Would you volunteer your skills and time in India?
What would you do?
I would love to help with surgical procedures such as hip replacements (if I go Ortho) or cleft lip/palate (If I go plastics).
I would also offer general medical help by setting up a local clinic and round up some friends to have it manned year round.
:meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie:

Would you volunteer your skills and time in India?
What would you do?
I would love to help with surgical procedures such as hip replacements (if I go Ortho) or cleft lip/palate (If I go plastics).
I would also offer general medical help by setting up a local clinic and round up some friends to have it manned year round.
:meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie:

When I graduate, Im gonna spend 6 months travelling India and work in public health clinics....I need to learn more of my culture.....

It would be more cost-effective to make as much money as possible in the US, and donate to charities.

It would be more cost-effective to make as much money as possible in the US, and donate to charities.

Many potential problems can be arrested before a patient walks through the door, so I think it would be nice to set up infrastructure to help/treat those with little or no access to healthcare. This would encompass services such as education and social activism.

When I graduate, Im gonna spend 6 months travelling India and work in public health clinics....I need to learn more of my culture.....

Your sig line..........
Temple offers a DMD? I thought it was a DDS.
Your plan to travel and do free clinic work sounds great :thumbup:

It would be more cost-effective to make as much money as possible in the US, and donate to charities.

If governmental mid level politicians and clerks take bribes and eat out of public coffers in India, I dont think a charity's monies would filter down to those in need.
In my opinion if you do the work, at least you know that the people are benefitting from it.

Many potential problems can be arrested before a patient walks through the door, so I think it would be nice to set up infrastructure to help/treat those with little or no access to healthcare. This would encompass services such as education and social activism.

I think social activism would have the most impact today in India due to its growing middle class of 300 million people.
Where there is money there is clout.
In terms of organization, there should be some NRI groups out there that can help establish infrastructure. This fits in with Mustafa's idea of charitable donations-as long as there is an NRI who is not affected by the local corruption things may work out. Not that all politicians/clerks in India are corrupt.

I think social activism would have the most impact today in India due to its growing middle class of 300 million people.
Where there is money there is clout.
In terms of organization, there should be some NRI groups out there that can help establish infrastructure. This fits in with Mustafa's idea of charitable donations-as long as there is an NRI who is not affected by the local corruption things may work out. Not that all politicians/clerks in India are corrupt.

I agree completely. In a country such as India you can't trust your money to filter down to those who need it most.

If governmental mid level politicians and clerks take bribes and eat out of public coffers in India, I dont think a charity's monies would filter down to those in need.
In my opinion if you do the work, at least you know that the people are benefitting from it.


yup! That is my biggest reservation for donating to charitites because of the corruption in those charities. I don't know if the people are getting the funds or the officers of the organization. I have heard of so many such scandals. Being physically part of an organization or volunteering time in India seems like a much better option to me. I am going to india next summer( hopefully!) and definately plan on volunteering at the government hospitals there. I did that about 3 summers ago and it was such a rewarding experience.

Great Thread JattMed! We need more of these discussions in this forum ! :)

Would you volunteer your skills and time in India?
What would you do?
I would love to help with surgical procedures such as hip replacements (if I go Ortho) or cleft lip/palate (If I go plastics).
I would also offer general medical help by setting up a local clinic and round up some friends to have it manned year round.
:meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie:

Great topic!
I have always wanted to do some sort of service in India. I hope to spend some time in India while in med school, perhaps for research. But eventually, I want to do some health ed/advocacy work also related to women's health. I find the gender ratios in India appalling. I think they are the worst in north India. I would like do something about that.
I don't know what my speciality will be. But if my skill would help ppl there in anyway, i would want to contribute that way too.

Guys what type of volunteering could someone who is not yet in Med school do?? I'm a desi living in the U.S. and want to come to India (I just have a Bachelors in Biology). What types of services can I do? I'm thinking about staying for a month or two.

Your sig line..........
Temple offers a DMD? I thought it was a DDS.
Your plan to travel and do free clinic work sounds great :thumbup:

Yah Temple offers the DMD...actually there is no difference between the two degrees...just simple linguistics....

Guys what type of volunteering could someone who is not yet in Med school do?? I'm a desi living in the U.S. and want to come to India (I just have a Bachelors in Biology). What types of services can I do? I'm thinking about staying for a month or two.

I actually knew a cardiologist at one hospital so I asked him if I could just volunteer at his hospital for a couple of weeks and he agreed. You might want to contact a hospital which is near where you will be staying and see if they have any kind of a volunteer program or oppurtunities for you to shadow a physician and get a feel of healthcare in india.

Nice thread.

I've been thinking about this kinda stuff during the last couple years. I would absolutely love to spend a few weeks out of the year to help out those most in need. One of the cool things is learning to deal without the resources available here. That will take some getting used to. That is one of the reasons I chose to apply to EM. Hopefully I'll learn to use limited resources in a practical manner and to the best of my ability in treating people, especially those in 3rd world countries such as India. Imagine how satisfying would that be. Ideally, $ would have nothing to do with it. First things first. Just waiting for some interview invites to show up in my inbox :D

pritbir

I actually knew a cardiologist at one hospital so I asked him if I could just volunteer at his hospital for a couple of weeks and he agreed. You might want to contact a hospital which is near where you will be staying and see if they have any kind of a volunteer program or oppurtunities for you to shadow a physician and get a feel of healthcare in india.

