CHINA CALIFORNIA HEART WATCH
www.chinacal.org
2012 Pre-Medical/Public Health Internship
Rural Yunnan Province, China
Participation in a China Cal internship is hard work but it is hard work you will never forget. Before you browse the internship choices below, listen to three former intern volunteers.
UCI Undergraduate Sahar on Her Experience
Med Student Qin Qin Liu on Her Experience
Hopkins Resident Geoff Tison on His Experience
or read the experience of our very first intern, Jason Hanley.
Download and email application form.
INTERNSHIP A (June 2 – 23, 2012):
Location: Qujing Prefecture, Xuanwei County.
Focus: Pediatric school screenings.
Description: There will be two groups of 5 to 8 interns each. One faculty member will lead each group, and the two groups will work in separate villages screening children for heart disease.
Setting: Xuanwei has one of the highest lung cancer rates in the world. This is now known to be due to the influence of indoor air pollution from coal-fired stoves that result in carcinogenic toxins being released into the farmers’ indoor environment. We have encountered many cases of congenital heart disease from Xuanwei County, and we suspect that this problem may also be due to prenatal exposure to indoor air pollution. We intend to screen school children in Xuanwei to find and help as many children as possible.
Logistics: Faculty from Kunming Medical University will accompany us. Interns will participate in screening children for heart disease murmurs and in assisting in diagnostic exams of children found to have heart murmurs. Interns, after training and certification, will actively participate in screening the children with their stethoscopes.
We plan on screening at least 10,000 children and expect to find about 50 cases of congenital heart disease. China California Heart Watch will provide help to needy families of these children so they can receive necessary surgical and catheter-based interventions.
Qualifications and Fees: We will accept no more than 10 to 15 interns for this activity. To participate, you must qualify. Please apply on our website (www.chinacal.org) and sign send us the signed waiver. You must be in good health, and you must be in Kunming by no later than Saturday, June 2. You are required to cover the cost of your roundtrip air-ticket to Kunming, local travel, local room, and meals. Local expenses are usually about $150 per week. We also request a donation of $2000.
Itinerary:
| June 2: | Arrive in Kunming |
| June 2 – June 3: | Lectures and training in heart auscultation and blood pressure measurement. |
| June 4: | Visit hospitals in Kunming |
| June 5: | Leave for Xuanwei County |
| June 5 – June 22: | School screenings |
| June 23: | Return to Kunming |
INTERNSHIP B (July 7 – 29, 2012):
Download and email application form.
Location: Dali Prefecture.
Focus: Research and Clinics.
Description: There will be two groups of 5 to 8 interns each. One faculty member will lead each group, and the two groups will work in separate villages collecting research data.
Setting: The 1,000-year-old town of Dali is known as a shining pearl inlaid in the southwestern highland. The town is located between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake. A poet praised the ancient town in a verse: “pavilions and towers appear above the cloud and the town spreads between the mountain and the lake.” The ancestors of the Bai ethnic group built the ancient town of Dali, originally called Yangjumie Town. For 600 years, Dali was the political, economic, and cultural center of Yunnan Province. According to textual research by an American scholar, Dali ranked 13 among the 14 major capital cities in the world in the year 1,000. The ancient town has survived the change of dynasties. Its two city towers that face each other in the south and north; the time-honored three pagodas; the residence of Du Wenxiu, commander of a peasant uprising during the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911); and the checkerboard-like layout of the nine streets and 18 lanes show the charm of Dali as an ancient capital city. It was known as “The Forbidden City.” The China California Heart Watch has a residence and clinic just outside the walls of the ancient city.
Logistics: Faculty from Kunming and Dali Universities will accompany us. We will allot time for data collection for our research of high blood pressure in rural Yunnan. We will conduct daily clinics in village centers. Interns will be trained and gain experience in measuring blood pressure and heart rate and in doing diagnostic physical and ultrasound examinations.
Qualifications and Fees: We will accept no more than 10 to 15 interns for this trip. To participate, you must qualify. Please apply on our website (www.chinacal.org) and sign send us the signed waiver. You must be in good health and you must be in Dali by no later than Saturday, July 7. You are required to cover the cost of your round trip air ticket to Dali city, local travel, local room, and meals. Local expenses are usually about $150 per week. We also request a donation of $2000.
