The time is approaching…sooner than some would think

I think that all of us are realizing now how quickly the trip comes upon us. It is less than 2 weeks away and then we will be whisked off to another country to see a whole other side of medicine. Where examining the patient is the central part in making a diagnosis and where exotic illnesses are a simple fact of life. It will be amazing to see these things.

I am really impressed to see how excited everyone is for this travel. Unfortuantely, I am not there yet. I am still in the process of interviewing for fellowships and I need to get through this hurdle before I can even think about the prospect of going to india. Lucky for me, I have one interview left on 8/6 and then I can have a whole week to get mentally prepared and excited!

Until then, though, there is still a lot of work to do for all of us. I know that most of us have clinical responsibilities to fulfill and some of us even have moonlighting shift(s) to do to help shoulder the load of the trip at hand. Fun times to be had by all!!!

Checklists

Whenever I leave the country, I seem to have a series of seemingly never ending lists. Lists of things to buy beforehand, things to bring, things to make sure are taken care of before I leave. The purpose, of course, is not to forget anything, but it always seems to be more stress invoking than stress relieving.

I always step back and remember what my high school friend, who is also quite a world traveler, told me: As long as you have your passport, your essential meds, and a supply of cash, you’ll be ok. Add to that a way to get clean drinking water, and we’re set.

Wheels-up is a little more than 2 weeks away, and I’m in Urgent Care. Plus I have weekend coverage, and I’m picking up a Mac House shift. It’s going to go fast.

I’m nervous and excited all at the same time. I’m looking forward to seeing a different side of medicine. This past month as Peds Orange senior makes me realize how much medical technology and lab tests we use and take for granted, and more importantly how much patients here expect, and even demand it. I mean, do we really need a stat pH probe to look for reflux? Serial CT scans?

Plus, I know we’re going to see things we would rarely see here in the U.S. Vaccine preventable diseases, vector borne diseases–enough to make an ID geek drool.

Travel Arrangements

I decided to use YourManInIndia.com to make some of the arrangements for our domestic travel within India during the trip. So far, it is not going well. Don’t know if I can recommend them yet. I have been trying to get them to buy rail tickets for the past 5 days. Today I at least found out how much the tickets (might) cost. This is not the experience related in the article that got me interested in them. Hopefully, things will go a little smoother.

Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles…

So we are four weeks from heading out to India! for some of the rest of the group this will be somewhere the’ve been before, but for me it will be the farthest from home I have ever been. (Up until then the farthest I’ve been is Hawaii, which is surprisingly far away for being in the same country.)

I’m excited about seeing what things look like on the other side of the world, having new experiences and learning about ID Xtreme! And the food… and shopping!

I’m a little afraid of the travel (missing planes, getting lost, losing my baggage…?), getting my last night float night covered (so I can make it to Dulles, drop off my cat & car and catch my plane!) And being so far away from almost everyone I know – they might forget about me while I’m gone. Also I don’t want to take mefloquine and go nuts!!!