The Intern Diaries....

well..it has been a long time since i posted my internship experiences.....lots have happened over the time....
I shifted base to a civil hospital near my home...though the type of work has changed much but it has sure become much easier being nearer to home....
During one of such lazy days i was informed that i will have to do duty as Pulse Polio Supervisor for that months's drive in the city. I was alloted 7 areas under me with the health workers, anganwadi workers at my disposal.
You know it felt kinda funny....just 1 year ago we were studyin the same thing and mocking regarding the pathetic state of the National Health Programs of india, and here i was being very much part of it, very much responsible for the work.
I felt insecured and ill-equipped to handle such responsibilities. Anyways, i had to get on with it. So i started with a refresher course on Pulse Polio, read from my dusty old Parks PSM regarding polio and its eradication.
I landed on the day full of optimism that i will make a good result of the oppurtunity. I was handed a file with all the documents of a supervisor and my name clearly written on the cover signifying authority and confidence. Though i must confess that i was a little anxious but i did hide it well from the District Immunization officer, who asked me a few questions which i could luckily answer.
So at 8 am in the morning i gathered my health workers, Nursing Volunteers and started calculating the Vaccine Vials and Carriers etc needed. I was provided with the Micro-plan of my areas so i felt pretty much confident.
That's when it opened my eyes....
The micro plan was no doubt an elaborate one, but on closer inspection it revealed that we were supposed to cover 200 houses on 2nd day. Taking 5 minutes at each house it was clearly more than 12 hour job for which we were given only 8 hours roughly.....
I looked in bewilderment at my workers some of who were old and they smiled wryly, knowing the look on my face. They nodded at me and said not to worry, they have seen it all the years.
So i simply followed them and left them to plan everything....
so here i was the supervisor actually trying to learn the practical nuances of running a national health program.
The National health Programs which we so easily cram and vomit at the exams are much more difficult to comprehend practically. There is so much paperwork that you spend less time vaccinating a child than actually filling up the forms.
Well, so we began and delivered the vaccines at the Booths. I saw the vaccine carriers and Ice Lined refrigertaors for the first time after my third year of medical school.
The areas that i went too had a different story to tell.


contd in the nxt post.....