Firstly, I would like to thank the office of Global Health Education for providing me with a scholarship, as well as the incredible opportunity to travel to my home country of India for this medical elective. It was truly the experience of a lifetime.

My elective in Bhubaneswar allowed me the unparalleled opportunity to gain insight into the clinical needs of a population that is culturally, economically and medically disparate from ours. My elective was based at a large urban hospital, and I had the chance to rotate between adult medical oncology and pediatric hematology/oncology, both in the inpatient and outpatient setting. Every morning, I met with the attending oncologist, and accompanied him to see his inpatients. After morning rounds, I staffed the outpatient clinic alongside the attending. We saw a diverse population of 20-30 patients daily, with a variety of afflictions. Some of the patients were local to the large city of Bhubaneswar, but many had traveled hundreds of miles from remote villages in order to seek out care. Unfortunately many of these patients presented with late-stage cancers, making for complex clinical evaluation and management. For example, I was surprised to see the prevalence of advanced lung, oral and colon cancer in relatively young patients.

During lunch seminars and office hours, I enjoyed getting to know the other medical students and residents, and I learned about the differences between Indian and American medical education. In addition to my daily activities, I attended the hospital’s World Cancer Day celebrations, and was also asked to give a presentation to master's students about different modalities of chemotherapy, ranging from anti-metabolites to newer targeted therapies. I was also grateful to have the opportunity to develop medical use of Oriya and Hindi in a comfortable and organized setting.

On the personal side, I was immensely grateful to spend quality time with my family, particularly my uncle. whose recent battle with colon cancer inspired me to arrange for this elective.

This elective has given me clinical exposure to a wide variety of illnesses and disease pathologies, many of which are uncommon in the hospitals I have trained in thus far. I was able to further develop my clinical reasoning skills in a teaching hospital setting, and appreciate how medical decision-making is informed by resource availability. This experience also enhanced my understanding of how socioeconomic and cultural factors can affect patient care. Increased awareness of these factors will certainly allow me to provide better care to my future patients, regardless of their cultural or socioeconomic background. I will carry these memories and experiences forward as I go through the rest of my medical training. I am truly humbled and honored to have been given this opportunity.

 
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