My trip to Trivandrum, India
Poonam Sharma (Dentistry)

I had been looking forward to my dental elective ever since I started Dentistry at the University of Sheffield. 4 weeks of doing something that I enjoyed in any part of the world that I fancied. After lots of trips to the travel agents and scratching my head, I decided to carry out my elective in Trivandrum, South India. I spent 3 weeks in what I can only describe as one amazing city.

I arrived at Trivandrum airport and the first thing that hit me, apart from the beach outside the airport, was the lovely hot weather. I arrived at the Work the World House which was huge! There was lots of space and the roof top was where we spent most of our time. Being Indian myself, I was used to Indian food, but South Indian food was something else. The cooks, Mary and John, cooked delicious food and it was something I had never eaten in the UK.

I met some great people in the house aswell. We all quickly became good friends. We would all go sight-seeing together and go on weekend trips, which was great fun. We all looked forward to our weekly Malayalam lessions with Johnny. I think we all laughed and joked more than we actually learnt Malayalam. Wednesday nights were BBQ nights on the roof top. They were good fun as we would get to eat English food (a rare novelty in Kerala).

Trivandrum is right at the bottom of India next to the coast line. There are lots of beaches near Trivandrum, lots of shops and places to see. Though a word of warning to the ladies; Kerala is a very conservative state. You weren't allowed to show your shoulders/wear anything sleeveless or wear short skirts. There are lots of old historical places to see aswell as breath taking scenary.

My placement was carried out in a government hospital. The staff members at the placement were all very nice and welcoming in having me there. I did a variety of work there; from diagnosing patients, and doing simple fillings to extracting teeth. I was also lucky enough to do some crown and bridge work. Though the majority of the time you will be extracting severely carious teeth, which was great because you become an expert on extracting teeth after the first day!

The only difficulty at the placement was the language; the staff can all speak English but the patients don't. But don't worry; the staff are more than happy to translate.

I would definately recommend it to dental students as you get an insight in to how dentistry works in India and how different it is to the UK. I thoroughly enjoyed the placement and my visit to Kerala. I would definitely recommend it to others. Trivandrum is a wonderful place and as it is written all over Kerala, it truly is ‘Heaven on Earth'.