Cuiaba, Brazil

Clinical Internship, IFMSA

Participant Name: Arun Vigneswaran

Term: August 2018

Arrival

Before arrival I was required to have health insurance and two vaccines: yellow fever and hepatitis A. As I am from London, I took a flight from London Heathrow to Rio De Janeiro which was around 11 hours and then another flight to Cuiaba which was 4 hours. The flights were quite expensive but I had booked them early in December but I later found out that some students that had received their destinations had their internships cancelled at the last minute so book flights at your own peril!

Accomodation

I had a host family which was a key part of the experience as it made the whole experience a lot easier. They picked me up from the airport and the room was like a hotel room!! It was very safe and secure; the hosts were friendly. In fact I had two hosts, halfway through my exchange I switched to another apartment and they were also really friendly and welcoming.

I always had breakfast and sometimes lunch and dinner with the host family.

Internship

The hospital was quite old in Brazil but the medical care and attention given by the students and doctors was amazing. There are not enough doctors for the patients in the hospital so the students do a lot of the hospital work and care throughout the hospital with a ‘problem-based learning’ approach. From the first day I felt like I was learning a lot; there were some small issues with the language barrier but I always found some students that spoke English and they were able to teach and show me everything. In my time there I managed to visit four departments; Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Emergency and General Surgery. Every department had students working there so it was always easy to find someone to teach and explain everything. My coordinator Dra Gisele was fantastic; she always assigned me some student that would look after me for the whole day. I managed to care for a lot of babies especially in the paediatrics department and witnessed a lot of caesarean sections in the obstetrics and gynaecological centre. The emergency department was very old and the resources available was also very low; it was as if I was in a wartime hospital but that made the whole experience a lot more interesting as I learnt to deal with everyday emergency situations with minimal equipment. Again the doctors at the emergency department went from patient to patient and explained to the students the protocol of treatment and management on the first day and from then on the students were quite independent in their work. I admired the quality of the way medicine was taught there and perhaps found it better than the approaches used in Europe.

On a final note I think that the quality of the exchange was made purely due to the fact that I was out of Europe as many of my other friends who were also on exchange in Europe complained that they did not have this hands on approach and were purely made to observe.

City

In Cuiaba the city centre there was not much to do, in fact I only travelled in the city to the bars with my fellow students after work. Other than that, there is nothing to see.

On the weekends I travelled to the mountains and went snorkelling; each weekend there was somewhere new to travel.

Naturally out of this exchange; you want to travel and find new experiences so there was certain places in Brazil that I felt like I could not leave without seeing. Rio De Janeiro was the best experience; not a day went by where I had nothing to do. Everyday there was something different; tourist attractions, beach, hiking and music festivals. Brazil is a huge country so it is difficult to travel to most cities in a month but you do have to visit certain cities that have something different to offer; for example the Amazon, Salvador, Sao Paolo etc.

Safety

The country is surrounded by poverty so there is a sense of danger in the streets but safety was not a problem; at all times I felt safe and secure. In the city I was staying for a month everyone had a car so it was very safe and everyone took care of me very well. Uber also was very cheap there it was maximum 3 or 4 euros for a 20 minute ride!!

In Rio there is also a lot of poverty but again I was fine; just simple things like not wearing jewellery or having your phone out in the streets ensured that there was no issues or problems with the locals.

But I must say always use an Uber as it is the most safe and secure option as the regular taxis often tried to overcharge people. Also do not trust any taxis or staff at the airport as they also tend to extort money out of tourists.

Food

Simply amazing!

The food was the highlight of the trip; all the options were very natural and fresh. For lunch sometimes we went to a restaurant which offered a buffet with a wide variety of fresh and healthy options and finally they charged us for the weight of the food on your plate. Their traditional food involved a lot of meat called ‘churrasco’ which was often meat that was grilled with a simple side such as rice or mendoca. Food was also a very good price for the quality you were getting.

On a final note, I would say if you do decide to travel be proactive and get involved with the other IFMSA outgoings to the country as it is safer, cheaper and easier to travel together! I would also recommend leaving a week either side of the one month exchange just to travel and explore.