A student doctor visits, August 2008

Hello, my name is Daniel McNally and I am a final year student doctor at Leeds University. Between our 4th and 5th years we have to complete a 10 week medical placement abroad.  I chose to complete my elective with the charity Reaching the Unreached which is based in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.  They have been established there for over 30 years and care for the needs of the local population which  due to the rural nature of the area is mostly below the poverty line.  Most of their work focuses on the need for good housing, education and medical care as well as support for abandoned children.

I had an amazing time at RTU.  The guest accommodation there was very comfy and the food was some of the best I had in India - I will be craving dosa for a while now!

For most of my time there my work consisted of spending the morning at Leonard Hospital in Batlagundu (a small town a few miles from RTU’s main base); then in the afternoon I did RTU’s mobile clinic. 

At the free morning clinic, we usually expected 100 to 150 patients each day, with problems from arthritis to pneumonia; though there were also cases of tuberculosis, HIV and leprosy.  A few basic medical words in the local language and a stethoscope were usually all that was needed.  Most people would not be able to afford this care and medication, so being able to treat these patients enables them to have a better quality of life, allows them to work and decreases mortality. 

In the afternoon the RTU mobile clinic allowed us to go to villages that are too far from the hospital clinic. Within the jeep we had a basic assortment of medicines as well as a mobile lab.  Thirty to fifty patients would normally use this service and the novelty factor of a westerner would bring many more out in curiosity. During my 10 weeks there, hundreds of additional patients were treated and I had to sign many autographs!  Trying to listen to chests next to busy roads is certainly a challenge compared to a quiet consultation room. 

I used the weekends - and a week off in the middle - to travel around Tamil Nadu and went all over, as well as to Kerala (over the mountains west of RTU).  I returned to RTU for a week at Bodi (Bodinayakanur, a town some 30km west of RTU’s main base, and the location of Nirmala Children’s Village). I helped at the clinics there and was put into the role of Dr Bruce as he was away which was a bit scary but was a good challenge and the staff helped me lots there.  I loved living in the children's village there and the mothers competed as to who could feed me the best.  I was also then able to help the health workers in the evening and the children with their preparation for exams.

For my final week I returned to Kallupatti and had learnt enough Tamil to let me do both the morning clinic held at the entrance to RTU, and the remote village clinics. 

I thoroughly enjoyed helping and being part of the great work that RTU do. All the staff there were amazing in helping me and becoming my friends: they made me feel at home and took great care of me for which I am very grateful.  I hope my colleagues who go next year enjoy it and get as much out of it as I did - I hope to return again later in my career.