October 17, 2014
Bridging Cultural, Social, and Financial Gaps in Health Care
Traveling continents away to Delhi, India, I spent six weeks this summer in two hospitals (Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Luhia Hospital). While there, I not only learned clinical skills, but also the limiting factors that many patients encounter during the process of medical treatment. Cultural, social, and economic disparities contributed significantly to my internship experience in this health care profession. How many sick leave days can a patient take before they are fired? How might a female cross the barrier to comfortably speak with a male doctor? What are some cultural and socioeconomic factors that might cause someone to suppress their illness and delay treatment? Though I do not have answers to these questions, I interacted closely with patients in Delhi hospitals to outline some of the possible gaps in the Indian Health Care system and further confirmed my interest to be a health care professional. Health care is a promising and advancing field that continuously allows people to live longer and healthier lives. This summer opportunity opened my eyes to the importance of health care and how communities all around the world struggle to receive appropriate treatment.
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