Hey family/friends,

Still alive here in India. Today we started our new rotations in India. In the morning we have Dr Sanjhay Ghandi, in the afternoon we have Dr. Prem Nath again except he'll be teaching us Ayurvedic medicine, and in the evenings we have Dr. Nisha Gera a OBGYN. Today I finally got the most wonderful feeling in the world. I got to take a shower and wear clean clothes. Sounds gross and that's probably true. But I let the water heat up extra long this time and it was hot and amazing. The last time I took a shower it was in Than Gaon where the water was cold because there was no sun (hot water is by solar power only) and there is no faucet which means we use a bucket shower. Also known as taking a giant bucket of cold water and using a smaller bucket to splash myself with. Probably wouldn't have been so bad had it not been so cold and I actually had a towel to dry off on. I had left my towel back in Dehra Dun because it was dirty and didn't think twice to find a replacement. I had to air dry but failed and was forced to put back on my already worn scrubs. I tried to do laundry in Than Gaon (imagine me doing my own laundry) but because it was much cooler at 4000 ft and it rained constanly it never dried out my clothes until the last day I managed to get one dry t shirt. Lame. [When I got back my favorite pants was still wet and started to smell like mold which is gross and I need to get them washed again].

Things are just as crazy here in Dehra Dun as they were two weeks ago. Everything is much faster compared to Than Goan but everything also takes more time which means were about late for everything. We left the homestay just after 11:00 to go to Dr. Ghandi's hospital [he opened up his private hospital] and because of all the traffic that we weren't used to, we got there ten to noon (clinic started at 11:30). Dr. Ghandi didn't seem to care much and we went about our rotation all the same. Our clinic started with us sitting in his office and him showing us cases that came in. Mostly Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), Diabetes Milletus, and Hypertension (High blood pressure). This stuff was all well known to me because of my Human Physiology classes but it was cool to actually see cases. Some people left with prescrptions for 7 or 8 drugs to take daily. This is obviously what will be common in the US so for me it was a glimmer into what I already know is true in the states.

Dr. Ghandi is an extrordinary guy. He got in medical school at the age of 17 and graduated at 21. He's 33 and has been practicing medicine for 12 years. What;s amazing is this guy never takes a break. And I mean never. Try to wrap your mind around this. He works 18-19 hour DAYS! Sleeps maybe 3-4 hours of sleep unless there is an emergency of which he always puts himself on call and has gone 110 hours straight without sleep. He has three phones in his office; his office phone for the hospital, a private cell, and a public cell. This public cell he gets 200-300 calls a day. This is a number he gives to anyone for anything. It really is incredible. The last time the man took a break was 7 years ago. I am not really sure how he does it but it is impressive.

After we studied cases and learned about betablockers, dieuretics, calcium channel blockers, and vaso dialators, we moved on to the patients in the emergency room and the ward. There he showed us the different patients and gave us the opportunity to listen to heart beats and lung sounds. We had trouble picking out the spefic things but he says we'll get lots of practice before the week is done.

I have to tie up today's now because the internet cafe is closing and I am hungry for dinner. I'll try posting more stuff soon and the rest of the Agra pictures (the Taaj is only halfway up). Hope all is well at home.

Sincerly,

Taylor