Medical magic
Published 8 September 2010
Student doctors are expected to work in hospitals for six weeks as part of their training but Charlotte Pay has chosen instead to board one of the most unusual trains in the world.
The fourth-year student at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) has joined the Lifeline Express in India, a hospital train known by patients as the "Magic Train".
The train has two state-of-the-art operating theatres, recovery rooms, offices and accommodation, and each requires a team of volunteer doctors, surgeons and nurses who give their services for free.
Surgical operations including procedures to repair cleft lips or limbs disabled by polio, or to improve hearing and to restore sight damaged by cataracts, are carried out on poor rural people while the train is standing in stations.
Many of the patients could never reach a hospital or afford the life-changing and life-saving operations.
Charlotte, 28 and from Brighton, said she heard about the train on the grapevine: "I always wanted to go to India for my six-week elective…the country has a good reputation for medicine and it is such a culturally-interesting country.
"I was drawn to working on the train because I think it is such a brilliant idea – it makes such a profound impact on so many people's lives. It brings to small rural communities specialist surgery that is not usually available outside of big cities.
"It sounded really exciting and I wanted to get involved. I also like the idea of becoming integrated into the train's small team, rather than joining a large hospital team."
Charlotte found details for the train in a medic's guide and contacted the non-government organisation, Impact India Foundation, which launched the service in 1991 in collaboration with Indian Railways and Health Ministry. It is funded by charities including the Impact Foundation UK, based in Haywards Heath, West Sussex.
They accepted her request and Charlotte is now assisting in operating theatres and recovery rooms. Before leaving, she said: "When I arrive, the train will be at a station near the holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges. Then it will move to another station about three hours away. The train stops for four weeks at each station.
"I've had some experience at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and although I am a little apprehensive I'm also very excited. This will be an experience of a lifetime and a chance to join something so worthwhile."
Gordon Kay, spokesman for BSMS, said: "This is a great opportunity for Charlotte to gain experience and to help with what is an exceptional and most beneficial hospital service.
"It's fantastic that she is using her elective to make a difference to people lives while she is still studying."
For more information go to:
- Impact UK: www.impact.org.uk
- Impact India Foundation: www.impactindia.org
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Contact: Marketing and Communications, University of Brighton, 01273 643022