Itinerary:
| July 7: | Arrive in Dali |
| July 8 – 10: | Training and courses in basic physical exam and research methods. |
| July 11 – 15: | Group I visits village A: clinics, researchGroup II visits village B: clinics, research |
| July 16 – 18: | Group I visits village C: clinics, researchGroup II visits village D: clinics, research |
| July 19 – 22: | Group I visits village E: clinics, researchGroup II visits village F: clinics, research |
| July 23 – July 25: | Group I visits village G: clinics, researchGroup II visits village H: clinics, research |
| July 26 – 28: | Group I visits village I: clinics, researchGroup II visits village J: clinics, research |
| July 29: | Return to Dali and leave for home |
INTERNSHIP C (August 4 – 26, 2012):
Download and email application form.
Location: Lijiang and Deqin Prefectures.
Focus: Research and Clinics.
Description: There will be two groups of 5 to 8 interns each. One faculty member will lead each group, and the two groups will work in separate villages collecting research data and screening children for heart disease.
Setting: Shangri-La County in De Qin Prefecture was formerly called Zhongdian County but, in an effort to promote tourism, was renamed in 2001 after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the James Hilton novel Lost Horizon. The local Tibetan population refers to it by the name Gyalthang. The terrain consists of green, fertile valleys and towering mountains, the tallest of which are covered with snow and glaciers year-round. We will be working at elevations over 10,000 feet. Please consider this if you are prone to mountain sickness. The weather is cold in winter but mild in summer. Major minorities include the Tibetan and Lisu peoples. Food is rich in animal fat, and dairy products are made from the milk of the yak. We have found a high prevalence of heart disease and hypertension in this area, likely due to the high fat, high salt diet.
Logistics: Faculty from Kunming and Dali Universities will accompany us. We will allot time for data collection for our research of high blood pressure in rural Yunnan. We will conduct daily clinics in village centers. Interns will be trained and gain experience in measuring blood pressure and heart rate and in doing diagnostic physical and ultrasound examinations.
Qualifications and Fees: We will accept no more than 10 to 15 interns for this trip. To participate, you must qualify. Please apply on our website (www.chinacal.org) and sign send us the signed waiver. You must be in good health and you must be in Dali by no later than Saturday, August 4. You are required to cover the cost of your round trip air ticket to Dali city, local travel, local room, and meals. Local expenses are usually about $150 per week. We also request a donation of $2000.
Itinerary:
| August 4: | Arrive in Dali |
| August 5 –7: | Training and courses in basic physical exam and research methods. |
| August 8 – 10: | Group I visits village A: clinics, researchGroup II visits village B: clinics, research |
| August 11 – 13: | Group I visits village C: clinics, researchGroup II visits village D: clinics, research |
| August 14 – 17: | Group I visits village E: clinics, researchGroup II visits village F: clinics, research |
| August 18- August 21 | Group I visits village G: clinics, researchGroup II visits village H: clinics, research |
| August 22 – 25: | Group I visits village I: clinics, researchGroup II visits village J: clinics, research |
| August 26: | Return to Dali and leave for home |
INTERNSHIP D (September 1 – 23, 2012):
Download and email application form.
Location: Nu Jiang Prefecture.
Focus: Medical clinics, pediatric exams.
Description: There will be one group of 5 to 10 interns. One faculty member will lead the group, and the group will work organizing and executing rural mobile health clinics to see adults and also conducting pediatric exams.
Setting: Over a dozen ethnic minorities live along the Nujiang River region, including the Lisu, Nu and Drung people. The ethnic people there are simple, honest and hospitable. They are good at singing and dancing. When the Lisu people receive guests, it is the guests’ honor to drink the Tongxin Wine. The Lisu custom is to have two people drink from the same cup, regardless of gender, hold the cup together with each other’s faces and mouths touching, and drink the cup in one breath. This way of wine drinking is an expression of the Lisu people’s respect for their guests. The Lisu people also have maintained the custom of taking the Spring Bath. From the second to the sixth day of the first lunar month, local people gather in the hot springs 12 kilometers from the Liuku Town, bringing food and clothes with them. After putting up their tents, they take off their clothes and jump into the hot springs. Young people gather together and sing to express their happiness. In recent years, some new activities were added to the Spring Bath tradition, such as climbing up a knife ladder and dragon dance to attract more tourists.
