From the 12th December to 23rd December, 13 SMSV members took part in a 2 week long attachment program at one of India’s best hospitals- the Christian Medical College, Vellore. Each student was attached to a team of doctors across several departments, namely cardiology, internal medicine, obstetrician and gynecology, Community health and the various surgical specialties. Some activities the participants took part in included outpatient clinical sessions, ward rounds, and OT.

With the trip targeted mainly at pre-clinical students, the exposure gave many of the participants a taste of what clinical years had to offer. However, the experience did not just stop there for some participants- some of the participants even had a hand in delivering babies, and it wasn’t uncommon to be allowed to scrub in on surgeries either!

Most of the participants also experienced what community health in Vellore was like, which was an eye opener. Some participants got a chance to witness how antenatal care was offered to the villagers, and even participated in the process! The session offered great insight, and perhaps, comparison with rural healthcare’s district nursing services in Australia.

Amongst everything else, this trip was a great chance to embrace what India has to offer! From the great food, to abundant shopping opportunities to its picturesque street scenes, India was truly, incredible.

This coming January 2012, SMSV is organising a trip to Bharatpur Teaching Hospital in Bharatpur, Nepal to provide assistance to their staff in their screening and clinical examinations of rural communities. This will take the form of rural health camps and the aid of medical students will be needed to screen and examine the heavy patient load at these camps. Pre-clinical students will be aiding in more rudimentary examinations such as BP and basic general clinical examinations, while clinical students will be given the opportunity to take patient histories and conduct examinations with a view to forming a diagnosis before a local doctor sees the patient. Students will be paired 2:1 with Nepalese medical students for the sake of translation and to learn from each other.

A tour as well as teaching sessions will also be organised by the hospital to familiarise students with the medical examination conducted routinely in Nepal. Visits to local places of interest in Bharatpur will also feature in the itinerary, in between health camps. A rural health camp in neighbouring picturesque Pokhara could feature in the itinerary as well. After 14 January when the official itinerary ends, participants may choose to continue travelling instead of returning to Singapore.

The dates of the trip will be from 3 to 14 January 2012 and participants are expected to apply for their own visas as well as get the relevant vaccinations. Note that Nepal will be in the midst of winter during that period and participants are advised to pack sufficient warm clothing.

Accommodation will be in Bharatpur Global Hotel (800rs per night), and students are responsible for paying for their own meals (which is estimated to cost ~300rs per meal). The overall budget is estimated to be as follows:
Return Airfare: $1000
Accommodation: $150
Meals: $120
Ground Transport from Kathmandu to Bharatpur and back: $50
Administrative Fee: $30
VISA
Vaccinations
Total budget is expected to be around $1500.
All currency is stated in Australian Dollars.

The main objectives of the trip are to
1) Assist the staff with screening and clinical examinations of rural health communities
2) To inspire and expose participants to humanitarian missions and encourage them to continue doing such work in the future
3) To identify and develop an effective referral system linked with Bharatpur Teaching Hospital

Please register for the trip with the form attached below by 7th November. Successful applicants will be notified by email.

This November, we are looking for 10-12 enthusiastic medical students to join a team of Singaporean doctors and healthcare professionals in a trip to Nepal to conduct health camps aimed at helping Nepalese with little access to healthcare. It will also be a great opportunity for medical students to experience healthcare and volunteerism in the rural setting in a developing country, under the guidance of experienced doctors. Both clinical and pre-clinical students are welcome to apply.

Dates: 18th November 740am to 26th November

Budget: $1100 (estimated), up to $1300 for Pokhara participants

Thai Airways round-trip fare= $1000

VISA = $20

Administrative fee = $30

Accomodation in Kathmandu = $50

Food and lodging (at campsite) are covered. Internal flight to Pokhara may not be covered, the airfare is estimated to cost up to $200.

All currency is stated in Australian Dollars.

Health camps will be conducted in 2 areas, in the Namo Buda Monastery situated 2 hours drive away from Kathmandu, and in Pokhara which requires a 1 hour internal flight along with a 1 hour drive to the actual site of the health camp. The activities that participants will be involved in will include helping the doctors with triage of the patients, such as measuring of BP and BSLs and including a basic health screen, as well as helping with the dispensing of medications. Clinical and pre-clinical students will be sorted equally into both camps in order to ensure a balanced distribution of resources, so even though we will try our best to respect participants’ choices, there is no guarantee participants will get their first choice. More information on each health camp is shown in the tentative itinerary below.

Dear Members,
This December, SMSV presents an opportunity for 10 clinical students to experience a medical attachment in the Sri Narayani Hospital and Research Centre in Vellore, India!

