Karvan Public Health Center – Bhakti Patel, MD
Written by Bhakti Patel, MD, PGY-3 at Kaiser Permanente Oakland OB/GYN Program while on Global Health rotation at Karvan Public Health Center in Kayavarohan, Gujarat, India from November-December 2016.
My Global Health Rotation was in India, specifically at an urgent care clinic in a rural town outside of the large city of Vadodara (Baroda) in the state of Gujarat, which is a few hours north of Bombay. The site is a government-run Primary/Public Health Center (PHC) which has two employed physicians, one as the chief Medical Officer (MO) who supervises the site and faculty, and one Ayurvedic doctor, as well as an onsite pharmacist, lab technician (who does on-site AFB and malaria culturing), medical assistants, and employed health care workers who draw blood work, give vaccinations, and travel to nearby villages to promote health care and prevention. I worked with both doctors but primarily Dr. Mewada, the MO at the site. But I did have the opportunity to learn some insight into Ayurvedic medicine and patient views on disease and illness particular to the culture of Gujarat. I also had the opportunity to improve my