PREREQUISITES AND PLACEMENT IN THE
CURRICULUM: Completed all core clerkships. Course offered September through March because the weather will be most comfortable.
PURPOSE:
The primary purpose of this elective is to provide the students on site experience related to maternal and child health care and the care of recently infected patients with AIDS/HIV in one of the two largest emerging economies of the world (India).
COMPETENCIES: Competencies acquired after completing the clerkship;
- Deliver babies, provide pre- and post- natal care, and primary care to infants and children; and
- Provide medical care to patients recently infected with HIV/AIDS, acquire knowledge of its epidemiology in a developing economy and associated problems with their treatment and long-term care.
INSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES: During the clerkship the student will work with:
- The primary care physician and the female obstetrician at Seva Mandir’s two Rural Primary Care Clinics attached with a small hospital to help provide primary care to children, infants and pre- and post-natal care and assist in child births. The clerk will always work under either of the two physicians;
- The physician in-charge of the Community Care Center, dedicated to transient AID’s patients to help stabilize their conditions until they are ready to be placed in regular government hospitals. This facility maintains a register of socioeconomic and clinical data on each patient and this would be helpful to the clerk to conduct preliminary epidemiologic study;
- Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA - trained to perform midwifery duties) to help deliver babies only when the obstetrician is present. India admits about 30,000 medical students each year and each has to go through OB/GYNE rotation and very frequently work under an attending male obstetricians;
- Seva Mandir newly created a cadre of children’s health care workers called BALSAKHI (friends of children). The clerk would have ample opportunity to work with the staff to utilize his/her experience acquired during their pediatric and OB/GYNE clerkships at UIC in enhancing the training program of TBA and BALSAKHI. Since this clinical clerkship is being introduced for the first time at Seva Mandir, the clerk would have ample opportunities to associate with other foreign students who come to study various aspects of maternal and child health.
ASSESSMENT: Evaluation will consist of:
- Required attendance as per the plan devised by the host institutions;
- Prepare a report that should include each experience at the institution of at least of five pages for the host institution and UIC clerkship director. The report should identify strengths and weaknesses of the program and recommendations for enhancement;
- Evaluation form to be completed by the host institutions and signed by its CEO. The clerks will be evaluated by Seva Mandir physicians and administrators on diligence, ability to work in different environments and teams, eagerness to understand the complexities of the problems faced by non-profit organizations in developing countries and progress on selected work. A letter from the CEO, Seva Mandir, Udaipur is attached; and
- Solo thirty-minute presentation on the work at the two institutions before the select faculty of DME.
HOST INSTITUTION IN INDIA, ITS MISSION & ORGANIZATION
Seva Mandir (Foundation), Old Fatehapura
Udaipur, Rajasthan, 310 004, India, Phone: 91-294-245-0960
Daily Delhi-Udaipur- Delhi air service (Fare $200)
Daily overnight train service (fare $100 roundtrip-1st Class sleeper)
Ms. Neelima Khatan, Chief Executive
Ms. Priyanka Singh, MBA, Officer-in Charge (reports to the Chief Executive), Principal Clerkship Coordinator. She would also help the clerk to develop a research study in collaboration with other visiting students from abroad, if appropriate, and available institutional expertise.
Seva Mandir, a non-profit organization, provides health care to 626 villages and 56 urban slums around Udaipur, India. The survey, done by Poverty Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003, found the levels of malnutrition, infant and maternal mortality of women and children of Rajasthan rank among the worst in the country. The primary care physician and the obstetrician spend two days each in rural settings to provide health care. The Community Care Center is located in the city of Udaipur and is dedicated to provide transient care to recently diagnosed HIV/AIDS patients. It also maintains a registry of socioeconomic and clinical background for each patient treated at this facility.
At any time, there are 15 to 20 foreign students (social work, medical sociology, maternal and child health, health management, etc.) at Seva Mandir mostly from Europe, Canada and the US. The length of stay of these students varies from one month to a year. It maintains a dormitory and residences (double bed) for the visitors at no cost to the students.
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Check CDC requirements and recommendations for vaccinations and any prophylaxis before their travel to India;
- Obtain health insurance for international travel from an American Health Insurance Company of repute before departure;
- Obtain insurance for two essential exit strategies: in case of unforeseen emergency and evacuation due to serious illness and
Support for International Travel: Limited numbers of travel scholarships are available from GOPIO-Chicagoland, NFP (a not-for profit organization), P.O. Box 125, Skokie, IL 60076. Interested students should contact Mr. Subhash Bhatta, President at his e-mail address, snbchgo@hotmail.com, with a copy to the Clerkship Director, Mohan L. Garg at his e-mail, mohang@uic.edu.
Medical Staff
(Mrs.) Pushpalata Kothari, MD (OB-GYNE), responsible for obstetrics care;
C.L. Salvi, MD, Primary Care Physician responsible for the two Rural Primary Care Clinics each attached with a Small Hospital; and
P. Bhargava, MD, Medical Director,
Community Care Center, Udaipur (dedicated to stabilizing AID’s patients until they could be transferred to the government facilities and this involves inpatient and/or outpatients care).
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION:
Program Number: ELEC 195
Location: UICMC
Program Director: Mohan Garg, mohang@uic.edu
Telephone: 312-996-3590
Duration: 4 Weeks
Night Call: No
Weekends: No
Students Accepted: Min. 2 Max. 12
Housestaff Used as Faculty: No
Lectures/Conferences/Faculty Contact: 7.5
Laboratory/Independent Study: 20
Outpatient: 12.5
Inpatient: 0
Total Hours /Week: 40