Logistics: Faculty from Kunming and Dali Universities will accompany us. We will visit villages where we will run daily clinics. Each afternoon and each market day will be devoted to adult and pediatric hypertension and cardiac clinics. We will also screen schoolchildren for congenital heart disease.
Qualifications and Fees: We will accept no more than 10 interns for this trip. To participate, you must qualify. Please apply on our website (www.chinacal.org) and sign send us the signed waiver. You must be in good health and you must be in Dali by no later than Saturday, September 1. You are required to cover the cost of your round trip air ticket to Dali city, local travel, local room, and meals. Local expenses are usually about $150 per week. We also request a donation of $2000.
Itinerary:
| September 1: | Arrive in Dali |
| September 2 – 4: | Training and courses in basic physical exam and research methods, visit Dali Fu Shu Hospital |
| September 5 – 8: | Village A. Clinics and school screenings. |
| September 9 – 12: | Village B. Clinics and school screenings. |
| September 12 – 15: | Village C. Clinics and school screenings. |
| September 16 – 19: | Village D. Clinics and school screenings. |
| September 20 – 22: | Village E. Clinics and school screenings. |
| September 23: | Return to Dali |
INTERNSHIP E (December 14 – 30, 2012):
Download and email application form.
Location: Dali Prefecture.
Focus: Medical clinics, pediatric exams and school screenings.
Description: There will be two groups of 5 to 8 interns each. One faculty member will lead each group, and the two groups will work in separate villages running clinics and conducting research surveys.
Setting: The 1,000-year-old town of Dali is known as a shining pearl inlaid in the southwestern highland. The town is located between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake. A poet praised the ancient town in a verse: “pavilions and towers appear above the cloud and the town spreads between the mountain and the lake.” The ancestors of the Bai ethnic group built the ancient town of Dali, originally called Yangjumie Town. For 600 years, Dali was the political, economic, and cultural center of Yunnan Province. According to textual research by an American scholar, Dali ranked 13 among the 14 major capital cities in the world in the year 1,000. The ancient town has survived the change of dynasties. Its two city towers that face each other in the south and north; the time-honored three pagodas; the residence of Du Wenxiu, commander of a peasant uprising during the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911); and the checkerboard-like layout of the nine streets and 18 lanes show the charm of Dali as an ancient capital city. It was known as “The Forbidden City.” The China California Heart Watch has a residence and clinic just outside the walls of the ancient city.
Logistics: Faculty from Kunming and Dali Universities will accompany us. We plan on screening at least 4,000 children and expect to find about 20 cases of congenital heart disease. China California Heart Watch will provide help to needy families of these children so they can receive necessary surgical and catheter-based interventions. Interns, after training and certification, will actively participate in screening the children with their stethoscopes.
Qualifications and Fees: We will accept no more than 10 to 15 interns for this trip. To participate, you must qualify. Please apply on our website (www.chinacal.org) and sign send us the signed waiver. You must be in good health and you must be in Dali by no later than Friday, December 14. You are required to cover the cost of your round trip air ticket to Dali city, local travel, local room, and meals. Local expenses are usually about $150 per week. We also request a donation of $1500.
Itinerary:
| December 14: | Arrive in Dali |
| December 15 – 17: | Training and courses in basic physical exam. |
| December 18 – 20: | Group I visits village A: clinics, researchGroup II visits village B: clinics, research |
| December 21 – 22: | Group I visits village C: clinics, researchGroup II visits village D: clinics, research |
| December 23 – 25: | Visit Shangri-La and courses in cardiology and general medicine |
| December 26 – 29: | Group I visits village E: clinics, researchGroup II visits village F: clinics, research |
| December 30: | Return to Dali |