Symposium day 5: Out in the field with community visits

The day once again started with a hustle bustle of students joining their respective teams for another exciting day of community visits. All the teams thoroughly enjoyed their time on the field and got back to a session on expert lectures. These lectures were designed to expose the students to the minute details of the cluster they are working on. The experts talked about system mapping relevant information and gave the opportunity to ask further questions. 

Environmental health

This group went to the slums in Pragati nagar to get an insight into the living conditions, water and sanitation facilities and health issues faced by the people living there, and also for the students to make observations for further study and research. “The field visit today provided an amazing opportunity to interact and to directly ask questions to community members and to get their perspective on particular health challenges and their day to day life,” said McMaster student Madeleine Kruth. “I think this type of perspective is absolutely vital to being able to work in the field of global health and this opportunity is just not something that we will be able to get without coming here.”

Reproductive and child health

Today, the Child and Reproductive Health clusters visited health clinics and day care centres. Few groups visited the Anganwadi Kalmadi child care centre, where children,
adolescent girls, lactating mothers, and pregnant women can pick up ingredients and meals to prevent malnutrition.

The other groups had an opportunity to observe the functioning of a public clinic and learned about the various local practices that influence child and maternal health.

Later, students sat in on lectures by Dr. Satish Nayak concerning reproductive health, Dr. Dinesh Nayak concerning child health, and final remarks by Dr. Christy Gombay.

The Student Communications Committee