Student & Faculty Highlights
- Student Experience: Gloria Santayana, MS
- Student Experience: Justin Sempsrott, College of Medicine
- Student Experience: Danish Ahmad, College of Medicine
- Fellow physicians' journals from India 2007
Student Experience: Gloria Santayana, MS
Gloria Santayana, MS, a Research Assistant with the Division of Infectious Disease, describes her experience with the IHSC in 2007 in the Dominican Republic:
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Gloria with children from the community of El Yayal |
"IHSC, a multidisciplinary student group at USF Health that works toward sustainable health in underserved communities, went to El Yayal, Dominican Republic in December 2007. While there, our main project was to build latrine foundations for the poorest families of the community. In addition, we held several health education sessions for the locals, and we ran a clinic for four days under the direction of a nurse practitioner and an internal medicine physician. Together, we succeeded in completing the foundations for 15 new latrines and assisted the healthcare providers in assessing and treating over 300 patients. The Peace Corps volunteers, healthcare providers, and students that went to El Yayal were a privilege to work with, and the community members, with their generous and joyful spirit, were an honor to work for. I traveled to El Yayal in hopes that I would be able to connect with the individuals there on a personal level and show I care about their health. Serving the people of this community allowed me to be connected to those around me in very deep and different ways, and I soon learned that what I had to offer them was minimal compared to what I received." |
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Gloria and Heather Webster from CON explaining medications to a family in Dominican Republic |
Student Experience: Justin Sempsrott, College of Medicine
International Drowning Crisis and Project World Health
Justin Sempsrott, a medical student, describes his international experiences in Peru and the Dominican Republic:
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"In July 2006, I spent 3 weeks in and around Cusco, Peru, working at an indigent clinic and hiking through the mountains giving yellow fever vaccines. I then traveled to the capitol, Lima, where I met up with the volunteer lifeguards of the Peruvian Lifesaving Association (ASP) and taught CPR, Lifeguarding, and First Aid classes. The visit was so successful that I was invited to return and did so in December with two other Ocean Lifeguard colleagues. We trained more than 200 lifeguards along the Peruvian Coast. This project was self-motivated and came from my desire to increase awareness of the international drowning crisis." |
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"I am also active with Project World Health, an entirely student run organization here at USF. Last year we went to the Dominican Republic for one week and ran two community clinics per day, each at a different location. This year, due to overwhelming response, we are taking more first years than ever and will be able to run three clinics a day. I believe that health and wellness are inalienable rights that are sadly, unavailable to many in our global community. The world is shrinking and medicine offers us a chance to look beyond borders and provide the hope of treatment to our fellow man." |
Student Experience: Danish Ahmad, College of Medicine
Immune Reconstitution Syndrome
Danish Ahmad visited Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India in July of 2007 for three weeks to do a research project and clinical rotation. He describes his experience:
“I thoroughly enjoyed my experience in India. Not only was I able to experience a completely different culture but I was also able to enjoy a different clinical atmosphere. While working with Dr. Patel in his infectious disease clinic I was able to see many clinical presentations of diseases not commonly seen in the US. The mentoring provided to me through the International Program and from Dr. Patel was invaluable. The research mentoring was second to none.”
HIV Intensive Course, Ahmedabad, India, January 29th – February 4th, 2007
International travel gives students insight on making a difference as physicians
By Abbigail Chandler, MD and Yagneshwari Patel, MD
(from the diary of postgraduate fellows, India 2007)
Searching for a common perspective among cultural differences
In January 2007, we set off on an amazing trip to India. Both of us are Infectious Disease fellows at USF, but our life's story thus far could not be any different. One of us grew up in Kenya after her parents emigrated from India, then relocated to the United States at 17 to start college. The other grew up in rural Ohio and has only traveled overseas a few times. One of us speaks Hindi, Gujarati, Swahili, and English. The other speaks only English. One of us knows what "developing country" really means, while the other can only imagine. Despite these differences, we were both able to appreciate the multitude of cultural differences and similarities between ourselves and those we visited and learned from. We began to appreciate the differences and similarities in the art of clinical and research medicine, especially in regards to the spectrum of diseases afforded by HIV.
Teaching strengthens learning
Our trip was designed as a teaching experience. We gave lectures, along with four Infectious Disease senior faculty, about basic and advanced HIV-related issues to the participants in the National Annual HIV Update. It became a learning experience in HIV, medicine, and life. The students in the six day class and two weekend seminars consisted of very educated physicians wanting to start to care for HIV-infected patients because it has become a problem in their small town. There were also medical students and those just finished with medical school wanting to learn about and incorporated HIV care into their practices. They, and we, were taught by some of the most well-respected and engaging thought leaders from India who are currently caring for HIV patients. Many of these physician scientists had full clinical schedules, but were finding time to publish their experiences and participate in trials as well. They all demonstrated enthusiasm and pride in their profession.
Overcoming resource-limited attitudes
As part of the week, we spent time in a private practice seeing patients and participating in rounds at the hospital. We learned about the severe stigma that HIV still carries in India, even between spouses. We learned about the lack of government interventions and programs that we so often take for granted. We learned what "resource limited" really means, and the constraints it makes on the patient and the physician. We so often take for granted the technology we use on a daily basis to make our diagnoses and to help treat our patients, that it was hard to imagine being without it.
Appreciating the small luxuries
Our travels led us to the big city, Mumbai, where we saw a Bollywood movie with the family we stayed with and went sari shopping. We then traveled to Ahmedabad, a small city in Gujarat state, where Gandhi once lived and taught. We saw Hindu temples and Islamic mosques with beautiful artwork and carvings and appreciated the spirituality of the Indian people. On a daily basis there were visual reminders of the poverty of its people, either from the children knocking on your car window for a coin or the makeshift shelters built of scraps of metal and plastic along the road. Traveling out to the small town of Vasai for our last seminar, the small luxuries we have, such as clean, running water, were absent for many.
Beyond India, the future awaits
So we did have a teaching experience, but learned far more from our trip to India, even despite our different backgrounds. We now better understand the complexities that Indian providers face in caring for HIV patients and their families. This trip will continue to have a positive impact on the two of us, and therefore, hopefully, impact the lives of our patients and those we will teach in the future.