September 26, 2005 Source: University of Toronto:
http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/health_and_medicine.asp Indian summer: INSIG program offers international health experience U of T nursing students spend the summer volunteering in 14 rural villages in India
Sep 26/05
by Elaine Smith (about) (email) On the roads of rural northwest India, there was often a line of camels or a herd of cattle blocking the path of Ritu Makkar's jeep. "That's a traffic jam in these parts," chuckles Makkar, a nursing student more accustomed to driving in her densely populated hometown of Mississauga. Makkar and fellow nursing student Leena Basandra spent four weeks this summer volunteering in India as part of INSIG (International Nursing Students
Interest Group), a student-run nursing group dedicated to international health. Each year since 2002, a growing number of nursing students has spent the school year raising funds to make it possible to spend the summer volunteering abroad. This year, 20 INSIG members travelled to places as diverse as India, Cambodia, Kenya and Ecuador to share their knowledge and gain valuable practical experience. "We're using our skills, experience and knowledge overseas helping others who wouldn't get help at all or who have no access to quality health services," Makkar says. "We learn a lot about the social determinants of health in our first year of nursing and as they become global determinants, there's a need for a global response." Her experience, like that of many fellow INSIG members, was an eye-opener. Makkar worked in the rural areas around the city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan state, taking part in the Rajdadiji Veerni Project, funded by the Global Foundation for Humanity. The project aims to empower rural women and children through health, literacy and medical education. Makkar and Basandra were each part of a health team that served 14 rural villages. Five days a week they'd jump into jeeps that served as mobile clinics and travel with a nurse to one of the villages. Each visit was organized around a specific health issue. Makkar assisted with anemia assessments, nutrition assessments and school health camps and also helped the nurse in charge in assessing and treating villagers with other health problems. Concerns beyond their scope of practice were referred to the hospital in Jodhpur. "In your work placements here in Canada, everything is at your disposal," Makkar says. "There, I had my stethoscope and medication but other than that, I had my eyes, ears and hands. Here, you assess people, then have 1,000 gadgets to confirm what you already know. There, I had to rely on my skills and experience. It was a great challenge and coming back here, I won't rely as much on technology. You need to be confident in yourself that you can rely on what you are hearing and seeing to determine what is wrong with a person." The experience in Jodhpur made Makkar more eager than ever to pursue work in international health. "I think I learned more than I contributed," she says.
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