By India LuetkemeyerIndia in India

Vellore, India

Background: Robinson Scholarship• Dr. David W. Robinson• Head of Plastic Surgery• Professor of Surgery & Oncology• Director of Burnett Burns Center

• Dr. Mani Mani• Completed residency at KU• Medical Director of Burnett Burns Center• Established burn care protocol

• US Malasia, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, and IndiaDr. Robinson

Background: Robinson Scholarship• 67 scholars since 2004• School of Medicine• School of Nursing• School of Health Professions• Physical Therapy• Occupational Therapy• DIETETICS!!

Modale Fellows who have spent or will spend a semester in the US doing research

Rotations• 3 weeks in Hospital-Christian Medical College • Nephrology, endocrinology, neurosurgery, Radiology, Hematology, Medical

Oncology, Pediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Urology, SICU, CVICU• Outpatient Clinic• Food Service• Formula Room

• One day at CHAD• One week at RUHSA

Christian Medical College, where I spent three of my four weeks in India

My day at CHAD, a community health program of CMC. A van travels around the villages of Vellore and delivers free prenatal and general health screenings.

RUHSA (Rural Unit for Health and Social Affairs) is a community hospital in rural Vellore. The nutritionist here delivers nutritional counseling regarding diabetes, renal disease, and weight loss, provides breast-feeding and nutritional education to prenatal and postnatal women, and teaches oral hygiene classes to the patients.

Clinical Experience: Formula Room• CMC makes their own enteral formulas• Multiple types for multiple disease states

• Burns• Rehabilitation

• Made with household items

• Dietitians counseled on how to make formulas at home• If we did this in the US, more people may be able to better afford home

enteral feeds

Cultural Experience: Hindustan Spices Tour• Sell herbs and spices that are grown in their garden• Most used as treatments in Ayurvic Medicine, a

complementary and alternative medicine practice in India• One of the oldest systems of medicine in the world• Good health involves a balance of universal

interconnectedness, the body’s constitution, and life forces, not just the absence of disease

• Different spices and herbs thought to help cure diabetes, immune disorders, weight problems, etc.

• Showed me insight into their culture and their health beliefs

A cashew fruit

Cocoa Beans

Our Guide

Healthcare Differences• Although many of the nutritional recommendations were similar to

the US, there were some distinct differences in standards of care• Everything done by paper, nothing computerized• Amount of patients seen per day much greater• 80-100 per day vs. 15-20 in US• Limited personalized counseling; mostly group counseling

• Certain nutritional recommendations and standards differed• Sodium restriction: 6 grams vs. 2 grams in US• Healthy BMI: 18.5-22 vs. 18.5-24.9 in US

Travel• Mahabalipuram• Taj Mahal• Kerala

Mahabalipuram is a temple about 3 hours away from Vellore. We went to many of the temples, did some shopping, and met some of the people. We also rode elephants in Kerala, a state in India that we visited.

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum in New Delhi, India. It is where the emperor Shah Jahan and his wife are buried. It took about 20 years to build.