Global Health Electives in Family Medicine HOFSTRA North Shore LIJ School of Medicine Tochi Iroku-Malize MD MPH Shreyas Mistry, MD Ghena Grinshpun, MD Dinah DeCastro, MD Women’s Health & Pediatric care in Ahmedabad, INDIA

INDIA What comes to mind when I mention this name ??

 Temples  Religion  Wildlife  Gurus  Monuments  Colors  Spicy food  Bollywood !!

OR, THIS… ?? A Country with: High birth rate High Fertility rate Poverty Illiteracy Vast Population in rural regions Lack of available healthcare Cultural & Religious restrictions Or may just.. Ignorance, that they are entitled to a better healthy living !!

India is a vast country with nearly 1.2 Billion people, 27 states, each an own small country in itself. With more than 15 major languages and thousands of local dialects, with multiple religions & each with unique culture. Yes, there is population burst, poverty, illiteracy, immense rural population & lack of health care in certain areas. But, since last 5-8 years there is steadily growing economy, improved awareness, improved government budget allowance for health care in underserved areas, & multiple on-going WHO & UNICEF projects.

Considering all that, and also with, healthy partnership with many practicing physicians in the urban & rural communities in various parts of the country; we can say that – INDIA, is one of the best sites for conducting a Family Medicine Elective. It provides the student/resident/attending a chance to observe how with low resources, good clinical skills, under heavy work load you can still provide better care to people and actually make a difference !

I did a 2 week elective in my hometown of Ahmedabad, located in the state of Gujarat in western part of India. Visited 2 sites: 1.Ob-Gyn center with Dr Khubchandani, a busy practice in Semi-Urban area. 2.Pediatric Office with Dr Shah, a busy practice in heart of a urban area.

OB-GYN Center: Preceptor : Dr Rajkumar Khubchandani's Out-patient & In-patient Labor & Delivery Center Practice of patients per day 4-6 inpatient service for post partum & post op pts 1 OR, 1 Labor room, 1 Sonogram room. Avg 35 deliveries per month, 6-8 C-sections per month Outpatient clinic where prenatal, post partum and gyn cases are seen

Pediatric Center: Preceptor - Dr Abhay Shah Practice of patients per day 6-8 inpatient service attached to the office Office/inpatient center can manage patients with non ICU pediatric cases & new born cases In few sessions with him, I saw cases for vaccinations, enteric fever, bronchiolitis, severe dehydration, congenital thalassemia, s/p dengue fever, s/p febrile convulsions, sometimes all together in a same day !!

Our goal for the upcoming academic year is to: 1.Expand the global health education to other continents and to certain areas of the United States for a domestic educational experience. 2.Further develop the didactics and research in global health. 3.Faculty development to enhance mentoring. 4.Attend global health conferences to share experiences and best practices to enhance the educational mission of our department. We are doing constant effort to establish partnership with Community as well as University Hospital physicians to form a formal curriculum for residents & student to undertake a Elective in that region.

Questions please… THANK YOU