Traveling to rotations has been quite the experience. It has been great for immersing ourselves in the culture! We begin our journey by walking through the neighborhood of our homestay, where we are greeted by dogs, cows and loud horns as cars drive past. Once on the main road, we have to cross lanes of constant traffic to catch a vikram. Vikrams are a form of public transportation that has three wheels and typically fits around 8 people (I posted a few pictures above). At first it felt intimidating knowing when we needed to get off, but we’ve caught on quickly.

Our first rotation of the day is at a place called City Heart Medical Center. There is one physician, Dr Ghandi, who is in charge of the entire facility, which includes regular outpatient visits, an ED, a higher intensity unit (usually for those with an acute heart attack), and a general inpatient ward. No appointments are made so patients are seen in order of medical necessity. Dr Ghandi’s day is not complete until all patients are seen. Being the only physician in the practice, he mentioned that he typically works 18-hour days. In addition, he shares his phone number so people can call him at any time with questions or concerns. Many of the diagnoses we have seen so far are very common in the US, such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and coronary artery disease. Several interesting things I have noticed so far include taking off your shoes before entering the high acuity ward of the hospital and the amount of drugs reps that come every day. Dr Ghandi refers to them as “the bombardment”. Since there are no patents on drugs in India, they create many versions of the same drug (i.e. 58 brand names for statin drugs used to treat high cholesterol). He allows them to come each day because otherwise there is no way to keep track of all the new names of the drugs.

Our final rotation of the day is at a nursing home, which in India means a medical clinic. Here we see mostly pediatric patients. The structure is similiar to the other clinic where no appointments are made and patients wait their turn to be seen. This clinic also has a small ER and inpatient unit that is used. The diagnoses we’ve seen here are primarily upper respiratory infections and influenza but we’ve also seen some cases of cavities and vitamin D deficiency. The kiddos we see are always so happy and it adds a great atmosphere to finish out the day.

While the language barrier can sometimes make the patient visits difficult to follow, I have already learned so much. The work ethic and care these physicians provide is truly amazing and I am so grateful they have taken time out of their busy schedules to teach us.

-Lindsey