Institute for Indian Mother and Child
PERSONAL DETAILS
| Name | Gouri Nair Hari Kumar |
ELECTIVE DETAILS
| Country | India | City | Kolkata |
| Setting | Rural villages of Kolkata | ||
| Local languages spoken | Bengali, Hindi, english | ||
| Dates of elective | 21/04/2011-07/06/2011 | ||
| Year level during elective | 5 | Expected level of knowledge | Primary health care (BP, Dressings, Injections) |
DETAILS OF INSTITUTION
| Name | Institute for Indian Mother and Child (IIMC) | Population served | Poor villagers of Kolkata (most are living below the poverty line) |
| Size | Indoor clinic of 20 patients, 5 outdoor clinics from Monday-Saturday (May have up to 500 patients when busy) | ||
| Departments/specialties available | Primary health care (including women’s and children’s health), Microcredit programs, Education programs, Child sponsorship, Women’s peace councils, School visits | ||
| Further description | Peace council – Small groups of poor and uneducated women discuss social issues and problems; they also get newspapers and discuss the latest news. Child sponsorship – Children from poor families or orphans are sponsored by foreign citizens (i.e. Italy, Belgium, Australia); They get school bags, uniforms and private tutors |
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| Student responsibilities | Students have to take vital signs, conduct medical examinations and follow on doctors rounds for the inpatients For outdoor clinics, students take BP, do dressings and injections. They can also sit in with doctors (antenatal screening, skin infections), radiologists (X-Rays and ultrasound) and perform small procedures (abscess removal, suturing). |
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| Elective contact | Directly to Dr Sujit (director) at iimccal@dataone.in From Australia Cherie Rothstein at cgraziotti@gmail.com Project for the People: http://www.projectforpeople.org/projects/india.html |
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| Application process | Apply to Dr Sujit a few months before the elective if you have a specific date in mind (many people are interested and a maximum of about 20 student places per month are available). He then lets you know when to come; book your flights and organise your travel then let him know the dates. A care will pick you up from the airport and bring you to the guest house. | ||
| Donations brought/grants | Donations are always welcome – Especially medical supplies, gloves, antibiotics, antiseptic dressings, alcohol handwash etc. Cash donations are also appreciated Child sponsorship – This is the best form of donation as you will be helping a kid go to school! |
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TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION, FOOD, LEISURE AND EXPECTED COSTS
| Accommodation options | Stay at the IIMC guesthouse in Tollygunge (The nearest metro stop is Mahanayuk Uttam Kumar) | 150 Euro |
| Accommodation details | Basic accommodation – With bed, shared bathrooms, mosquito nets provided. Can buy water and toilet paper from there. Sunil the housekeeper is quite a character but very caring and looks after you well. The Metro station is about 10 minutes away – You can travel to the IIMC clinic or city centre |
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| Travel to location (including necessary documentation) | Australia to Malaysia, then Malaysia to Kolkata (the whole trip via AirAsia) Documents: Passport and Indian Visa |
AUD 1200 |
| Transport within location | Old volunteers are really helpful inshowing you around. Travel to the IIMC clinic is mainly by metro and autorickshaw. Travel around Kolkata by autos, metro (closes by 10pm), taxis (metro is better) |
To clinic: Auto Rs 7 one way Metro ticket: Rs 160 for 40 rides |
| Food allowances | Food can be really cheap but good restaurants are costly. Try the sweets (especially Rasgulla and Kheer khadam!!) | Lunch at indoor clinic: Rs 10-15 Take away food: Rs 30-200+ depending on what you get |
| Social activities | Great social activities! Can travel in between placement to Darjeeling, Varanasi, Bodhgaya or wherever else you want as long as there are enough people to work. Visited many places in Kolkata – Victoria memorial, Flower market, Kumartuli, Belur Math. | |
| Recommended vaccinations | Malaria prophylaxis Hep A, B &C Tetanus |
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| The good | IIMC is a fabulous organization doing really good work. Got to see rural India and really poor villages. Great for primary health care. Did some health education and health promotion. Got involved in microcredit groups. |
| The bad | Generally didn’t like bargaining for prices all the time – especially if you don’t look Indian. From transport (taxis) to shopping, be sure to know the prices so that you can bargain and not be taken for a ride. |
| Further descriptions, comments or advice | I think every medical student should be a part of this organization at least once in their life! It was a real eye-opener for me! Made a lot of new friends and saw a glimpse of what “real” India’s like. Awesome elective!!! |
| For more information | Email Cherie cgraziotti@gmail.com |
PERSONAL DETAILS
| Name | Tanya Duke |
ELECTIVE DETAILS
| Country | India | City | Kolkata |
| Setting | Rural, developing | ||
| Local languages spoken | Bengali, English (by most staff), small amount of Hindi | ||
| Dates of elective | November 2008 – January 2009 | ||
| Year level during elective | 2 | Expected level of knowledge | Quite low – how to take BP etc. Anything not known can be taught there easily |
DETAILS OF INSTITUTION
| Name | Institute for Indian Mother and Child | Population served | Rural population south of Kolkata, mostly women and children |
