Fellow Bio:
I have just completed my first year of medical school. I am originally from St. Paul, MN. When I was 14, my family moved to Madrid, Spain, and we lived there for 7 years. I completed my undergraduate degree at Macalester College. After graduating I moved to New York City and worked as a Research Assistant on an epidemiological Stroke Study at Columbia University. After two years of the big city I moved to Madison to begin medical school.

Project Description:

1. Inputs - My project is being organized by the Himalayan Health Exchange, a humanitarian service program bringing together healthcare professionals who give of their time, talent and resources to provide care to the underserved populations in select, remote areas of the Indo-Tibetan Borderlands. This program began sending missions in 1996 and continues to organize at least two trips a year. I researched the program to determine its legitimacy and found current three third year medical students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health who participated in a similar expedition through the program. I have spoken with these students and received a positive review of the experience. The Global Health Office has approved the program. Our team will be comprised of several doctors, a dentist, an optometrist and several medical students who work together to provide care to these populations. In addition to contributing my time and personal travel expenses, I will also be contributing to the supply of medications we provide. In preparation for the experience I am researching the health needs of these communities and preparing myself physically and mentally for the challenges I will face.
   
   
2. Activities - Our team will hold clinics in four places. All are located in the remote regions of north western Himalayas. Depending on the changing needs of the local people, the Indian Health Department can sometimes change the location of a clinic site but our work period will not be effected. Clinic/camp sites will be set up to best meet the needs of the community, which will include working out of local health clinics, a school and/or a Monastery. We will have a mobile lab accompany us for the full duration of this trip. We will not have access to X-Ray machines or other heavy diagnostic equipment. Also most instruments and supplies which are available in hospitals and bigger clinics are not on our inventory list. Patients with serious illnesses will be referred to the closest government-run hospital. An interpreter will be provided for each of the 6 clinical stations that we plan to run at each clinic site. I will be working under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Liscord and will be expected to put in 7 hours of clinic work each day for the duration of the camp. My responsibilities will include performing diagnostic procedures and advice on issues relating to preventive health and hygiene. At the end of each clinic day the team will meet to discuss the patients we saw and the public health issues encountered.
   
   
3. Short term outcomes - I hope to learn a great deal about health care in this underserved community. I expect to learn through exposure about life and challenged in a remote rural area, in a country and culture I have had no experience with. I hope to gain insight about clinic procedures, and the specific health care needs of this population, but more importantly about approaches to community health concerns and interactions between international health missions and local governments. I also hope to learn from the other members of the team, especially the doctors who are further in their career, and discover how they continue to incorporate service into their practice.
   
   
4. Final outcomes - I plan to bring the experiences and the knowledge I gain back to this country and hope to integrate it with the rest of my medical education. I have a great interest in both public and international health. I hope to learn about the sustainability and effectiveness of medical expeditions and compare them to other international and community initiatives. This program will form part of an ongoing journey to learn about and expose myself to different communities and cultures with the goal of remaining open to life-long learning. I believe this journey will make me a more effective and aware physician. I also plan to share this experience with classmates and colleagues to encourage similar explorations and awareness of international health challenges.

The Himalayan Health Exchange is a program that recruits health professionals from around the world to donate their time and resources to serve underserved communities in the Himalayan region of India. The medical expedition is designed to reach underserved people in the remote interior regions where access to health care facilities is limited.

The stated objectives of the program are:

• To gain international health exposure
• To learn, develop and apply practical skills in non-traditional settings
• To develop sensitivity to different health care delivery systems by working alongside local health care providers
• To introduce team members to cultures and lifestyles in remote rural areas
• To develop awareness by analyzing social, economic and health needs

In addition, my personal objectives are:

• To gain exposure to an area of the world and a population that I know nothing about
• To learn about International health missions including:
  • their sustainability
  • how they are perceived by the local community
  • the impact they can or cannot have
  • their effectiveness compared to other international and community health initiatives
• To gain a greater understanding of the health challenges in remote rural areas
• To be able to bring back what I have learned and share it with my colleagues

Challenges and Solutions:

Resource Needs:

Comments:

Last update: May 18, 2006

A indicates the item has been completed.

Completed	When	What	On-line
	Year 1: Beginning of Semester 2	New Project Report	Submit Report
	Year 2: Beginning of Semester 1	Project Update	Submit Update
	Year 2: Beginning of Semester 2	Project Update	Submit Update
	Year 3: Beginning of third year	Project Update	Submit Update
	Year 4: August of fourth year	2-3 page final summary of project that includes a reflective evaluation of the project process	N/A
	Ongoing	Participate in program evaluation (written and/or focus group)	View Options
	By the end of fourth year	Select poster, presentation, paper, creative option or your own idea	View Options

Comments? Feedback? webmaster@fammed.wisc.edu
© 2003 University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Family Medicine