Hey there everyone,
I guess its high time I kick this thing off. Well, I'm Chris, and I'm fixin' to go to India. Yeehaw! This will be my final rotation of what has been an amazing four years at the UT Health Science Center Medical School in San Antonio, TX (UTHSCSA). I just finished up my ACLS certification training today, so all that is left is this trip. As you can see above, I'm thinking deeply about the future.
To say that I have been looking forward to this would be the understatement of the year. From the moment I was accepted to med school I decided I would do an international rotation, preferably somewhere completely unlike what I am used to. I love to try new things, and a trip to India fits that bill perfectly.
Here's the plan for my trip: I'll be leaving San Antonio in less than 2 days, flying first to Dulles in DC, then to Doha in Qatar, then on to Chennai in India. The wholw thing should take roughly 24hrs, if all goes according to plan. Hopefully, at the Chennai airport, two of my classmates will also be arriving at the same time. We plan to meet up together just outside of customs, and in theory a car will be waiting for me to take us to Vellore, about 2 hrs down the road. (FYI, lots of the names of Indian cities got changed a few years ago. Chennai = Madras, Mumbai = Bombay, etc. etc. I'll try to note both names of any new places I mention.)
Ah, Vellore, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Home of the Christian Medical College, my new residence for the next 3 weeks. Here I will have the chance to try a variety of as-yet undecided rotations. Two groups from UTHSCSA have already gone this year, and raved about it, so I have a relatively good idea of what to expect. I'll be staying in the International Hostel on campus. It will be hot. But, I live in Texas already, and spent two whole summers here without a/c, so my body will remember. Just sweat a lot, drink lots of water, and when possible, stick your head in a frezzer for a minute or two. I'll be posting a lot on here about my experiences at the CMC, as well as offering an in-depth profile of a tropical disease that I see. Fun!
After my rotation ends, I'll fly up to Delhi to meet up with my ever-lovely girlfriend, Felicia. We're planning to see the Taj Mahal, then travel down to the state of Kerala on the west coast for a week of relaxation, seeing several sights along the way. We have high hopes that we may get to help scrub an elephant in a river. At the end, we'll head up to Mumbai for the last few wacky days, including my B-day, then come home. I should get back less than 1-week before graduation. This whole experience is my present to myself for getting this far.
It must be noted that none of this would not be possible without the generous gift of the Paul Brand Scholarship I received, which is primarily responsible for funding my visit to the CMC. I've been given a great opportunity here, and will assuredly get the most out of this.
So, I'll be posting pics, both of my medical experiences and otherwise. I'm still figuring out how to do all that, but I'll fix it up pretty quick-like.
thats all for now....
