Arrival and Registration

After a 3.5 hr delay in Istanbul and subsequent uneventful flight, I landed in Kathmandu. Airport is smallish. I was able to exchange money and acquire Nepalese rupees, as well as a Nepali sim card. Customs was straight forward, expedited by having obtained a visa in advance.

Once outside the airport it was a cacophony of cars, horns, and people waiting to greet the new arrivals. Fortunately my contact Nipesh with NCCDF was there to pick me up. He identified me immediately and we got in the hired car. Kathmandu roads are crazy. Nominally it's drive on the left, as in Britain. In practice it's drive where there's room available, honking when you speed up to pass. Traffic is about 50% vehicles and 50% motorbikes. I'm still not sure who's crazier but am glad I'm not driving.

After the harrowing ride we arrived at the NCCDF office / guestrooms. It's actually quite luxurious and far more comfortable than I anticipated. Photos / details to come.

Having arrived, it was time to obtain an ID badge and pay the $200 tuition.  ID badge is below. For me who is used to the digitally printed ID badges, I'm quite impressed with how official a piece of paper with handwriting, a stamp. ,and a pasted photo can appear. Curiously they documented the serial number of each bill I used to pay tuition.

Rest of Monday was uneventful - I actually ended up sleeping 13hrs as I caught up from poor sleep while travelling.

Istanbul

And I'm underway.

Hard to believe how time flew. I intended to update regularly in the lead up to departure. Finishing my Canadian electives, finishing residency applications and prepping for departure ended up consuming most of my time so updates didn't happen. They should hopefully be more or less regular from this point on, depending on the Internet / power availability in Kathmandu.

Last post was related to the visas - I ended up obtaining Nepalese, Indian, and Turkish visas prior to departure. Nepal and Turkey were easy, India more work. I may add more detailed steps in the future.

Saturday was I harried day of packing but I still had time to fit in a walk at home

As part of packing I included a bunch of food (due to allergies) and medical supplies to donate to NCCDF.

The supplies pictured above were then supplemented with others from one of my friends who works in Hamilton.

In addition to the above your partnership has allowed me to raise over $5000CAD in support for NCCDF! Thank you! Since this is well in excess of the $2000 max I can bring into the country, I will deliver the donation either through withdrawals from ATMs in Kathmandu or in one lump sum via wire transfer when I return (whichever is cheaper). If you wish to support just comment below or email me and I'll ensure the amount is added.

After everything was done it was off to the airport... and it was snowing. go figure. Added a short delay as we waited for de icing. It was then off in the air and asleep for the night, taking advantage of the complimentary ear plugs, eye shield, blanket, and pillow. Also a cool in flight entertainment system which I did not really use.

Landed in Istanbul at 4pm local. Will be leaving for Kathmandu 9pm. There may be simultaneous blog updates depending upon when I find Internet.

6 weeks out

Depature is now 6 weeks away! Between prepping for the trip, clinical duties, and residency applications this blog has been a bit neglected. Time to fix that!

As a 4th year medical student I'm presently on my elective time. Which means I'm chasing back and forth across Canada doing electives at different sites in (primarily) cardiac surgery.

The final four weeks of elective (Nov 23 - Dec 20) I've opted to do in Kathmandu Nepal at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Thus this blog. Here I hope to learn about the healthcare system in a non-Western setting and hope to apply those lessons to future volunteer / outreach work as a physician.

Why Nepal? It's pretty? It's there? Both good reasons. But really it's because my anatomy professor had taught there previously and she graciously  put me in touch with a former student Dr. SA. Dr. SA is Nepal trained, Toronto fellowship trained critical care physician who is now trying to bring ICUs to Nepal. His organization, the Nepal Critical Care Development Foundation, strives to establish a true Intensive Care Unit in Nepal where the sickest patients can be cared for in a multi-disciplinary team. See Dr. SA's article on the need for ICUs in Nepal. Also check out their Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/nccdf/timeline or website: www.nccdfnepal.org

To support NCCDF I am also collecting both money and equipment to bring on my trip. They are presently in the process of setting up online donations. For now, if you would like to donate please contact me to arrange it and I will bring the donations with me.

So where am I on prepping for the trip?

Nepal visa? check

Flights? check. After much searching found out I can do Toronto-Istanbul-Kathmandu with Turkish Airlines. All other options went through Europe-India and on. Fine if minimal baggage. I'm hoping to bring a suitcase of food and a second of supplies!

Accommodation: check. Thanks to NCCDF.

So what's left?

Well as I'll be swinging through India for a friends traditional wedding on the way back, need an Indian visa. And then Turkish visa for 4 days in Istanbul on the return. But more on those later.

Food allergies and travel

Done clerkship!

Now for the sobering task of cardiac surgery electives and preparing for Nepal.

One looming threat for Nepal is I have numerous food allergies. Food I can eat is typically referred to as "Neil-safe". Friends often joke "I haven't managed to kill you yet!". I also joke. At a recent prayer meeting, I asked for prayer that "I not die in Nepal" as a succinct way of conveying my trepidation of feeding myself in a country where I do not speak the language and know only a handful of people from emails. (more on that later).

This article describes a physician holding his 13 year old daughter has she passed from anaphylactic shock. Despite her spitting out the food, multiple Epipens, antihistamine, and his medical training, he was unable to save her. A sobering reminder my own mortality, despite medical training. If you have and Epipen or know someone who does, please carry it and know how and when to use it!

For Nepal, I had been thinking I might bring a suitcase filled of food as a "just in case". That maybe is rapidly becoming a reality. Photos to come as my suitcase(s) of food develop!

Beginnings

Hello world.

As a former robotics engineer, how could I not start my blog with that quintessential CS opening. Now to business...

Welcome to Follow the Heart(s), a blog of travel, medicine, and technology. I'm presently in my senior year of medicine and entering electives with the aim of cardiac surgery.

This blog is mainly to document my final elective in Kathmandu, Nepal but may evolve if I become an enthusiastic blogger.

So, with travel and heart surgeries ahead, follow the heart(s)!