The Sri Narayani Hospital and Research Centre(SNHRC) is a 200 bed multi-specialty hospital focused on providing quality medical care that is on par with metropolitan hospitals to rural populations. It has more than 13 departments with fully-equipped facilities and conducts medical camps and clinic in rural areas at least once a month. Following 2 successive years of organising hospital placements in the SNHRC, the SMSV is providing medical students with this valuable opportunity again!

Flight:
Participants will depart from Singapore Changi Airport on 7th December at 8.25am Singapore time, and will return to Singapore Changi Airport on 17th December 7.50pm.

Accommodation:
Ashram beside the hospital (twin rooms). Accommodation is within walkable distance to the hospital

Daily involvement:
9am-6pm at SNHRC
Each rotation will be of 2-3 days and comprises ward rounds, consultations as well as surgeries (if possible).

Discussion sessions will be held at night to share and learn about experiences during placements

There will be personal free time after hospital placement

Cost:
Estimated total cost: $580 (inclusive of administrative fee of $40)

Accommodation (food included) = $185
Transport = $35
Tourist VISA =$20
Air fare (Round trip)* = $300
Administrative fee = $40

The are 10 places available for medical students in their clinical years.

Application is closed.

Shortlisted applicants will be informed by email and invited to a pre-trip briefing session shortly after.

Hi all!

Coming off another year of medicine, how would you like to spend 2 weeks of your summer vacation in India? SMSV has managed to clinch an excellent opportunity for 10 SMSV members to spend 2 weeks on a hospital attachment in The Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, India. This is a rare opportunity to experience healthcare provision in a different healthcare system. Spend 2 weeks in outpatient clinics, shadowing doctors on ward rounds, attending bedside clinical teachings, academic sessions (tutorials, lectures) and OT sessions in your selected department of interest! CMC is offering attachment opportunities in obstetrics and gynaecology, internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, cardiology and dermatology. Alternatively, take up the rare opportunity to compare rural healthcare in Australia with that in India with the Community Health and Rural Health department!

This attachment is targeted mainly towards pre-clinical year students, as it would serve as a good opportunity to revise and practice your clinical skills, while maintaining an observatory role to learn more about clinical practice before heading into the hospitals in year 3. Post-attachment activities every other night include patient case presentations, as well as a discussion of the selected case to facilitate learning. For the year 1s, this would provide a glimpse into the year 2 syllabus, as introduced and taught by the year 2s, and for the year 2s, a chance to revise and improve on concepts.

Details of the attachment:

Duration: 12/12/11—23/12/11

Number of pre-clinical students: 10

Estimated cost: AUD900 *price subject to change, depending on air ticket pricing

Application for the attachment is based on a first-come-first-served basis, so hurry and apply for the attachment!

Thank you for applying and we will get back to you as soon as we have selected the 10 successful applicants.

SMSV-SNHRC Student Attachment

Location: Sri Narayani Hospital and Research Centrev (SNHRC), Vellore, India
Date: Friday 03/12/10 – Sunday 12/12/10
Time: Arrive early morning; Depart late evening/night
Accomodation & Food: Ashram next to the hospital (twin rooms); $25/night approx. (meals incl.)
Transport: SNHRC will provide a bus to and fro the airport; incl. transport to the rura/semirural areas
Activities:
1. Orientation (Friday 03/12/10)

• Social worker provided by the hospital to help understand the working environment of the hospital

2. Health Camps in rural/semirural areas: Sat 4/12/10 & Sun 12/12/10
Objectives:

• To understand the needs of the community of Vellore, India

• To understand the practice of medicine in rural/semirural areas

• Collect empirical data for possible further research (e.g. BP, BSL, etc)

• To aid the students in clinical practice

3. Hospital rotations
Objectives:

• Hands-on clinical experience

• To understand more about the practice of the respective rotations

• To understand the medical practice in Vellore (India)

• Students are expected to be on night-calls(supervised) if required

Estimated cost: $375
Accomodation & Food- $225 approx. ($25 x 9 nights)
Flight ticket- $150 approx.

For enquiries, email jasmin.tan@smsv.sg

Application Form

Due to overwhelming response, we are no longer accepting applications. For future opportunities, check this site or join us on facebook

Phew, it really feels good to be back home! Not that we didn’t enjoy the trip; in fact it was one of the most memorable experiences of my lifetime. It’s just that having been away for more than a week in India did we start to realize how much we actually miss the orderly traffic, clear air, safe drinking water and clean streets that we’ve been taking for granted all along.

The experience was beyond what anyone had expected. We left Singapore for Delhi on the 10th of December, 2009, 6 days before the main medical team was due to arrive. The next few days were spent touring Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

The main team which included doctors, nurses and volunteers from Singapore joined us on the 16th. Met up at Chennai Airport and set off for Vellore, approximately 3 hours from Chennai by road. At Vellore, we split up into two teams. The first team lead by Prof Fong Poh Him assisted with surgery for cleft palate at the Sri Narayani Hospital.