| Size | Inpatients – 16 beds, and a daily visiting outpatients clinic to four villages. Four or so doctors, eight nurses, many health workers | ||
| Departments/specialties available | Only primary health clinic so doesn’t deal with anything too specialised, mostly manifestations of malnutrition and skin infections | ||
| Further description | The health care arm looks after the basic health needs of the population south of Kolkata – anything the clinic cannot handle is referred onto a state hospital. There are also other arms of the programme – child sponsorship, education, womens’ empowerment programs, microcredit etc. It’s encouraged for volunteers to visit these. There is a reasonable amount of spare time once your duties are finished, so it really just depends on your initiative how much you can get involved with other areas. New ideas are always welcome. | ||
| Student responsibilities | Taking and recording vital signs of inpatients (temperature, pulse and respiratory rate), in outpatients taking blood pressure, giving IM injections and dressing skin infections and minor wounds, preparing and giving lessons to health workers in training (on subjects such as hygiene, basic anatomy, HIV etc) | ||
| Teaching availability | Lessons in basic Bengali given at the beginning of the month, a couple of lessons given from doctors on different topics (ours were TB and GI parasites), possibility to sit in with doctors during outpatients, an occasional ‘ward round’ with doctor in afternoons | ||
| Elective contact | Costanza Gazzaniga – costanza.gazzaniga@projectforpeople.org, fax +390299982010, tel +390236552292, address:
Ufficio Associazione Project for People ONLUS |
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| Application process | Fill in an application form about 4 months before planning on going, they will let you know 3 months beforehand | ||
| Donations brought/grants | I was already sponsoring a child through the organisation, but wasn’t able to bring any donations when I went. They would be more than welcome though | ||
TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION, FOOD, LEISURE AND EXPECTED COSTS
| Accommodation options | Guesthouse for foreign volunteers | EUR 150 (about AUD $250) |
| Accommodation details | Organised by IIMC, in Tollygunge, share a room with other volunteers or get your own if you’re lucky, permanent ‘gatekeeper’ lives downstairs, cold running water, small kitchen, short walk to metro station | |
| Travel to location (including necessary documentation) | Flight to Kolkata, volunteer will pick you up from the airport, ‘tourist’ visa required which can be organised through travel agent | |
| Transport within location | Approximately one hour by autorickshaw or bus Travel by IIMC bus or jeep to villages for outpatients etc |
AUD$ 0.50 |
| Food allowances | Lunch provided by IIMC for 10 rupees (AUD$0.30) ,very inexpensive breakfast and tea can be bought from vendors or cooked in the guesthouse kitchen, especially if other European volunteers are good cooks! | Minimum about AUD$1.50 per day |
| Social activities | Many outings organised together by foreign volunteers, Sundays are your day off so you can explore the city | Dinner at a restaurant may cost about 150 rupees (AUD $5.00), large beer costs about 60 rupees ($2.00) |
| Recommended vaccinations | Hep A, typhoid, cholera, malaria prophylaxis | AUD$180 |
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| The good | Being able to work with women and children, working with medical students and doctors from around the world, exploring the countryside of West Bengal, the amazing food, the awesome people you work with, learning a new language, learning to do simple things like injections, learning about the many different facets of the project and how they are changing lives |
| The bad | The pollution in Kolkata is atrocious, especially when driving in an open rickshaw |
| Further descriptions, comments or advice | The level of experience required and your daily duties probably make it more suitable for preclin students, however it’s still an awesome experience, especially the aspects other than the medical |
| For more information | http://www.iimcmissioncal.org/ |
PERSONAL DETAILS
| Name | Nicole Sleeman |
ELECTIVE DETAILS
| Country | India | City | Calcutta |
| Setting | Rural, developing | ||
| Local languages spoken | Bengali | ||
| Dates of elective | January 2008 | ||
| Year level during elective | 5 | Expected level of knowledge | Preclinical |
DETAILS OF INSTITUTION
| Name | Institute for Indian Mother and Child (IIMC) | Population served | Rural areas outside Calcutta |
| Size | |||
| Departments/specialties available | More of a development NGO – medical students go on rural clinics, only a small indoor clinic – not a hospital as such. | ||
| Further description | |||
| Student responsibilities | Medical rural clinics – blood pressure, intramuscular injections etc. (mostly nursing duties) | ||
| Teaching availability | |||
| Elective contact | IIMC Calcutta – Google it and go to website! | ||
| Application process | Application from website | ||
| Donations brought/grants | Monetary donation | ||
TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION, FOOD, LEISURE AND EXPECTED COSTS
| Accommodation options | Provided | |
| Accommodation details | ||
| Travel to location (including necessary documentation) | Plane | AUD$1800 |
| Transport within location | Rickshaws | |
| Food allowances | ||
| Social activities | Calcutta city | |
| Recommended vaccinations |
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| The good | Insight into a developmental NGO and aspects of it. |
| The bad | Better for preclinical students – not much clinical medicine opportunities. |
| Further descriptions, comments or advice | Experiencing issues beyond developing world medicine. |
| For more information |
