Broken Record

People always ask me why didn’t I just volunteer or work in the states for my last co-op. People from the states, people from here… it’s always the same question, my answer is usually something short and simple along the lines of learning about the culture and different health care systems. But sometimes I wonder that myself. Whenever I’m going through a rough patch (no, it’s not all fun and easy), I think why did I make things so much harder for myself, why am I here. Technology wise, I would learn a lot more in the U.S. I’d also learn more about the healthcare system I will one day be a part of. I would get to stay at home comfortably. It would be a lot easier, more convenient, more comfortable, less expensive, a lot less grant/scholarship writing…

I have already volunteered and worked in hospitals in the U.S. I have shadowed doctors, been a part of incredible research teams, got a chance to help patients and see what clinical care is like in the U.S. More experience is always better; however, I felt like something was missing.

I have this distinct memory of when I was younger in Nepal. We were going to the airport and there was a man lying in the street, visibly ill, jaundiced. I was quite young but I remember thinking, why is he yellow, he’s sick - why won’t anyone help him, shouldn’t someone call an ambulance? A policeman eventually took him away. I was in no position to help but couldn’t look away, wondering what would happen, if he would be okay, why didn’t anyone come rushing to help or call “911.” Whenever someone asks where my interest in tropical/third world medicine comes from, I think back to that moment. Even though I did not decide I was going to be a doctor until last year that vivid moment of curiosity stuck with me.

 

In my memory, I have never been exposed to anything less than the immaculate halls of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital before now. BUT as a baby, I was admitted to Kanti Children’s Hospital, sick with pneumonia. It’s no less than amazing to be able to work in that same hospital. Sitting at the clinic, I imagine my mother frantically talking to the doctors trying to figure out what was wrong…

It was a very personal decision to do my last co-op here. Cultural immersion and exploration of my roots played a big role in my decision but I also needed to see what healthcare was like here. There is an enormous disparity between the states and developing countries and that is what I came here to see. As much as I might moan and groan about how easy it would’ve been to stay at home or maybe go to a nice tropical English speaking country with standards as pristine as its beaches, I continually remind myself that is not why I came here. I didn’t come here to be comfortable. I came here to challenge myself and hopefully learn a little something about my own culture and global health.

Who needs the tropics when you live on Long Island :)