The second team ventured out of Vellore to a small village to set up a free clinic. With the aid of a local doctor and a team of local paramedic students, we were able to see over 250 patients within 2 days. Most were run of the mill cough, colds and body aches, but there were occasional interesting cases that we had to refer to the tertiary hospital to follow up on. We also did screening for hypertension and diabetes, and referred for follow up when indicated.

SMSV managed to raise a total of SGD$1,220. All funds raised was donated to the Sri Narayani Hospital to acquire medical equipment and medicine. We would like to thank everyone for their generosity!

Jeffery has written about the trip on his blog too: http://jeffreyleow.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/vellore-mission-trip-2009-with-smsv/

Pictures are worth a thousand words…

The humanitarian trip to Vellore, India will take place from the 16th of December 2009 to the 20th of December 2009. We will be accompanied by a team of doctors and nurses from Singapore, lead by Prof Fong Poh Him, a renowned plastic surgeon from Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The aims of the trip are two-fold. Firstly, our team will be doing surgery at the Sri Narayani Hospital & Research Center at Sripuram temple to supplement the services available there. We will be undertaking mainly cleft lip/cleft palate surgery, as well as any plastics and obstetric procedures referred to us by the local doctors.

Secondly, we hope to venture out into selected rural locations in Tamil Nadu, where we will set up makeshift clinics to provide locals with primary health screening, antenatal screening for pregnant women and basic dispensing services.

This is operation is projected to span five years, with 1 to 2 trips made per year. Throughout our involvement, we hope to share our clinical expertise and practices with the local healthcare providers, and also provide primary health services and advise to selected villages which do not have easy access to health services otherwise.

How Will the Donations Be Utilized

Your generous donations will be used to purchase medicine and medical supplies, including sterile obstetric delivery kits, which are used during child birth to reduce the chance of infection after labour. They each cost approximately Rs1000 (AUD/SGD 40). We are aiming to raise funds to purchase 100 units to be donated to the maternity ward in the regional hospital.

To donate, click below:

**Donations have closed. Many thanks to all who have donated!**

Hi everyone. We would like to introduce our latest collaboration, Healthcare Expeditions International.

Healthcare Expeditions International is a newly established NGO set up by students, for students with the aim of empowering volunteers to plan, lead and execute humanitarian expeditions.

Past expeditions include Project Khon Kaen (Thailand), with future projects in Thaliand, China and Africa under study. They have also built up a healthy database of contacts and are working actively to expand this for future expeditions, so exciting times lie ahead!

Join their mailing list at http://www.healthexinternational.org/Help.html, where you’ll be able to receive updates on HealthEx’s developments, sign up and lead expeditions, as well as access our resources for planning expeditions. You can also join them on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?members&gid=179397055239#/group.php?gid=179397055239

Please feel free to email them at enquiries@healthexinternational.org for any queries!

Dear SMSV members,

SMSV is looking for members who are interested in being part of a medical humanitarian trip to Vellore, India this December.

Brief details are as follows:

Date of trip (tentative): 14 December – 16 December

Possible post trip touring (details to be discussed with participants of the trip when selected)

Destination: Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Objectives:

1. Assist Singaporean medical team in local hospitals
2. Assist in the running of a free clinic for surrounding villages
3. Raise funds to purchase sterile delivery kits to be donated to local hospitals

People involved:

* 15 Medical Students (that’s us)
* Plastic Surgeons, Gynecologists, Ear Nose and Throat Specialists an Nurses from Singapore (composition of team not finalised)

Estimated personal cost: should not exceed SGD $900

This would be the inaugural trip undertaken to Vellore and would set groundwork for a series of 7-8 trips to be undertaken within the next 5 years. There may also be opportunities for epidemiological research projects to be initiated during the trip.

As we are also aiming to raise funds, participants would also be expected to help out with the fund raising prior to the trip in Melbourne.

To express your interest, please send the following to zhixuan.quak@smsv.sg

* Your full name
* University, course and year of study
* Nationality
* NRIC/Passport number
* Contact details – mobile (both Australian and Singapore), email, home phone (if available)
* A short personal statement (100 words), including your personal attributes and why you are interested in participating in this trip

All SMSV members are eligible to apply. Application is only open to SMSV members. Places are limited and a team has to be formed within the next 2 months (at the very latest), so please send in your applications early. Dead line for applying is 22 June 2009. Applicants will be notified whether they are successful.

For more information, queries or feedback, please refer to http://forums.smsv.sg/