As a medical student my topmost priority is learning not just from the books but also by practice. Practising in medical profession is the most important step, because a lot of practice means you've observed many cases, which helps in faster diagnosis and better treatment.
On 9th June 2019, I took my first baby step by volunteering for a basic health check up camp with 10 other volunteers. With the help of Switch India and Robinhood Army, a medical camp was set up for the 120 children residing in the cluster area near Hema Park at Bhandup, Mumbai.
Three tables were set up, one for anthropometry, one for general examination and the last one was the physician's desk.
Our focus was to establish BMI of the children by measurement of height and weight. This provided us information about their nutrition status. Most of the children were malnourished.
On general examination we found that most of the children had poor dental hygiene. Dry skin , broken nails were abundant. Some of them even had untreated open wounds.
At the physician's desk, each child was given proper advice and albendazole for deworming. Those with minor complications were referred to the PHC in Tembhipada while the major ailments were referred to Rajawadi Hospital at Ghatkopar. Nail cutting was also done.
After the camp, there was a session on hygiene maintenance where the proper techniques of hand washing and brushing of teeth was taught to the kids by the volunteers. Our camp head also brought bananas to distribute among the kids.
All in all, it was a pleasure to be able to help these underprivileged kids! I look forward to taking part in many such camps organised by Switch in the future!
