Medical Mission to South India
Dr. Dewan traveled to southern India on a humanitarian medical mission, volunteering at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, based in Kochi, Kerala. According to the World Health Organization, there is less than one physician for every 1,000 citizens in India. The crisis is even more acute for neurosurgery; 3,500 neurosurgeons are responsible for a population of more than 1.2 billion people.
“It was an eye-opening experience to witness the access issue. There were 170 people in the waiting room. Some had traveled 8 to 10 hours simply to be seen by a neurosurgeon,” says Dr. Dewan. “The heat was stifling, yet there was no air conditioning. Despite the hardships, these dedicated medical professionals are finding ways to get things done.”
During her time there, Dr. Dewan assisted in several brain tumor surgeries, performed follow-up visits with patients in the hospital and examined patients in outpatient clinics. Dr. Dewan described the overall experience in India as transformative, enlightening and inspiring.
excerpted from “Helping Humanity”, published by Northwestern Medicine
"International neurosurgery pictures from a charity hospital. This boy and his mother traveled from north India to be seen. He was born with cerebral palsy from an anoxic brain injury of prematurity. He suffers from spastic movements, his mother describes him falling. They want to know if he will ever walk. They have no money for a wheelchair, so his mother carries him.
"The surgeons in India make do with what they have. It made me appreciate the level of services we can offer patients in the United States," said Dr. Dewan. "I hope to encourage other trained surgeons to volunteer their time and talent to address this global health crisis."
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