The Medical Student Electives (MSE) Program is a 4-week training and orientation in rural health care, encompassing preventive, promotive and curative aspects. It has been specially designed for medical undergraduates and is housed at Vivekananda Memorial Hospital, SVYM’s rural hospital in Saragur reaching and serving the rural and indigenous tribal population in Saragur, Mysuru District of Karnataka State.

The MSE Program is a unique experience for students into the various facets of rural health care. They shall get to do the following:

– Participate in the daily hospital rounds
– Shadow the consultants at the Outpatient Department in the Hospital
– Observe the consultants in conducting deliveries and other surgeries
– Accompany the mobile medical team to interior locales of the project area
– Attend some of the field-based thematic health camps
– Participate in community-based health programs of SVYM
– Visit tribal colonies and get to know the tribal way of life
– Visit the Anti Retroviral Treatment Center co-run by SVYM at Mysore
and learn about the treatment of HIV in a resource-limited setting
– Get to know more about Ayurveda, the popular Indian System of Medicine at the Ayurvedic treatment facility in the hospital
– Participate in the periodic clinical meetings & seminars and do case presentations
– Take up short-term research projects of their own choice
– Teach the nursing and paramedical students

How a typical day is like for the students

Students are given a customized weekly training schedule during the program. A typical day starts at around 9 am and runs till 5 – 6 pm, with an hour’s break in between. Sundays are generally off-days. The students are required to make a presentation about their work to the medical team at the end of the program, before collecting their certificates.

Accomodation, food and safety  

The students shall be housed at Vivekananda Memorial Hospital, