I went to the village of Tuan in India with the Himalayan Health Exchange. The trip focused on learning wilderness medicine skills while in the Himalayan mountains. Our base camp was at 9,400 feet and our destination altitude was 13,000 feet, so we had to let our bodies slowly acclimatize to the increases in elevation.

 

We began with one full clinic day in the village of Tuan. The clinic gained so much attention that we held a few unofficial clinic days later on in the trip. To learn wilderness medicine, the other students and I prepared short lectures on topics such as cold/heat injuries, environmental injuries and wilderness dermatology. We also practiced making litters, hypothermic wraps and splints out of hiking and camping supplies.

 

After we covered all of the lecture material and held clinic days, the group set out on a four-day backpacking trip to Pimu La base camp at 13,000 feet. We traversed mountainsides, goat and sheep pastures, and snow fields along the way.