Admissions Essay - Ugandan Culture and Medicine :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

Admissions screen - Ugandan Culture and Medicine   My trip to Uganda proved to be an super rewarding follow out. We spent the starting line part of the Crossroads program at Hofstra University in Long Island for a two-day orientation, during which we met our group members and shared our interests and feels. After subtile each other for only 48 hours we embarked upon our journey. We flew from New York to London, to Entebbe airport, virtually one hour from the capital, Kampala. The next morning we met with officials from PDR (Program for Development and Rehabilitation) who gave us a few guidelines about our project and helped sensitize us to the culture and the record of Uganda. That same day we drove to Luwero (roughly 50 miles from Kampala) to meet our host connection and get settled in. The clergy members with whom we spoke were overwhelmingly friendly, and went out of their counseling to make us feel welcome. The Bishop of Luwero was kind enough to have a guesthouse ready for us. Having expected that each of us would be staying with a break out family, living in our own house with mattress beds and electricity came as approximately of a shock. Though I wish I could have had the experience of staying with a Ugandan family, our living arrangements worked out quite well. We were able to do our own cooking, use charcoal stoves, and wash our own laundry by hand.   Though we were originally supposed to be stationed at Kiwoko Hospital, roughly 8 miles from Luwero, the Church of Uganda made last minutes changes in the program. We spent the first two workweeks visiting various health centers in Luwero. Given our trammel medical experience, we werent able to provide much help to the patients in footing of medical care. However we did gain a great deal of experience by talking to the medical staff and observing local health care practices. One of the wards at Kasana Health Center was dedicated entirely to exam and counseling for AIDS patients. Talking to these patients and the counselors proved to be extremely fascinating. On one occasion a group of HIV patients set up a dance/performance aimed at conveying the experience of the unsoundness through dancing and music. We were able to visit Kiwoko Hospital during the third week of our trip, however. Most of our time there was spent shadowing doctors (most of them Ugandan) and observing surgeries.