India « OSU Abroad

Mary Storm is a resident director for SIT Study Abroad in New Delhi, India. The OSU approved program that she facilitates, focuses on National Identity and the Arts. In this post, Mary tells us about her job, and gives a glimpse into her world.

What brought you to be a resident director?
I completed my Ph.D. in South Asian art history at UCLA, so I spent a lot of time in India doing fieldwork as a graduate student. I came to love, not only the arts of India, but India itself. One day (many years ago) I decided that I would like to be immersed in what I study; I’d rather live and research in the same place.

What are some unique aspects of your city and country?
Delhi is a huge crazy city and just like New York, Tokyo or other big vibrant cities, it has its ups and downs. Delhi has many layers of history, back into antiquity, because of this there are monuments hidden away all over town. You’ll be walking down a road in a modern residential neighborhood and suddenly come across a 13th century building. As the capital, it has great exhibitions and arts festivals. There are good restaurants, shops and medical facilities.

What is one thing most of your students may not know about you?
I have a diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but I cook mainly Middle Eastern food. I am a dedicated vegetable gardener, and I have two much loved dairy cows.

What are some of your favorite aspects of being a resident director?
I love to see students rise to meet the challenge of living in a very different culture. We see students arrive in India shy, hesitant and unfamiliar with Indian society. They usually leave confident and excited with a world of new skills and knowledge. Studying abroad truly can change lives.

What are some of the challenges of your job?
We travel a lot during this program. Travel logistics are difficult in India, and we spend a lot of time fine-tuning schedules. I give about 1/3 of lectures, but it can be a challenge working with other academic schedules. India is infamous for government bureaucracy and we must negotiate that.

What have you seen as the biggest challenge for incoming students?
Physically: the heat and dust of India can be hard, and some students have tummy troubles. Socially: Learning to negotiate different gender expectations and notions of social behavior can be difficult for American students.

What is your advice for students planning to attend your program, or to study abroad in your country?
Come and join us! Experience a very different part of the world; come with “an open heart and a strong back.”

What is one thing you think students shouldn’t forget to pack for life in your country?
Curiosity.

What do you think is the most important take-away for education abroad students?
Humility and open mindedness.

To learn more about Mary’s program, follow this link!

Recent OSU graduate, Charles Baugh, completed his undergraduate career by participating in the IE3 Global Internship program. A Nutrition major with pre-med option, Charles interned in India through CFHI International.

Whether it was shadowing medical professionals, visiting local non-profits or fulfilling his childhood dream of visiting the Taj Mahal, Nutrition student Charles Baugh’s internship abroad experience in India is one he’ll never forget.

“My favorite aspect is getting to have conversations with doctors about patients we have seen during the day and hearing their take on current public health issues,” he says. “There are so many brilliant people to learn from here, and I have had a wonderful time being their observer and becoming their friend.”

For the majority of the internship, Charles shadowed doctors across India working in traditional and Western medicine specializing in naturopathy, Ayurveda, homeopathy, pediatrics, gynecology, emergency medicine and family practice.

He spent the remainder of the internship visiting non-governmental organizations, non-profits and government-funded public health organizations.

Charles-Baugh-Synergies “India has many domestic public health issues they are battling such as general sanitation, population issues and access to health care,” he says. “Through this internship, I have learned that I want to pursue a career as a medical doctor and work on improving access to health care for minorities and financially insecure populations.”

To read the full story, visit the Synergies website by College of Public Health and Human Sciences.

Claire Ostertag-Hill, a senior double majoring in Biology and Psychology and minoring in Chemistry at Oregon State University, interned at the Center for Social Medicine in India through IE3 Global Internships during Fall 2013 and explains the impact her experience overseas has had on her day-to-day life.

After completing my internship at Pravara Medical Trust, I was fortunate to be able to travel northern India for a little over a week before visiting Thailand and then making a short stopover in South Korea. These post-internship travels allowed me to transition more slowly back into life in America. I first got the chance to explore the grand cultural diversity and visit some of the big sights in India, followed by embarking on new cultural adventures in Thailand and South Korea. This gave me an opportunity to first reflect on India’s culture through contrasting it with other Asian cultures and appreciate the cultural ideals that are maintained across Asia. The excitement of my post-internship travels initially prevented me from realizing the lasting impression India had made on me during my eleven weeks there.

Now that I am settling back into my life in the U.S., the lasting impacts of my time in India are becoming much more evident. Of course it is nice to be back with my family and friends, to have conveniences of American life, and the freedom to safely make my own decisions. However, there are many things I miss about India – my friends, the culture, the bright colors, the lively streets and busy village. I miss the unpredictability of life in India, and the knowledge that each time I stepped out my room, I would be embarking on a new adventure with new observations to be made and new things to be learned. I love India for all the amazing new experiences it has enabled me to have over the past eleven weeks, from the novel medical and health exposures, to becoming an active participant in the rich Indian culture and visiting the absolutely breathtaking architecture, and to the exciting activities I engaged in such as para-sailing, riding on the back of a motorcycle, and riding an elephant and a camel. It is difficult, nearly impossible, to fully describe everything that I have experienced in India and the lasting effects it has had on me as a person and potentially on my future.

