Week one!

Hey Everyone!
I was on surgery this week and had a very good experience. I was told that this is probably the best teaching hospitals in all of India. The surgery department functions similarly to our medical school. We have rounds, grand rounds, surgery days, and clinic days. There are medical students and residents of all levels.
The teaching is very good and I believe because it is a Christian Medical School the surgeons were all very nice.

Wednesday:
We started out grand rounds with prayer and a Bible study which was awesome because you rarely see a group of surgeons who are willing to be open about their faith.
We read through Genesis 12:1-8 and Hebrews 11:8-17 and discussed:
1. How do we realize the purpose and significance of life?
2. What difference does it make in our lives when we realize the purpose and significance of our life and the lives of others?
We rounded for a very long time and had lecture almost all day. Then we had a trauma surgery (bowel exploration) in the afternoon (only retroperitoneal and anterior hematomas were found).


Thursday:
Very cool OR day (here it’s the OT (operating theater) and ward rounds.

We saw about 9 surgeries:
+ TSSA (four of them) which is a very common surgical procedure her for varicose veins.
+ Colostomy closure on a young girl who was in a very bad accident.
+ Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (their TV screens were just as nice as ours and all the same instruments used)
+ Femoral/ popliteal bypass
+ Brachial artery pseudo aneurysm repair (This was huge and the coolest surgery!! See photos!)
+ Aorto-bi femoral bypass
+ Testicular hydrocele

Surgery here is pretty much done the same as in the states and they seem to be up to date on the latest procedures. I wasn’t able to scrub in due to the number of residents and their medical students, but this allowed me to bop between OR’s. I also peeked in on a cleft lip/palate surgery for a bit. The only big difference is the quality of the hospital.

Friday:
We had Ward Rounds, then reviewed CT’s and CT angiograms with the radiology department, and student lectures were given:
I did my presentation on Klippel Trenaunay Syndrome, and one of the residents did theirs on chest trauma (pneumothorax, hemothorax, flail chest etc.). After, we performed lymph node biopsies and I was able to suture close one of them. =)
The afternoon was clinic which is crazy busy. It is amazing the number of people with vascular disease here. On the ward and in clinic you see so many necrotic feet and ulcers due to Berger’s dz, arterial vascular dz., thrombophlebitis, and some due to diabetes. There is also quite a bit of very bad varicose veins.
One young girl had lost both of her legs due to a vascular dz.
Even though there is a language barrier with the patients, I have found that touching them and smiling at them goes a long way. I was able to tell some of them that I would be praying for them.

Winter Symposium: http://www.wintersymposium2008.org/
This has been going on all week here at the college which has brought in an impressive group of Cardiologist lecturers from all over the world. The keynote speaker was the Nobel Peace prize winner: Laureate Peter Agre
(AQUAPORINS – Unique role of water channels in cell physiology)!

Saturday:
We got to tour the famous Fort and Temple here and enjoy some good food and be tourists for a day.

Personally:
I had a bit of frustration due to confusion with our housing, but praise God we got to move into a bit nicer of a place at the end of the week which I am truly grateful for. Everyone also got their luggage which is an answer to prayer. I am enjoying my experience, enjoy serving people through medicine, and am impressed by the quality of medicine here. God is teaching me how to love a new culture and to let go of our “American standards”. The girls on the campus have also been very nice and so I enjoy talking to them on the bus rides to and from the hospital. I truly enjoy serving people who have very little. We are student observers so we can’t do a lot, but I am just enjoying learning about the culture and people. It is also impressive that medical students rotate here from all over the world (Australia, U.K., Germany, Switzerland, etc. as student observers).
India is just very over populated, loud (the honking of horns is a bit out of control), and has a lot of traffic (so it is very dangerous just to cross the street). So it's such a blessing to come back to the College campus which is very quiet and peaceful. The random cows in the street are quite funny. I really like the colorful and comfy clothes here as well as the food. (Some of it is a bit too spicy but I’m adjusting.)

Ida Scudder’s Story: (Please read!)
She is know as their “mother” and when she died her death was grieved like no other (except maybe Mother Teresa)
Ida was the woman who started it all here!
The story of Ida Scudder's visionary mission begins in the late 1800's when she was a young American girl reluctantly visiting her medical missionary father, John Scudder, at his post in Tamil Nadu, South India. One fateful night, Ida was asked to help three women from different families struggling in difficult childbirth. Custom prevented their husbands from accepting the help of a male doctor for them and being without training at that time, Ida herself could do nothing. The next morning she was shocked to learn that each of the three women had died. She believed that it was a calling and a challenge set before her by God to begin a ministry dedicated to the health needs of the people of India, particularly women and children. Consequently, Ida went back to America, entered medical training (practically unheard of for women at that time) and, in 1899, was one of the first women graduates of the Cornell Medical College.
Shortly thereafter, she returned to India and opened a one-bed clinic in Vellore in 1900. Two years later, in 1902, she built a 40-bed hospital, the forerunner of today's 1700-bed medical center. In 1909, she started the School of Nursing, and in 1918, her fondest dream came true with the opening of a medical school for women. (Men were admitted in 1947). With the training of these women as doctors and nurses, Indian women would now begin to have access to health care professionals. This was the beginning of the vision of Ida S. Scudder which continues to grow to this day.
In addition to the care of women, Ida Scudder saw the need for bringing health care to the poor, the disabled, and the neglected of India. She traveled regularly to outlying villages, bringing medical care to the doorstep of poor villagers, many of whom had never seen a real doctor or nurse, starting CMC's first "roadside" dispensary in 1916. Over the years, these roadside dispensaries have developed into extensive rural health and development programs that have become internationally acclaimed in the Community Health field. These dispensaries have attracted members of the medical community from around the world, from young medical students to nurses to highly skilled surgeons, to study and contribute their skills.
The 100 years since Ida Scudder opened the first small clinic have seen remarkable growth. Here is an example of the daily activity that goes on there today: 2,000 outpatients per day, 1,000 inpatients, 43 operations, 22 clinics, and 16 births. Ten Bible Classes are held each day and 380 patients are visited by a Chaplain. In addition, there is the work of CHAD, CONCH, and RUSHA, which go out to the villages and rural areas bringing methods of disease prevention, health care and community empowerment to tens of thousands more. Started with one woman and her vision, CMC employs over 4300 people today.
But, the story of CMC is not merely growth, high tech surgery, and medical degrees. It is the story of people sharing their time and talents in a loving and caring manner. Throughout its history CMC has taken up each new task in response to Christ's command. In the words of Ida Scudder, ";we thank God for the way He has led us in the past and look forward to an even greater future."


Hope all is well at home.
Some verses that have spoke to me: 1Thess 5:23-24, 2 Corin 12:9, Matt 5:3, Jeremiah 32:17, psalm 23, Psalm 27:13
Isha (Jesus in Tamil)
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:17-19)

Prayer: For a joyous and accepting spirit. For a way to show the people here that I care even though I can’t communicate with them. For personal growth and change.

Other Blog sites with very cool stories too!
Rachelhassan.blogspot.com
Paulbgravel. blogspot.com
Rebeccavellore. blogspot.com
Kathrynfick-indiatrip blogspot.com
itinerantinindia blogspot.com