Tag Archives: India

In Depth in India

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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).

Marissa at the Taj Mahal
Marissa at the Taj Mahal

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.

Nashik, India

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.

Center for Social Medicine's Mobile ClinicThe 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.

Reflection on the IE3 Medical Internship in India

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Heather Hodnett graduated from OSU in Spring 2010 in Exercise and Sports Sciences. She went to India in Spring ’08 through the IE3 Global Internship Program, and spent ten weeks as a Child Family Health International intern, visiting various cities and villages in India to gain professional medical experiences.

Two years ago today, I was finishing the last week of my IE3 internship in northern India.  I think about it often enough that it may have ended just two days ago.

I expected to reflect upon my IE3 experience directly after my return and for years to come, but my reflection has been deeper than I initially imagined.  In fact, I chose to write my University Honors College (UHC) thesis based on my IE3 internship, and therefore, these past few months have been a time of sustained and obligatory – though welcome and insightful – reflection.

My days in India consisted mainly of observation in various types of medical clinics and public health facilities scattered throughout the northern region.  I knew before I left Oregon that I would likely use some facet of my experience as the foundation for my thesis, so I took handwritten and mental notes each day and typed them into my computer journal each night.  Despite my acute awareness of my daily observations and experiences, it still took me quite a bit of time after returning from India to actually figure out what aspect of my internship I wanted to focus on for my thesis.

I noticed countless differences between  the healthcare system in India and the US; some ways which seemed safer and more sensible and some which seemed less.  As expected, I also noticed how the greater Indian society influenced the practice of medicine and the health outcomes within the northern region.  This became the basis for my thesis: The Medical Culture of Northern India: A Visitor’s Perspective.

My research for the thesis was two-fold: anecdotal research based on the things I saw and did during my days in India, and literature research to validate and enhance my observations.  This literature research opened my eyes to so many facets of Indian life and the culture of healthcare that I did not even pick up on during my ten weeks living there.  It is hard to imagine I missed so much of the daily happenings while I was living and working in the middle of them, but I never would have made this realization had I not done some exploration upon my return.  My experience ignited a flame of interest and curiosity that I took the time and energy to really investigate.  Having done so, I now understand so much more about what I saw and why things happened the ways they did.

If there is one thing I discovered by writing my thesis based on my IE3 internship, it is that my education about India and the country’s healthcare system did not stop when I got on the plane to leave.  Nor should it have.  My advice to past, current, and future IE3 interns is to keep up on happenings in the internship country, actively learn more about the country upon return, and apply the new information to memories of the actual internship.

Above all else, I learned through this process just how much more there is to learn.  I urge IE3 interns not to let the experience and the education end just because the internship ends.  The reflection process should be a lifelong one – after all, (I’m sure most IE3 interns agree) the IE3 experience is a life-changing one.