JUN-A-6
THE CONCERN OF A PARENT OF THE GWU MEDICAL STUDENT
GOING WITH ME TO INDIA, WHO IS ALSO DEAN FOR RESEARCH,
ELICITS THIS RESPONSE
June 6, 2002
Dear Fred:
Attached is, FYI, an account
of the pedagogy, from my side, and the life-changing experiences, from the
student's side, of my most recent trip to Dharamsala. There was no worry about, or even mention of, hostilities in the
very different world of J and K (Jammu and Kashmir, along the "Line of
Control") closer then than we would be later.
I am aware of the
responsibilities I carry in leading the sons and daughters of our own and other
medical schools, and will not deliberately endanger them, as I am less
reluctant to do on my own. Most medical
missions, however, by their very nature in relief to impoverished peoples, take
place in unstable settings. But, this
is not part of the setting of the
"life-changing" challenges that I would contrive for the
students; life is tough enough for the different cultures in contact under just
the subsistence circumstances without adding geopolitical struggles.
I had mentioned that the
summer schedule has several of these "entry level" medical missions
(because of freshman medical students rising sophomore schedules) that I
supervise very tightly, going over every patient with every student and having
a regular didactic session about what lessons they can extract daily. Although labor intensive, I believe that may
be why these "first encounters" are so rewarding for them. In other parts of the year in which elective
clinical rotations may fit for seniors, I make expeditions further up the
clinical ladder, often in surgical safaris in which I have juniors and seniors
(as exhibited by our own junior John Sutter, and our own just graduated senior
Elizabeth Yellen---and as presented by them to the students and staff here in
Ross Hall on April 10---who were both in Ladakh with me as first-encounter
novices and both went with me to Malawi, to be tossed together "into the
deep end of the pool." Pictures of
these experiences in both ends of the spectrum are attached as access to a
sampler.
At present, my next
excursion is "on hold" although "still on" to the Spiti
Valley in Northen India (see original plan and the modifications in the
attachments.) The later plans will be
under advisement as conditions change with erring on the side of safety.
Thanks for your support!
GWG