I second that. I did something like that. It was convenient for me and I learned it was amazing how much i learned in just a couple of weeks. At the very least, it gives you a very good sense of perspective.

I second that. I did something like that. It was convenient for me and I learned it was amazing how much i learned in just a couple of weeks. At the very least, it gives you a very good sense of perspective.

I would love to obtain some medical experience in India

but...

How well do you know your native language? I would think of this as a barrier in any sort of interaction with patients (if there is any in a shadowing setting).... I can probably speak my native language with the same skill as a 5 year old Indo child!!! It's just something I haven't developed (like a lot of other ABCDs).

I would love to obtain some medical experience in India

but...

How well do you know your native language? I would think of this as a barrier in any sort of interaction with patients (if there is any in a shadowing setting).... I can probably speak my native language with the same skill as a 5 year old Indo child!!! It's just something I haven't developed (like a lot of other ABCDs).

I was born and brought up in India so I am very fluent in punjabi and hindi and that was definately needed when you came across patients who only speak hindi. To get a feeling of patient care I think it is important to be able to speak a little hindi just so you can get by and I don't think you should have a problem if you can speak a little bit. All doctors spoke english where I worked but the patient interaction might be a slight problem. I guess my advice would be to start speaking your native language at home :) Good luck ! :luck:

I was born and brought up in India so I am very fluent in punjabi and hindi and that was definately needed when you came across patients who only speak hindi. To get a feeling of patient care I think it is important to be able to speak a little hindi just so you can get by and I don't think you should have a problem if you can speak a little bit. All doctors spoke english where I worked but the patient interaction might be a slight problem. I guess my advice would be to start speaking your native language at home :) Good luck ! :luck:


I WANNA LEARN PUNJABI .... :scared:

Hey guys,
I'm actually in India right now and already started at the cardiology dept at MediCity Hosp. in Hyderabad. So far I've been shadowing drs. and a 'health educator' who actually spends more time w/ pts than the drs. It's been a GREAT experience so far this week but I'm looking forward to this tuesday where I will tag along a research team heading to a poor village where they will give free health care and get medical info etc.

For you guys that have already done some volunteering in India, what exactly did you do other than shadowing?? The concept of volunteering is really non-existant here. Most Drs. just ask if it's OK if they give me some type of certificate that says I've done volunteering :laugh:

I WANNA LEARN PUNJABI .... :scared:

:) haha spend some time in jalandhar/chandigarh...anywhere in punjab. you will learn punjabi...and some bhangra too :D

pritbir

:) haha spend some time in jalandhar/chandigarh...anywhere in punjab. you will learn punjabi...and some bhangra too :D

pritbir


Hmm..I like chandigarh. We used to have a house there. lol The moment I see a soni kuri...the bhangra just comes to me. lol :D

Hmm..I like chandigarh. We used to have a house there. lol The moment I see a soni kuri...the bhangra just comes to me. lol :D

lol :D i'm lookin for a soni kuri myself...and yeah if she can keep up with the bhangra...well...no words to explain it ;)

out of curiosity, are you punjabi?

pritbir

I would love to obtain some medical experience in India

but...

How well do you know your native language? I would think of this as a barrier in any sort of interaction with patients (if there is any in a shadowing setting).... I can probably speak my native language with the same skill as a 5 year old Indo child!!! It's just something I haven't developed (like a lot of other ABCDs).

I lived in India until I was 12. So I am fluent and in both Hindi and Punjabi. It definitely helps to know the language. But going there may help you improve your command of the language.

I am in the US and I miss india and always will...i want to be a cardio, so if I could arrange for all the possible sources, and set up a free clinic for heart patients in india then that would be awesome

I lived in India until I was 12. So I am fluent and in both Hindi and Punjabi. It definitely helps to know the language. But going there may help you improve your command of the language.


not only the language,
but you realise that you are so blessed by God that you got a chance to study in the US...this blessing should be returned to the unfortunatee people in india...otherwise that blessing is worthless , basically you are not using what God gave you...( i dont mean U in particular sinnah83 but in general

oh by the way i see two people here from san diego and cali?...i am in san diego too..at UCSD...wow its a small world.

Nice thread.

I've been thinking about this kinda stuff during the last couple years. I would absolutely love to spend a few weeks out of the year to help out those most in need. One of the cool things is learning to deal without the resources available here. That will take some getting used to. That is one of the reasons I chose to apply to EM. Hopefully I'll learn to use limited resources in a practical manner and to the best of my ability in treating people, especially those in 3rd world countries such as India. Imagine how satisfying would that be. Ideally, $ would have nothing to do with it. First things first. Just waiting for some interview invites to show up in my inbox :D

pritbir


whats EM? Oh good luck for your interview!

whats EM? Oh good luck for your interview!

Emergency Medicine :)

oh by the way i see two people here from san diego and cali?...i am in san diego too..at UCSD...wow its a small world.

I am from Los Angeles but I was in San Diego last tuesday :)