Reflections of a rural junior doctor in India
The first view of Gudalur as I got down from the Volvo is a memory etched in my mind. Mountains partially covered in clouds, their peaks visible just above the cloud cover, a slight drizzle welcoming me and fresh, cold air blowing across my face. My first view of the hospital - a small, two-storey building with a clay-tiled roof - was from the auto, with the above-mentioned mountains rising behind it, as I mentally settled into the idea of calling this my workplace for the next year. As any responsible, tech savvy human, I had done the diligent task of scouting the hospital on Google Satellite view. The one thing I hadn’t accounted for was that Satellite view doesn’t show the inclines involved. What showed up as a flat piece of land on Google Maps suddenly became an incline of 10 degrees. Hopefully, my calf muscles will thank me at the end of this adventure. The folks here need to be talked about - the patients, the doctors, the health animators and the staff. Each of them carries a st...