ALEX DOBBYN spent two weeks in India at both a hospital and an orphanage, gaining valuable work experience not available in the U.K.
In the summer of 2014 I travelled to the city of Trivandrum in India’s southern state of Kerala. The state capital is flanked on its western jagged shoreline by the Arabian Sea and bordered on all other sides by rice paddies, tea plantations and tropical forests. The city itself is best pictured as a mad flow of people, tuktuks, mopeds and boats, heaving their way through a tangle of streets and canals, accompanied by the lingering smell of local spices and the similarly persistent sound of car horns. The purpose of my visit was to spend some time in some of Trivandrum’s hospitals and clinics in order to help myself make decisions about university choices. After my two weeks’ work experience I planned to spend a week volunteering at a local orphanage, and with any spare time I hoped to explore Kerala.
I spent most of my time at a private hospital a few miles, or if you travel like I did, in an ancient Hindustan Ambassador, a few hours from Trivandrum. At this hospital, which was far larger, far grander and just as clean as most UK hospitals, I sat in on clinics and spent time with doctors, circulating through the specialisations day by day.
This gave me the opportunity to see far more and ask more questions than I could in an NHS hospital. Perhaps the highlight of my time in the hospital was seeing the progress of a man who had received plastic surgery to replace the skin on his hand. During my stay I also visited several local clinics, including a private general practice; an overcrowded and understaffed, state-run rural surgery; a volunteer-based leprosy clinic and a school for children with HIV. It was in these clinics that I was able to witness the unfortunate difference between the healthcare of western nations and that of a developing country. The state of the small, rural clinics was the biggest culture shock of my visit.
My final week in India was spent teaching English and entertaining pupils at a school for orphans and underprivileged children. As well as being great fun, the time at the school spent organising and teaching taught me skills for life and hopefully benefited the children as well.
My time in India allowed me to experience hospital life and spend time with medical, nursing and biological sciences students in a way I couldn’t in England. This was valuable in helping me make important university decisions. I was able to experience India’s unique culture in a way most tourists can only dream of. I feel it was a hugely character-building experience and one that will remain important to me for the rest of my life. I would like to thank the Old Burians’ Association for making the trip a reality.