Introduction. Start at the beginning.

This Friday I will begin my 7176.595 mile transit to India (as the crow flies). I originally wanted to write that my destination was "half way around the world" but it is not. Kind of a cool website, huh? Anyway, the transit begins with a departure from Central Wisconsin Airport at 8:00 am on Friday, March 2nd and ends 20 hours later in Delhi. Due to the 11.5 hour time zone difference my arrival time is 3:30 pm (or 15:30) on Saturday, March 3rd. I will be spending Saturday night in Delhi before the real adventure begins.

The trip itself is a Urban/Rural Himalayan Medicine Experience. As the title implies the experience involves spending time in both urban and rural sites in Northern India, specifically Uttaranchal (shown above), which borders both Nepal and Tibet and is home to some of the Himalayan Mountain's highest peaks, including Nanda Devi (picture below).

My first leg of my trip is an urban setting in Dehradun, the capital city of Uttaranchal. Here I will spend two weeks and stay with a host family. With a population just over 1,000,000 Dehradun is the 74th most populous city in India and a far cry from the 12,000,000+ people in places like Delhi and Mumbai. I am not going to complain, however, because I anticipate Dehradun to be a shock to my system and if this city of 1 million is a shock, then I can only imagine what Delhi or Mumbai would do to a person who's comfort zone lies mostly in small northern Wisconsin towns. My responsibilities while in Dehradun include working on the inpatient wards at City and Heart Medical Centre as well as visits to local nursing homes. I suspect the wards of this massive general hospital will be quite different than even those of UW Hospital in Madison and I hope to simply observe the health system in action and learn about social determinants of health and public health projects.

The second leg of my trip is to Mussoorie, located 35km north of Dehradun. The city of 25,000 was founded by the British in 1823 and is a popular hill station that is sometimes called, "Queen of the Hills." While in Mussoorie I will be working and staying at Landour Community Hospital, a 35-bed, decade-old colonial structure. Afternoons are dedicated to clinic time.

The third and final leg of my trip is further into the Himalayas to the village of Patti! I am most excited for this final week of my trip. The village is very small, roughly 5,000 people. Truth is, I cannot find very much valid information on the village. My accommodations here are my very own rustic cabin! (Even the program that is hosting me has made me bountifully aware of the rustic conditions of this small house). My responsibilities here include working alongside Dr. Paul who is both a surgeon and internist. Each day we will trek 2-4 hours and stop at mountain villages to provide clinical care. Yikes!

I hope that you will continue to accompany my trip via the internet throughout the next month. Please drop messages or suggestions. I will try to share as many photos and experiences as India's media technologies will allow. My weekends are somewhat planned but I am awaiting my final schedule before anything definitive. Plus, I'm unaware of India's transportation infrastructure as I will likely rely on buses and trains to move about. AND match day is 10:30 pm in Friday, March 16th so I'm hoping to join my class live from Dehradun (see poll to the right and please cast your vote)!