Quite a lot has happened since I last wrote. As you can see from the previous posts Goa was absolutely crazy and amazing at the same time! I’ll put my two cents in although as well.
Goa the beach city we went to was crazy fun. Lots of beach laying and eating out. There was also the night market which, you may have read in Libby and KJ’s blogs, was a strange mix of Indians and older adult European/American hippies. We’ve been told Goa was particularly popular amongst these expatriates a few decades ago as a drug and party location while still being a relaxed and holistic environment, pretty perfect for those living the hippie lifestyle. Hello Mcjagger and Steven Tyler. We also got our seafood fix (minus the veg Sagar) with a very nice restaurant that served us prawns, Kingfish, fish fry and also offered shark, lobster, crab, etc. Goa was the perfect place to offer us a reprieve from the chaotic Bangalore surroundings and rebooted us for the week ahead of knowledge absorption back at St. Johns.
This week is the first of our last 2 weeks which in Libby and I are spending posted at community health. The first day was actually spent at the Urban Health Center where we learned a large amount about the Indian health system and culture in general. I will defer you to Libby’s post which was very complete and included more than I could have remembered. Mostly in this department, doctors and students usually go to a village outside Bangalore called Mugulore where surrounding village peoples come for care. They have an “Operating Theater” where they can do minor procedures (major if required) including cataract removals which was actually the order of the day today as it was eye clinic day. I did not get to observe any of these procedures as we actually spent the day in a village about a 25min drive from Mugulore. The village had a name I couldn’t attempt to pronounce much less spell. Here a community health worker had identified village people with disabilities who required screening first at the clinic in Mugulore, and if they were found to require Physical, Occupational, or Speech therapies, were further referred to St. Johns. First, although, we visited the potential disabled patients in their homes to gather their stories and information.
To meet with the patients, we students, the doctor, and health worker were invited into people’s homes. We removed our shoes as customary in India, and sat in whatever seating was offered: chairs, benches, beds, mats on the ground-because you must always sit in India when visiting. There was an 11-year-old boy who suffered a fall with resultant epidural hemorrhage and temporal fracture at age 8 for which he was hospitalized in the ICU with brain herniation. He did not receive an operation but from the discharge summary we were provided he was exhibiting posturing, asymmetrical papillary dilation, and mental status changes all of which would have led him to a craniotomy in the U.S. He recovered well expect for complete left-sided hearing loss and near-complete right-sided hearing loss. Therefore, we recommended he be evaluated at Mugulore and likely to be prescribed a hearing aid for the better right ear. We also visited the village government school where the teachers had identified a young girl with a learning disability and speech delay. She was very nice, cooperative, and liked waving goodbye to us, but spoke only a few words. The school was 2 small buildings with joint classrooms where multiple grades were taught. There were various posters on the walls and a chalkboard with mostly English written on them. There were only a couple of bench desks and some plastic chairs, so it seemed most students and teachers sit on the floor during lessons. There was also a 2 or 3 year-old patient with bilateral knee-ankle valgus deformity imparing his gait. We were quite the novelty at this patient’ s home as we were sitting on a floor mat in the living room and the window and door were filled with adults and children staring at us. I was concerned us being Caucasian and in the village may have been slightly counterproductive to the goal of screening these patients. Tomorrow we got to Mugulore again which has Geriatric clinic so I am excited to see what other pathologies we will experience.
Namaste! Abby
This was a visit to a family with a 7 year-old who was mentally challenged and whom we were screening for likely evaluation at Mugulore and further therapy at St. Johns.
This was our beach hang-out for the weekend. The servers actually learn patrons' names and keep track of what you order throughout the day so you just pay your balance before you leave.
Here is a shot on the hill overlooking the night market. Below are hundreds of huts selling clothes, jewelry, home decorations, drums, flutes, etc.
We were walking to a restaurant in Goa and saw this elephant just walking down the main road among mopeds, trucks, bicycles, etc. Naturally.
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