My trip to Trivandrum, India
Sharon Hynes (Nursing)

Following an early morning arrival and a few hours sleep, I met with two other new housemates and set off on an organised orientation of Trivandrum with John, one of Work the World's Indian team. While whizzing around the city in auto rickshaws we saw several sights, from the amazing Padmanabhaswamy Temple to families of five riding side saddle on motorbikes, and were introduced to local cuisine and eating habits - although eating curry and rice by hand is definitely a skill I need to refine!

The house in Vanchiyoor is close enough to walk to the busy MG (Mahatma Gandhi) Road, but it took me a couple of weeks to avoid secumbing to the ease of catching a passing auto rickshaw. A downstairs dining area where we ate together and discussed our days in placements always made for interesting conversations and comparisons with nurses, medics and physiotherapy students, all in various hospitals around the city.

The food was excellent, with local dishes prepared as well as special requests such as pancakes for breakfast and fish and chips catered for as well! Wednesday nights were barbecue nights and we were joined by members of the other Trivandrum house, Kannamoola, and members of the Dental Outreach project on the rooftop.

My initial introduction to my placement at the private hospital Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) was a thorough four-hour medical that looked at everything including undertaking a chest x-ray, blood tests and urine samples, and a discussion on why my platlets were low(!).

Higher education is all undertaken in English in Kerala so all doctors and most nurses and patients could speak English and all textbooks and journals from the hospital library were in English. Working in the plastic surgery department with many key words being derived from Latin made all conversation very accessible.

Two days each week were spent in theatres where we undertook several cleft repairs, trauma surgery, reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery such as abdominoplasty and breast reduction. The remaining three days were spent in outpatients where ward rounds were conducted - due to the lack of privacy on the wards, the need to change dressings and the time factor seeing multiple people, patients were wheeled on their beds or in wheelchairs to the consultant, as opposed to him visiting them on the ward.

The sheer volume of patients was incredible and there was hardly any reprieve in the day.

There were similarities with UK hospitals, but several large differences including manual handling which was several years out of date. KIMS asked for a presentation on my final day to look at these differences and following a Powerpoint presentation they agreed to implement one of my suggestions looking at providing dignity to a patient under general anaesthesia.

Weekends were spent exploring different locations, including Kovalam and Varkala beaches, Kanyakumari - the southern most tip of India for it's incredible sunset and sunrise, and Fort Cochin where we took turns driving a rickshaw and joined fisherman hauling Chinese fishing nets.

My final week was spent on the ayurveda course. Every day we started the day with a lecture by an ayurvedic doctor looking at the history and how ayurveda is practiced, this was followed by a practical demonstration on various techniques by a therapist. We had the opportunity to join in each demonstration and also be volunteers for the treatment. Ayurveda looks at each patient holistically and in many ways the way it is practised in India was very similar to nursing practice in the UK and involves taking a complete patient history and looking at the patient's lifestyle.

The team at Work the World were incredibly helpful prior to the trip and the Indian team certainly kept that spirit alive throughout my trip - I spoke to John or Alison almost daily and they reacted quickly to any requests. A thoroughly enjoyable experience, from which I gained so much from, both professionally and personally. The only downside was how quickly the time went.