Follow the link below to Claire’s original entry on the IE3 Field Notes Blog: http://ie3global.ous.edu/blog/comments/1363

Exercise and Sport Science student Goretti Pham spent Fall term 2013 studying and interning at the Center for Social Medicine in India through IE3 Global Internships.

Coming back home I was welcomed by all of the things I left behind: my family, my close friends, good food, and a large, warm bed. It was so easy for me to fall back into my old routine that for a day or two it felt as though I never even went to India! It frightened me a little so I had to revisit the journal I kept while abroad. Reading through my journal I was able to take a step back and really look at everything that had happened now that my nerves are calm and I’m back in a comfortable setting. Reading through my notes I realized that I really learned a lot during my internship; I learned about myself, about my career, about India, and even about my own country from another person’s perspective.

Through India’s very conservative culture I was able to step back and look at my own culture through their lenses. Neither is better than the other, rather there are just two different ways to go about life, however, being in India made me appreciate the beauty in concealing your body as well as appreciating the present moment. The Indian concept of time has always boggled my western mind. They never rush, they are always relaxed and do not often plan ahead; it is a beautiful thing, really. Westerners often worry so much about the future that they tend to forget to live in the present.

Follow the link below to Goretti’s original entry on the IE3 Field Notes Blog: http://ie3global.ous.edu/blog/comments/accessory_and_necessity/

Monica D’Angelo is a Public Health Major at Oregon State. This fall term, Monica completed an international internship in New Delhi, India with MAMTA.

My trip to India has become one of the best decisions I have made. It was a positive and enriching experience that I never could have imagined. When the MAMTA internship was presented to me during class, I was quickly drawn to the subject. It sounded like something that I should learn more about. After attending a few information sessions, I was convinced that this was the internship I needed. Once the ball started rolling, time flew by, and soon enough I was packing for the trip of a lifetime.

When I arrived, I found out I would be living with two Oregon State interns and ten other interns from all over the world. It is safe to say that the culture shock set in quickly, and lasted about two weeks. Once I started to feel more comfortable with my surroundings, I became much more open-minded about my experiences. Simple activities that we are all accustomed to in the United States became huge struggles that I had to relearn in my new environment. Plugging in appliances were never a simple task and power outages were common. Lighting the stove on our single gas burner made cooking a challenge. Grocery stores were almost non-existent in comparison to what we have access to in America. If and when we decided to buy food, it was coming from what is most similar to a convenient store. It is not hard to imagine that our diet was not on-point during these three months, while most days we would eat our or order in simply because the convenience and lack of access to well-balanced home cooked meals.

Our mentors on site at MAMTA Health Institute were very accommodating to the ideas and passions that I have for Public Health. There were able to tailor projects to each of our interests in order for us to work directly with adolescents in the slums. We created a risk analysis in order to understand the health risks facing these 100 adolescents, as well as how their activities of daily living in the urban slums may affect them in years to come. Working with the community and being hands-on in this way opened my mind to so many things that I had never encountered before, including a life of poverty that is so normal for many people in India. The poverty and filth I saw in these areas was overwhelmingly powerful, real and eye opening It is sad to say that with the internship only lasting ten weeks not much could be done as far as creating changes within the community. In reality, outreach and awareness is something that I would have loved to become more involved with in order to allow for positive changes to help these families with their overall health and wellness.

On our off time, we were able to travel and learn more about the country that we were living in. Aside from the initial tasks that we learned while getting to and from work every day, like crossing through lanes of traffic on the overcrowded streets of Delhi, catching a rickshaw or bartering with our drivers, we also learned a lot from the other students we lived with; simply though the differences and experiences we each have by being from different countries and cultures.

We were able to take amazing and unforgettable trips like to The Taj Mahal, camping on the beach in Rishikesh, and rafting on the Ganges River. We had the chance to paraglide through the Himalayas during a weekend trip to Manali and Kasol, and ride elephants and camels in Jaipur.

It is difficult to encompass everything that I was able to experience in words during my trip. However, I know that it was an experience and adventure that I would never want to change. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity present to me by Oregon State and their partnership with MAMTA. It allowed me to work abroad hands-on with the community in order to set the framework for me to preform international Public Health outreach and awareness to underprivileged children and families.

Connie Lee is a senior at Oregon State University, majoring in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry. Connie interned abroad at the Center for Social Medicine in India through IE3 Global Internships.

