Katherine Wang, M.D.’17, discusses the Global Health rotation she completed in Uganda, as part of the UVM/WCHN Global Health Program: "It’s amazing how much I’ve learned in this time, but I also feel like I have just scratched the surface. Everyone has asked us, 'when are you coming back?' It’s a hard question to answer as we enter into our next phase of training, but I definitely hope I will have the opportunity to return in the future. This experience has created a good base to build upon—despite traveling in the past, including a public health study abroad program, I have never spent a significant amount of time in an actual clinical setting, nor had I had any medical training. Therefore, spending the past six weeks in both an urban referral setting and a rural district hospital has introduced me to considering the challenges that health care providers face in a more tangible manner."
Elizabeth Cochrane, M.D.’17, shares details of her elective (students are referred to as ‘Simterns’) in the UVM Clinical Simulation Laboratory: "Our first two days were very interesting and unique. We attended a faculty lecture series on developing simulations. It was a great experience because it was the first time we were on the other side of an encounter, meaning that we usually are the learners and not the teachers. I did not realize how much planning, thought, and creativity it took to construct a simulation. It was eye-opening and definitely very helpful moving forward."
Sarah King, M.D.’17, comments on her Family Medicine elective at Grace Cottage Hospital, in Townshend, Vt.: "The purpose of the Underserved Rotation is to gain exposure to an underserved health care setting providing comprehensive care. I began to realize through the month that I spent in Townshend that there is a shortage of care, despite multiple hospitals in the area. One of the things that I took away from my time at Grace Cottage is how important it is to understand the social situation of each of your patients. In medical school we learn the best way to treat diseases and we learn the preventative medicine recommendations, but this is entirely dependent on what your patient is able or willing to do! Townshend is such a rural area, and there is a lot of thought and planning that goes into further referrals that may be a two-hour trip."