Noble Thoughts And A Noble Experience At Christian Medical College, Vellore, India By Durga Gunesan

Durga completed her dream elective posting at Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu

Durga enjoyed an eye-opening experience during her Community Health and Development (CHAD) stint

A big thank you to UCSI Medical Elective Organisation for helping me to pursue my dream elective at one of the best teaching hospitals in India, Christian Medical College Vellore or simply known as CMC for short. CMC is a large multi-speciality teaching hospital located in Tamil Nadu.

Started in the year 1900 by Dr Ida Sophia Scudder, daughter of a second-generation missionary from United States of America, Ida became acutely aware of the lack of medical services available to women and children in India, primarily due to cultural and religious norms that did not allow male practitioners to treat females. The incident that became the driving force for her calling was, when one evening at her parents' bungalow, a young Indian man came to the door requesting Ida's help for his wife who was struggling in childbirth. She instead offered her father’s help; however he rejected Ida's father, Dr John Scudder's care and left. Two more men came that very night with similar requests, seeking medical help for their wives in labour, but again turning down John Scudder's care. The three women and their babies died that night. The incident shook 24-year-old Ida Scudder to the core.

After much deliberation, Ida Scudder made a decision that changed the course of her life. She decided to become a doctor in the US so that she could return to India to treat Indian female patients, and train Indian women to become doctors and nurses to serve their own. Today, 117 years later, CMC stands proud with 2,858 beds, treating a rough estimate of 9000 outpatients and performing about 175 operations and 54 childbirths daily.

I spent two weeks in Medicine, one week in CHAD (Community Health and Development) and my last week was in Cardiothoracic Surgery Department. In the Medicine Department, the day starts off with seminars presented by Interns or registrars. Among the topics discussed were dementia, antiviral drugs, tuberculosis and HIV. Once a week, a clinical correlation conference will be conducted where four cases will be presented followed by questions and answer session and every week, the best presenter of the week would be chosen. I really enjoyed the Ward Rounds and the OPD attachment as I was able to examine patients and take history from them. I had a very good exposure to different varieties of cases as well as observe and carry out procedures like central venous line insertion and ABG.

The following week, I spent some quality time in CHAD (Community Health and Development) which reaches out to 82 villages around the hospital. CHAD consists of Doctor’s Clinic, Nurse Clinics and Home visits. I was attached to the Doctor’s clinic. Each visit usually covers up 4 to 7 villages. Each early morning, the doctors and I drove out to the villages scheduled for that day. Besides getting to know the lifestyle of the villagers, I also actively took part in clerking cases, writing case notes and examining the patients. Mostly, there are follow-up chronic cases like hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia. Medications are prescribed by the doctors and antenatal check-ups are also done once a week. I was allowed to palpate the abdomen and appreciate foetal heart sounds under the guidance of the doctors. The doctors were extremely friendly and were kind enough to guide me throughout the week. It was indeed touching to see doctors cash out money for patients who could not afford the medicines. This shows that doctors still hold on to the empathetic value that was instilled from day one of their journey.

In my last week, I was attached to the Cardiothoracic Department, established in the year 1948, by an American surgeon, Dr. Reeve H. Betts, initially for performing thoracic surgery. The department did its very first open heart surgery in the country in the year 1962. I learned that acquired cardiac lesions and mitral valve disease due to rheumatic heart disease are very commonly seen in this hospital. Surprisingly, over the past few years, there has been an increasing number of Bengali (ethnic) woman patients in their mid-30s diagnosed with heart diseases without a known cause.

I had the opportunity to observe patients in the cardiothoracic ward under the supervision of a Medical Officer, managed to clerk patients and perform physical examination on them as well appreciate different types of heart murmurs. I was lucky enough to witness cardiothoracic surgeries like CABG, heart valve replacement and lobectomy. The surgeons taught me to appreciate the structures of the heart and the blood vessels supplying the heart. I was awestruck by the entire procedure when I saw the open chest cavity and the beating of the heart. It was certainly a whole new unforgettable experience to witness something that I have only read in textbooks.

My elective experience at CMC was really exciting for me as I was exposed to patients from different states, each in their different languages. I met lots of amazing people throughout the four weeks, from different postings and countries like Germany, France, Singapore, United Kingdom, Oman and Switzerland. There were continuous exchange of different ideas and cultural experiences over lunch and dinner breaks. I also met some really inspiring personalities like a medical student who was 57 years old from Australia. She taught me that it is never too late to start anything in life and to always chase your dreams.

I am indeed extremely glad to have chosen CMC for my elective and I must say it has been the best 4 weeks of my life. I met different people from different countries, forged new friendships and took home lifetime memories. Generally, everyone I met during my stay was just warm and extremely friendly. I learnt a lot of new things and this experiences have definitely enhanced my personal development. Moreover, I had the opportunity to clerk different cases and study about them which I believe have widen my exposure towards clinical practice. The highlight was witnessing the open heart surgeries, where delicate procedures were performed in the heart and lungs really motivated me and triggered my interest in surgery.