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I went to a town in the province of Kutch, India. I went to conduct a survey for my culminating experience for my concurrent MPH degree at a large hospital that conducts a yearly camp focused on acute care medicine. I came back having done so much more. My goal was to interview respondents on the prevalence, attitudes, beliefs and exposure to numerous tobacco products. I came back having realized that very little public health and education is being practiced in the entire province of nearly one million inhabitants. So my project was the first of its kind documenting the tobacco issue in this area. In addition, I was able to conduct some qualitative interviews with some very interesting people including politicians, religious leaders, police chiefs, newspaper reporters, tobacco vendors and local villagers. With the data collected I was able to set into motion numerous interventions with the potential for enormous good, including publishing the data, creating targeted educational messages and setting up a camp at the hospital dedicated to helping people quit smoking with behavioral therapy and medical therapy (not available before this trip). My family is originally from this area of India so in addition to conducting this survey I was able to visit my family's village and visit Jain religious pilgrimage sites. I have established a relationship that I hope to nurture into one that allows me to make a significant difference in the lives of the people of Kutch.
This experience in effect allowed me to apply everything I learned during my MPH coursework over the past 4 years. Based on an observation I made I set up a research question, created a survey from scratch, translated the survey, conducted the survey, analyzed the survey and have set into motion numerous interventions for the short and long term that has the backing of the local hospital and has empowered numerous local volunteers into taking up the cause as their own. The skill set that I honed during this trip is vast and can only help me as a future doctor with an interest in public health and making a difference on the population level.
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