Medical Elective Internship Experience by Anezka

I have been to Nepal for four weeks and took an internship in the hospital in the pediatric department and then volunteered at school, doing preventive health checks for the children. It was a huge pleasure to take part in this such life-changing program, and I am glad to do it with Volunteer Society Nepal.

They warmly welcomed me and organized everything into the last detail and were there for me anytime I needed.

Every morning I took a bus to get to the hospital. Taking a bus in Kathmandu is a big chapter by itself and I really appreciated that VSN taught me how to do it right. It sounds funny, but a few lessons of taking the bus were really needed. The working day usually started around 9 am in the morning, followed by a round around the department. I went with all the doctors from the pediatric department to see recently admitted patients. Therefore, I could see a variety of conditions in pediatric patients in Nepal. I spent most of the time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and observed pre-term born babies. One of the head doctors of the department was a neonatologist and gave me a lot of lessons and explained to me everything I asked. In fact, all the doctors were very supportive and wanted me to get know more about the pediatrics and the health care system in Nepal. Even though I was still there as a medical student and wasn’t that experinced, especially in a pediatric clinical rotation, they tried to make more time for me from their busy work schedule. However, they quizzed me and asked me questions as well, so I needed to be prepared and study a bit.

Every day at the same time we shared a table for lunch with doctors. It was quite new for me and I appreciated it so much because I think it is a good way to iron out the differences in the hospital’s hierarchy.

During the internship I mostly observed various cases and clinical conditions, saw the cesarean sections and on the very last day I received a baby by myself. I’ve learnt that same as in every kind of internship, even here it was about being active and curious, and even more. And I think that it’s really important to realize to forget about being a medical student for a while and take action. To be open to learning new things and do not be afraid of making mistakes.

I spent my last week doing health checks at school. Not just me, I did only a few basic things – checked children’s teeth, vision, measured their weight and length, and auscultated heart and lungs. The bigger part in health checks took of the team from VSN and helped me with everything. We matched as a good team and took record for every kid we have checked for their parents, eventually doctors. I’ve enjoyed our work, and I am glad I had this opportunity, even though I would do it for a longer time if I could.

I am sure that I will come back to Nepal one day and I wish everyone an unforgettable experience.

Dhanyabaad, VSN