As I learn more about microorganisms, my interest in the medical field grew. The medical field can be broadly divided into two fields: clinical work or research work. I have researched in a laboratory setting as well as volunteered in a hospital. However, I have not been able to experience clinical work with doctors in order to gain a true feeling of what doctors do. Besides my background knowledge of medicine from science courses, I grew an interest in learning about cultural differences from my anthropology classes. Thus, in summer 2012, I participated in the public health and medical internship at Center for Social Medicine in Loni, India.

This internship was a great opportunity for me to experience the public health and medical fields in a completely different cultural setting. I participated in a huge variety of interesting programs, such as social programs for sex workers and mobile clinic services. However, the most life-changing experience occurred at the operation theaters, particularly the posting at the maternity ward.

To say the least, the experience at the maternity ward was very intense. I was already anxious about observing my first delivery. Half way through the delivery, I started to feel nauseous and dizzy to the point where I left the labor ward. However, I challenged myself to go back into the labor room and finish observing the entire birthing process. It was self-rewarding to return to the labor ward, because at that moment I grew personally.

The environment setting is very different for pregnant women in India compared to the United States. I noticed that the maternity ward was a lot more crowded, the resources were very limited, the deliveries were usually rushed due to the number of patients, and women did not normally receive individualized care during the actual labor. Ultimately, the standards in both of these countries are on completely different scales. However, I learned to respect that, although the delivery environment is very different through an outsiders’ lens, the system works for the local villagers. The services are provided with no charge to the patients, and babies are still born healthy. Although there are many differences, some even shocking, between the two medical systems, both strive for the same goal of providing health care to people in need.

Last but not least, my experience in the operation theater helped me confirm my interests in surgery medicine. I observed a variety of surgeries including, but not limited to, cataract surgeries, joint/hip replacements, medical termination of pregnancy, open/laparoscopic tubal ligations, kidney obstruction, hysterectomies and more. The experience was very eye-opening as I could never receive the same opportunity in the United States.

I enjoyed the environment in the operation theaters. It is a place where all doctors and anesthesiologist work together to help solve a patient’s problem. I saw how the surgeons work to find a solution, and their quick reactions to find alternative methods if the original method did not work. I found a passion for the human body; the human body consists of both delicate (eyes) and strong (bones) parts. Every part of the body works in harmony to allow an individual to function.

Marissa Uriarte interned for Center for Social Medicine in Loni, India, through IE3 Global Internships in Summer ’12. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health with an option in Health Promotion and Health Behavior, and a minor in German. She is now working as an International Ambassador for the office of International Degree and Education Abroad (IDEA).

During my internship, I had the chance to work in a wide range of projects that focused on medical care, public health and social development in the rural and tribal areas of Maharashtra. Before I go more into depth about my work at Center For Social Medicine I wanted to note that I cannot sum up India in a single story. India is filled with a life full of color from the saris women wear to the the paints on the animals during a holiday. It is filled with noises from the people bargaining at the market to the honking on the streets, and it is filled with smells from the food cooking on the sidewalks.

However, I can tell you that interning abroad challenged every aspect of who I am; it revealed not only my strengths and weaknesses, but questioned my knowledge and beliefs. I met heart-warming people that I will keep dear to my heart and learned that life is precious and we all need a helping hand.

There are an infinite amount of memories I will hold, but I would place working with the staff at the Mobile Clinic in one of my favorite. Here, I visited a daycare center for children under the age of five years old. I assisted the pediatrician in charting their growth development to prevent malnutrition. Also, I performed regular health check-ups for pregnant women, which consists of finding the position of the fetus, measuring the fetus length, listening to the fetal heart beat and checking the women’s health status.

The Mobile Clinic was very impressive, because the doctors and nurses went to the people. It addressed the transportation barrier and really emphasized that the patient’s health is their number one priority.

I had the chance to do and see things that people only see on TV. And I don’t believe this is an exaggeration. The culture and atmosphere is new and enriching; it’s completely different from anything I have ever experienced.

The Center for Social Medicine truly offers unmatched opportunities for international interns. I was able to use the knowledge and skills I acquired at Oregon State University, as well as build new skills that will contribute to my professional aspirations as an international public health nurse.

I want to stress that I would not have acquired this chance to intern abroad without the support from the staff at International Programs Department and the scholarships I received, such as the Benjamin Gilman Scholarship and the Nicodemus Scholarship. I believe that anything is possible if you are proactive in your career aspirations.

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Category Archives: India

Meet a Resident Director: Mary

IE3 Internship confirms student’s passions & future aspirations

Leaving India with the World in my Baggage

Accessory and Necessity

New Experiences in New Dehli

A Mishap in the Maternity Ward

In Depth in India

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