{"id":2193,"date":"2025-10-02T12:56:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T16:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/cghe\/?p=2193"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:47:18","slug":"recounting-clinical-global-health-elective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/cghe\/2025\/10\/02\/recounting-clinical-global-health-elective\/","title":{"rendered":"Recounting Clinical Global Health Elective"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo
Photo Courtesy of Rob Strong. Ashish Gurung, MED'25 (center), celebrates with his family after the Geisel Medical School graduation in May, shortly after his return from the Chongqing Medical University global health elective in China.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Recounts His Clinical Global Health Elective Experience in China
\nAshish Gurung, MED'25<\/h2>\n

\"Coming into this elective, I expected only slight differences in clinical care with most of it regarding language and culture. However, it was the advanced clinical protocols that left a strong impact on me.\"<\/em><\/p>\n

As part of the global health elective organized by the Center for Global Equity (CGHE), I ended my fourth year at Chongqing Medical University (CQMU) in Chongqing, China. Through this experience, I was able to further my education in medicine through the lens of my Chinese teachers and peers. It challenged my medical education experience and the norms that I was taught. I leave Chongqing with great admiration and respect for my colleagues and increased confidence in my ability as a soon-to-be resident.<\/p>\n

My time in Chongqing was divided equally between two different departments: the Coronary Care Unit (CCU), which served as the cardiac intensive care unit, and the Infectious Disease and Viral Hepatitis (IDVH) department. A commonality in both settings was the complex disease pathology present in many of the patients. Most patients admitted to the CCU had atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) with multiple complications such as arrhythmias, heart failure, and ventricular aneurysm. In my IDVH rotation, patients with chronic hepatitis B would also have late-stage cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The language barrier served as an additional challenge for me as I navigated the complexity and volume of patients we saw. However, watching my counterparts efficiently run the service with excellent teaching by the professors was reassuring. Professors in both departments made a special effort to teach the residents\/students and included me in the teaching by summarizing key points in English.<\/p>\n