“The Last Free Summer”
Research? Volunteer? Shadow? Travel? Relax?
By: Mark Clapp, Neal Viradia, Emily Gifford, Poonam Patel, and Suzanne Weaver
What should first-year medical students be doing over the summer-their “last free summer?” As early as August, we-impressionable MS1 students-were being bombarded with opportunities and advice for things we should be doing during our break between first and second years. For some of us, the decision was easier than it was for others. International health projects were at the top of the list for many students at the University of North Carolina. With UNC-established projects in such countries Mexico, Honduras, and Africa, the possibilities seemed limitless. However, a small group of students were attracted to India and the Himalayan Health Exchange Project.
The Himalayan Health Exchange is a humanitarian organization which provides medical and dental care to under-served people living in remote regions of the Indian and Nepal Himalayas. These areas lack tremendously in medical resources and are often cut off from the rest of the world due to harsh weather conditions like snow in the winter, and the expeditions provide a great service to the local people. The style of volunteering with the Himalayan Health Exchange expedition is organized around mobile walk-in clinics. A team of health care professionals including medical students and other volunteers set up “health camps” in local schools, monasteries or clinics. As medical students, our roles include working with and assisting the local and volunteer physicians in these health camps. The goal is to provide general medical and dental care, and provide free medicine to the expected 1,200 patients. A typical clinic will start at 8:00AM and end at 4:30 PM during which we will work the the med team to see and treat patients. At the end of every clinical day, the group will meet for a formal hour of discussion time. The expedition takes us through the Greater Himalayan Range and the Trans-Himalayan region of Spiti. The Medical/dental camps will be held at 4 villages and at the 10th century old monastery of Tabo. These camps are being organized at the request of the department of health, Himachal Pradesh Government.
So why India? What attracted over ten first-year medical students from UNC to participate in the Himalayan Health Exchange? The reason varies from person-to-person. To better tell our story, five students on the Spiti trip have contributed their experiences, including their trip preparations, excitement, and challenges they expect to face. We are really looking forward to our travels and will be telling you more about our trip, experiences with the program, and our additional Indian travels once we get back!
Mark Clapp
As our time draws nearer to May 26, my ability to focus on medical school wanes. Microbiology is the last thing on my mind-yet I still have a final exam to take. Maybe that’s a bad thing, but I cannot wait for this summer!
When I first heard about the Himalayan Health Exchange trip in September, I knew it was what I wanted to do. It combined a unique rural medicine project with exotic traveling! I have always loved traveling, seeing new places, and being immersed in new cultures-I knew this would be a location that I would rarely get a chance to visit otherwise. During the fall, our group of seven from UNC slowly came together as people committed to the trip. By December, we all had submitted that big deposit check and were ready to go right then. As the months passed by we met frequently as a group to prepare and share our enthusiasm and preparations with one another.
I see my role in this group shaping up to be the “experienced outdoors traveler.” I have been on two rural medicine projects in the Dominican Republic and have a significant amount of outdoors/wilderness experience comparatively. In our preparations, I have found myself leading discussions on appropriate gear and offering recommendations on packing and equipment. Our group is very diverse in relation to travel history, wilderness experience, India-knowledge, and general personality-it is definitely going to be a fun trip!
Overall, I feel very prepared for the trip, both physically and mentally. I am excited to meet new people and to gain some unique clinical experience after being in the books all year! As for the UNC Crew, I am anxious to see how my fellow teammates adapt to the wilderness (there have already been talks of the necessity of showers and hairdryers)! It is going to be an unforgettable experience!
Suzanne Weaver
Hi! I’m Suzanne Weaver, and I graduated last May with a degree in biochemistry from Clemson University. Since the first day of medical school, I’ve been dreaming about what everyone ominously calls “your last real summer ever” and how to make it unforgettable. When I first heard about the Himalayan Health Exchange, I knew I had hit the jackpot. Going to a place halfway across the world that is famous for its incredible scenery combined with an opportunity to actually do something that doesn’t involve burying my face in a book seemed too good to be true. Then, I found out that some of the closest friends I’ve made in my class wanted to go as well, which left me ready for summer before we even finished our first block. As excited as I am, I am sometimes equally as nervous. What if I’m not as in-shape as I need to be? What if I’m expected to do more than I know how to do? What if I really have forgotten everything I’ve learned earlier this year like I feel like I have? What if I get a serious bout of the seemingly omnipresent “traveler’s diarrhea”? How am I going to survive as a virtual vegetarian for a month? Do I have enough underwear? Questions like these have constantly been on my mind the last couple of weeks. However, no matter how much I don’t know or can’t do (which right now includes everything other than taking blood pressure and listening to hearts and lungs, it seems), I will bring my signature enthusiasm and optimism 12,500 ft in the air, which hopefully will get me a long way!
