Monsoon season is upon Kozhikode and the sporadic showers of rainfall are unpredictable. The air is so humid, I feel like I am taking gulps of water with each breath of air.
As my lungs slowly adjust to the climate, I carefully watch the students, faculty, volunteers and medical professionals of the Institute of Palliative Medicine (IPM) purposefully go about their daily tasks. Everyone is busy, but they will always stop to say hello. These individuals immediately gained my respect and admiration for their service to the Kozhikode community and their constant smiling faces.
Being a pre-medical student is an uphill battle that I believe you have to be slightly crazy to attempt to overcome. It’s very easy to get weighed down by the constant threat of entrance exams, class grades, observation, service hours and the endless years of education ahead. Admittedly, I had just finished my first year and I could already feel the increasing pressures begin to drown me. Overwhelmed by all of my own stresses, I began to lose sight of what a medical career really meant to me.Travelling to Kozhikode for two weeks to observe at IPM turned out to be the solution to my problem.
Rather than sitting in a library and memorizing the various functions of the digestive system, I was watching nurses, doctors, and volunteers actually treat patents. It was refreshing to see, first-hand, the effects of chronic illness and to gain unique insight into the purpose of palliative care as opposed to just reading about it in a textbook.
Read the full article on the India edition of ehospice.
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