When Two Worlds Meet

ABSTRACT

The author is one of four American premedical students traveled to India to spend a month with Pallium India (palliumindia.org) to learn about palliative care at Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences, in the south Indian state of Kerala. The program was arranged by Child Family Health International (cfhi.org). They attended classroom sessions and joined the palliative care team during home visits and hospital consultations. They learned not just what palliative care is, but also how to understand and adapt to another culture. It was shocking to learn that all health care expenses are often out-of-pocket for most of the developing world and to see the extent of the suffering involved in life-limiting diseases. The students saw how the medical professional could adopt a basic and simple approach to medicine, acting as a mix of scientist, humanist, and spiritualist. She concludes that we in the United States too seem to be learning the value of such an approach and to make better use of available resources to improve the quality of life of those who are suffering.

KEYWORDS :

• cultural immersion
• India
• pain
• palliative care