Testimonies
As the Dental Student Electives are a new venture, there is no feedback for them as yet. However, feedback is available for our popular Medical Student Electives, also run by the Charities Advisory Trust.
September 2005
Tara Tricot
It took us no time at all to feel comfortable. Everything about Gudalur has surpassed my expectations. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to spend the month here. It has been fantastic to learn from such enthusiastic teachers. I was never scared to ask questions and always got clear explanations back. The tutorials were brilliant too and I thought it was great that they catered exactly to your need and could focus on whatever you were keen on. Whilst you expect to learn a bit of medicine on your elective, I never thought I would have learnt so much about tribal and Indian life, a real bonus. I think the course is really well rounded.
There were so many things I liked in the hospital but most of all it was the people. It was really inspiring to be able to work amongst such dedicated and enthusiastic people. Everyone was very friendly, the atmosphere was very relaxed even in hectic out patients! It was very nice that your opinion was always listened to and considered. The ward rounds was very useful and it was good to be able to follow up patients throughout our time here. I thought that the team work in the hospital was great. Everyone is very keen to help. The field visits were a lot of fun (minus the bumpy ride to get there and the drowsy effect of the antimetics). I really enjoyed seeing medicine in such a different setting and to see the project really in action. It was an experience that I feel really lucky to have had. We also got to do a lot of clinical skills. Helping out in surgery was brilliant – thank you for the suturing lessons!
It was a fantastic month. I would have liked this to have been a longer placement- six weeks instead would have been great.
The subject of food – wow – absolutely no complaints. It was delicious, so great that we have written every Indian recipe under the sun. The cooking lessons have been fantastic. Thank you.
Accommodation was perfect. I never thought we would be living in such luxury. The flat was so spacious and was really nice having our own room and own space.
Thank you so much and congratulation for such an amazing place.
Louisa Shovel
The course content more than lived up to my expectations. I loved every second of my time here and I ‘ve not only learned loads but also been lucky enough to meet probably the nicest bunch of people I shall ever meet. I liked all aspects of the hospital – OP, ward rounds, surgery. It was great the way we got shown how to do procedures and then got the chance to do it ourselves. We will now go back to England with a self confidence clinically that we haven’t had before. Field visits were great fun- they are one of the things that made this placement extra special. I feel like we were introduced to a different culture and learning experience, far beyond learning medicine. It was super to have our own place to go back to. Thank you for the best elective possible.
August 2005
Lawrence Moulton
The whole project is amazing and all the people involved are wonderful. Brilliant. Thanks for everything.
Rebecca Hope
I feel very privileged to have found this place and to have met everyone working here. I felt this elective was truly the “holistic“ elective – where else would you cover not only a vast range of medicine and surgery but also public health, development, economics, trade politics with a fair amount of cooking, music and massage thrown in for good measure!
Simon van Lieshout
Everything I hoped for and far more. Professors and consultants for teachers. Opportunities to practise clinical skills. A good variety of cases. Medically highly educational. Equally interesting and important for us was the interaction with the different parts and people of ACCORD, learning to cook indian food and seeing some of the countryside around here were real bonus.
August 2004
Jenny Kong
I have always wanted to come to India, so this was the perfect opportunity to do my elective and see India at the same time. It is such a charming country, with its unique blend of Asian and Colonial influence, and a dash of modern technology thrown in. From the moment we landed we were welcomed with the widest white smiles I have ever seen.
This elective has many aspects to it, which I feel has kept my interest and energy levels up. Hanging around the hospital is usually the standard elective. It is hard to get bored when there are different things to do every day – field trips, hospital days, tutorials, dental days, tea estate, days with Stan, days with Ramdas. I think the emphasis on social, environmental, financial and educational influences having an effect on health care are very important.
It is good that this elective attempted to show us that health care is part of a much bigger picture. I have learnt invaluable information about one of the world’s last struggling populations. It is a sad fact and it is easy to see that the staff of ASHWINI / ACCORD have dedicated themselves to this cause.
Academically, we have learnt massive amounts (more than I expected from an elective). Enthusiastic teachers and an amazingly organised schedule have really helped. The schedule was brilliant, giving structure to the elective and continual assessing of the schedule was worthwhile. I was actually quite amazed that a schedule was even made, let alone assessed weekly!
The doctors at ASHWINI have a genuine, warm, feel-good factor. There is that passion for medicine and “helping people” that so many medical students start off with and so quickly lose, to become cynical, business-like, stuck-in-the-politics type doctors.
Dr Sunil is an amazing tutor, one who listens carefully to your question, and will actually answer it, not ramble on and on. He explains things with such clarity. His tutorials have no doubt been a real boost to my understanding of the CVS. Dr Premila’s tutorials were brilliant for us because next year we do Paediatrics. She has a real passion for teaching and is great at what she does.
On my 4-week elective, another important aspect was the travelling on weekends. I think this is something to break up the schedule and flexibility here is important. India is so big and to see even areas of South India is quite difficult in only 3 weekends. But I think we did very well! It may have meant missing a couple of hospital days or that we would be very tired on Sunday before going to hospital on Monday, but it was all worth it. Leaving students some time to travel is good, but I suggest if you just asked them at the beginning if the elective it will give you a rough idea of the amount of time they will spend away.
I thought it was great to ask us at the beginning how much time we wanted in the hospital. Half-days would usually be standard, but giving options is always good. It would have been good to spend a little more time in the hospital. We learnt a lot there and maybe one or two of the field trips could be missed. We learnt a lot on our first field trip. It is a really good way of opening people’s eyes to the situation that tribals are faced with but by the 3rd / 4th field trip it would not be as beneficial. This is totally my opinion though and every student is different, wanting different things from their elective. I’m sure some medical students may want to do nothing but go on field trips!
It was great to have paid for all the food, accommodation and field trips etc. at the beginning, and in a lump sum. This leaves less complication and the money can be managed easier.
Our accommodation was brilliant, so well kitted out and I loved those mosquito mats!! Durga was so good to us, even when we clogged up the toilet pipes! It was perfect!! Food was delicious and the cooking lesson was brilliant!
It truly has been a wonderful experience. I love what is being done here, love the people and kids and I can’t wait to see what it will become. Everyone has been so accommodating and attentive to our needs and even Gudalur town has been good to us!! Thanks a million for the hospitality, teaching and smiles! - Love Jenny.