Neal Viradia
When thinking about what to do during my last free summer, there were many options from research, working, and traveling. After hearing about a multitude of international opportunities last fall, I chose to make the most of my summer by volunteering with the Himalayan Health Exchange Program in India and doing some traveling on my own. The program takes us into the area around the Indo-Nepalese border where we will set up medical clinics for the villagers in the area. I am excited to be able to practice and use some of the skills that I have learned in medical school and as an EMT to help these people. This also has a special connection for me since I am of Indian descent. I was thrilled to hear that there were 7 other students from my class going on this program as well. Since that time we have been busy with trip preparations. First came buying the tickets and when to go. Next came what to do if we go early. A group of 5 of us are going traveling the week before the program, which should be a blast. Currently we are in the midst of travel clinic appointments, buying supplies, and packing all while trying to finish up the last block of 1st year of med school. I really enjoy hiking and going on nature walks, so I really am also looking forward to visiting this unique and diverse ecological area. However, this will be my first extended wilderness activity so there definitely will be some challenges faced. Of the group, I consider myself the experienced Indian Traveler and hobbyist field botanist. It will be fun introducing the rest of the group to Indian culture and pointing out random plants along the way. I really know that I will be able to get a lot out of this trip and am looking forward to serving these people and learning a great deal about myself.
Poonam Patel
“You’re a Patel - I know a doctor who is a Patel. That makes you Indian right? But why do you sound British?” I’ve been asked these questions so many times and in so many variations of it that I now have my routine answer down packed with gestures and all included. This is how it goes, I smile, pause, then proceed to say, “I am from Zimbabwe, born and raised there. I am fourth generation Zimbabwean but have great- great grandparents who immigrated to Zimbabwe. I have a British accent because Zimbabwe was a British colony until the 1980’s - and yes there are Indian people EVERYWHERE!” I smile once again and brace myself for any ‘intelligent’ rebuttals. Sometimes there is none, but sometimes I get something along the lines of, ” Oh, I get it, I remember there being a country called that somewhere in South East Asia right??”
So, to get it straight I am, Zimbabwean - Indian and I can now add the American to it (after having been embraced by this great nation for the last 5 or so years). I am so confident about being Zimbabwean, getting comfortable with being American but needed to understand the Indian in me. So when it came time to choosing our summer plans after our first year of med school, Himalayan Health Exchange jumped out at me. I tend to be fickle at times, but the decision to go on HHE was a quick decision and one that I have being thrilled about ever since. It is a part of India that I have heard great things about from relatives, the name Himalaya fills me with a sense of adventure and mystery and the fact that I will be doing something that I love = trip of a lifetime. I must add that I am a realist and the idea of tents and trekking is, lets say growing on me! I love the fact that I am going to share this experience with friends but also have the opportunity to meet new people. What I can say is that, I’m lucky, I’m excited, I’m nervous (about some things ie. Restrooms - from previous Indian experience) and I am truly blessed that I have an opportunity find the Indian in the Zimbabwean-Indian - American.
Emily Gifford
I am very excited to be going to India this summer! For the past two summers I have been traveling in Europe and road-tripping across the United States so I am very excited to have a chance to quench my wanderlust again for what will probably be the last time for many years. I am particularly excited to be traveling to India as I have been learning more and more about the culture over the past few years. Specifically, I love to practice yoga and I am thrilled that I will be going to the country of its origin.
I think that this trip will be my first real test as a traveler since all of my other experiences have been in Western or Spanish-speaking countries. I am frightened of my ignorance of the languages in India. I wish that I had more time to devote to studying Hindi so that I might be more prepared. Of course, this is a benefit of traveling with an organization such as Himalayan Health Exchange, so I am comforted in that respect. At this point, I have not really had a chance to produce expectations. I hope that India can show herself to me without my prejudices and expectations clouding my perceptions. On the expedition I think that I will be grateful for my previous camping experiences, and can hopefully make contributions to the group with my somewhat limited knowledge. In particular, I hope to make strong bonds with the classmates that I am traveling with as we will be sharing many once-in-a-lifetime experiences together.
Corresponding author, Neal Viradia, now second year medical student, University of North Carolina nviradia@email.unc.edu
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