instructing them to wait their turn if they complained.
I can still feel the 18.9 kg of my pack pressing down on my shoulders as I walked up the eerily quiet road to the airport on my last day. The tire fires burning all around and people screaming past with bricks in their hands only added to the surrealism as I stood dripping blood, sweat, and rain. Walking past the rolls of barbed wire and the soldier laughing at me with the semi-automatic still trained on my head, I couldn’t have wished for anything more.
Gulp! I’m sorry. Photos are up! September 14, 2006
Posted by jaotte in Medicine.add a comment
The start of school came and went and so did my free time. Using some of my post-travel insomniac hours, I was able to sift through the photos and get them online. I scoured the ‘net for a good way to post them for free, but I think Flickr Pro is the best option, despite the cost.
I still have many stories to tell; they are already written in my journal, but it will take me a long while to type them. I vow to eventually get up at least some of the highlights, if not the whole mind-dump that filled a complete Moleskin.
Without further ado, check out my pictures from my travels in the following albums: Ladakh / Agra and Delhi / Kathmandu / Chapagoan / Chitwan
Here are some of my favourite pictures: [see the full-sized slideshow]
(WordPress won’t let me use a beautiful Flickr widget I found, so you are stuck with these ugly screen shots)
