Experience in India inspires student to save lives
Junior Neha Deshpande has already learned how to suture surgical wounds, and she hasn't yet completed her pre-med requirements.
As a Woodrow Wilson fellow, Desphpande has researched how different health care conditions effect the overall health of premature babies.
Over Intersession, Deshpande worked at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Pune, India. Her research mainly focused on studying how the health and life expectancies of premature babies differed in Baltimore and in Pune.
Deshpande chose to study in India because she is of Indian decent, and she felt particularly connected to the country where she was born.
While the city of Pune has the second-highest populated slum in India, it also has one of country's most famous non-government sponsored hospitals.
"It was an NGO hospital, and so it was only committed to serving patients in the lower income bracket. I didn't want to go to a private hospital where everyone had insurance, I wanted to see the real India, the real hardship," Deshpande said.
During her time in Pune, Deshpande volunteered at the hospital and travelled with a medical team around the area to give vaccinations to people in some of the surrounding villages.
At one point, because the hospital did not have enough surgeons, Deshpande even learned how to do basic procedures, such as suture.
Her research found that although the birth age was lower and substance abuse of mothers was higher in Baltimore than it was in Pune, the birthweight and health of the premature baby was much better for babies born in Baltimore, simply because there were more healthcare resources available to the child once it was born.
Deshpande has always believed in advocating for better healthcare for premature babies, and has been doing so since she was in middle school.
Her experiences in Pune raised and reaffirmed this belief.
Deshpande saw many tragedies in the King Edward Memorial Hospital that she said were a product of the feeble resources of the healthcare system in India.
As a Woodrow Wilson fellow, Desphpande has researched how different health care conditions effect the overall health of premature babies.
Over Intersession, Deshpande worked at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Pune, India. Her research mainly focused on studying how the health and life expectancies of premature babies differed in Baltimore and in Pune.
Deshpande chose to study in India because she is of Indian decent, and she felt particularly connected to the country where she was born.
While the city of Pune has the second-highest populated slum in India, it also has one of country's most famous non-government sponsored hospitals.
"It was an NGO hospital, and so it was only committed to serving patients in the lower income bracket. I didn't want to go to a private hospital where everyone had insurance, I wanted to see the real India, the real hardship," Deshpande said.
During her time in Pune, Deshpande volunteered at the hospital and travelled with a medical team around the area to give vaccinations to people in some of the surrounding villages.
At one point, because the hospital did not have enough surgeons, Deshpande even learned how to do basic procedures, such as suture.
Her research found that although the birth age was lower and substance abuse of mothers was higher in Baltimore than it was in Pune, the birthweight and health of the premature baby was much better for babies born in Baltimore, simply because there were more healthcare resources available to the child once it was born.
Deshpande has always believed in advocating for better healthcare for premature babies, and has been doing so since she was in middle school.
Her experiences in Pune raised and reaffirmed this belief.
Deshpande saw many tragedies in the King Edward Memorial Hospital that she said were a product of the feeble resources of the healthcare system in India.
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