What will I Learn?
The MSE scheme provides a unique opportunity to see an integrated health program for a poor rural community in India. By necessity, this is a back-to-basic, low-tech, approach to medicine: healthcare without the infrastructure and diagnostic facilities available in the West. The ASHWINI project is also unique because it is controlled by its community.
Elective students spend time in the twenty-bedded hospital at one of the eight subcentres, and visiting villages to see the work of the village health workers.
At the hospital, students take part in daily ward rounds, outpatient clinics, case presentations and seminars (no boring didactic lectures!), all in small groups.
The hospital covers all specialities, including General Medicine & Surgery, O & G and Paediatrics. You will see a wide range of cases, including infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and typhoid (no malaria here!), bronchopneumonia and malnutrition, as well as hypertension, diabetes, heart and vascular diseases.
In Mysore, you will have a chance to visit slums; community housing for former slum dwellers; private and government hospitals, and depending on individual interest, NGO's working with prostitutes (sex health care).
Students can also choose to undertake a research project using computerised patients records.