Visiting Student Reflections | Page 7 | Office of International Medical Student Education

Daniel Alfredo Huillca Huerta

San Fernando Medical School - National University of San Marcos, Peru

Pediatric Neurology and Clinical Nephrology

January, 2013

Obtaining these amazing rotations seemed to me as a 'dream come true' because NYPH is among the top-ranked hospitals in the U.S., so I was really excited and motivated. I did two 4 weeks rotations in Pediatric Neurology and Clinical Nephrology, respectively. Few days before, we had an orientation meeting with Mrs. D. Young, the lovely elective coordinator and it was interesting to meet medical students from all around the world.

Since the beginning, I was always made to feel welcome and a part of the team. I was assigned patients to pre-round on them, to present their cases to the fellow and/or attending, and to give my assessment and plan on them. I attended several fascinating academic activities, where some cases were discussed and the latest advances were presented. In Nephrology, I also assisted in some procedures as renal biopsy and central venous catheterization. In Pediatric Neurology, I gave a talk about Mitochondrial Myopathies and became involved in writing a case report, so I could not be more delighted. Moreover, I joined the outpatient setting during both rotations. Throughout all the rotation, we met some Spanish-speaking patients, and I felt very pleased to serve also as a translator for the attending in those situations.

I strongly feel that I have acquired an invaluable clinical experience by doing these fantastic rotations and I will be forever grateful to all the attending, fellows and residents I met. In addition, living in NYC has been awesome. I lived on campus, so I met many Cornell and international students and we had great time. I went to Times Square for New Year's Eve which was an exciting adventure, and I visited the top landmarks and attractions. Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. M. Finkel and the Office of Global Health Education for this truly memorable experience.

Manan Gupta

Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, India

Clinical Pulmonary Medicine and Clinical Nephrology

November, 2012

My experience at NYP hospital has been an awesome one! Before I came to this hospital I was a really excited, as NYP is one of the best hospitals in the US. We had an orientation before the start of the elective that was really helpful. From the very first day I was made to feel as a part of this hospital.

I learnt how to take the complete history and to do physical exam, presented cases to the attending at rounds, worked with the consult team to formulate a differential diagnosis and the work up, wrote the patient notes, and followed up with patients during their stay in the hospital. I also assisted in various procedures like bronchoscopy, thoracocentesis, intubation, renal biopsy, and more. I met so many helpful and friendly people and it was indeed a pleasure working with all of them. The thing which I really liked about this hospital was that we all worked together as a team and everyone had a say whether you were right or wrong. I absolutely recommend this elective to anyone who is interested in internal medicine.

Besides my experience at the hospital, my stay in New York city has been very memorable. I was here for the best time of the year: Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Years. I made a lot of friends from all over the world and went to various places including Rockefeller Center, Times square, Central Park, and Staten Island. This is the 'city that never sleeps.' Amazing things are happening here! Go for it!

Ameer Adnan Alarayedh

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Medical University of Bahrain

Emergency & Wilderness Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian

October, 2012

I did an elective in the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's Emergency Department. This elective was actually a blend of wilderness and emergency medicine. I got the experience of being a sub intern for two and a half weeks and got to go on the amazing 10 day adventure where I implemented my emergency response techniques and had fun! During the emergency weeks we were allocated randomly to different 8 or 12 hour shifts. Every student was attached to one attending, that favorable ratio allowed more teaching and discussion time. ...I got to assist during stabilizing critical cases and got to perform different procedures in the bays like suturing, ultrasounds, local anaesthesia and much more.

We then travelled to the Adirondack Mountains. Together with other residents and attendings we lived and interacted daily. They played the victims in the scenario and we got the role of the doctors; every time one student would be the doctor on call: he carried the responsibility of the attending: allocating resources and knowledge to stabilize, manage and evacuate the case; and we, students, were his residents. It sounds impractical and funny at the start, however, with a bit of suspension of disbelief the scenario will be as true as real life. ...We had scenarios ranging from multiple casualties with necessary c-spine stabilization and needle thoracotomies to femur fractures and animal bites. We also had to manage a disaster situation where we used the SPHERE standards to work out mass victim relief. At night we gathered around the camp fire and discussed different EM papers and enjoyed the magnificent Milky Way. With no doubt, I definitely recommend this elective to any medical student; as it gives you the knowledge and skills to manage every day medical emergencies and is terrific.

Amer Nassar

University of Szeged, Hungary

Pediatric Gastroenterology

October, 2012

Before starting my 4 week elective at Weill Cornell Medical College, I was nervous, partly due to the reputation WCMC has, but also because I didn't know what to expect. My first impression of the Pediatric GI team was particularly relaxing, as they acted with hospitality and greeted us warmly. ...Almost immediately, we were immersed into the world of Peds GI, and the education began swiftly. It lasted from the first hour of our rotation, until the end of the last day, when even then, we were still being taught and invited to observe interesting and intricate procedures, minutes before we had to depart.

We spent most days in the outpatient clinic, seeing both follow ups as well as new patient visits. After seeing numerous patients, interviewing the children individually and from specific angles became second nature. On other days, we spent hours in the procedure rooms, observing the other side of Peds GI, where scopes and biopsies were routinely performed.

The best thing about this elective is the fact that everyone, from the Attendings, to the Fellows and Pediatric Residents, took valuable time out of their day to educate us, keep us busy and interested. We were never left without something to do; the schedule was always busy and always exciting. I would like to thank the whole Pediatric GI team for their hospitality and their time. ...I would also like to thank the Office of Global Health Education whom organized this elective and gave me this wonderful opportunity.

Vittavat Termglinchan

Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Pediatric Cardiology, Ambulatory and Inpatient

August, 2012

The elective at Weill Cornell Medical College definitely provided me invaluable experiences. From the beginning, I received a warm welcome from the Pediatric Cardiology team and continued to immense myself into the whole aspects of this field. Everyone in the team was very friendly and never hesitated to help assist me and answer my questions. I participated in both ambulatory and inpatient settings where I learned to manage patients thoroughly. The most important experience that I have acquired is to take a complete history, perform thorough physical examination, and understand changes in EKGs for different ages and be able to detect abnormalities. Furthermore, I got to observe the echocardiography of fetus and children, and participated in exercise stress test and cardiac intervention. I would strongly recommend this elective to any students who would like to further their studies in the Cardiology field.

Besides the elective at WCMC, I also enjoyed living in New York City. New York is a very exciting city where I met many local and international friends. We had a great time exploring around Manhattan and discovered many noteworthy places. The personal experience and friendships here were very memorable.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of my Attending Cardiologists at the Pediatric Cardiology department, especially to Dr. Gary Steinberg who organized this wonderful elective. I would also like to thank the Office of Global Health Education for supporting international students' electives. Thank you very much!