The Global Health division’s spring elective to India has just returned. Dr. James Osorio shared highlights from the journey:
From left: Dr. James Osorio, Sophie Osorio, Dr. Grace Shih, Dr. Melvin La
"Everyone has been extremely kind to us. Drs. Ruchi, Ravi and Amandeep have made our experience meaningful and provided us with open access to their hospital, OR's and welcoming staff. Our first week at SGRD and Amandeep hospital was filled with discussions on differences in practices, challenges in India, as well as introspection of our own environment and practices. The greatest impact on us so far has been our village visit over the weekend. We met and interviewed 7 families affected by the tragedy of farmer suicide. We are starting to better understand the entire situation."
And from Dr. Grace Shih, CA3 and Residency Support Council member, excerpts from her travel journal:
"Just like last year’s spring global health elective, Grace was a post-liver transplant and Melvin was post-TL as we headed off to JFK to catch our flights to India. We would meet up with the rest of the group in the Delhi airport before flying together to Amritsar.
And we’re off! Our first day in Amritsar was at SGRD where we got to see what a teaching hospital is like. There’s been a sense of familiarity to be in the ORs, but enough differences, where it would take a bit of adjusting to feeling comfortable in such an environment.
On the subsequent days, Dr. Osorio did some teaching on mechanical ventilation and point-of-care echocardiography, while Grace and Melvin got to spend time in the ORs and witnessed several blocks that they don’t get to see in the US, such as a supraclavicular block using landmark technique and an obturator block placed by nerve stimulation.
We also visited Amandeep hospital and had a great time learning from Dr. Amandeep (orthopedic surgeon and owner of the hospital) and Dr. Ravi (anesthesiologist, pictured left). We were impressed with the camaraderie between the surgeons and the anesthesiologists, as well as the buy-in by the surgeons with regional anesthesia. The heart of the surgeons and the anesthesiologists to serve their patients and make do with what they have is humbling
and worth modeling.
In terms of outside the hospital activities, our unanimous favorites have been eating at Beera Chicken, visiting the Golden Temple, and chai at “Sheida chai” (a.k.a. Giani Tea Stall) for arguably the best chai that we’ve had on the trip so far.
For the weekend, we left Amritsar for the villages to learn more about farmer suicide. It’s a depressing topic, but inspiring to learn about the work that others are doing to help those left behind."
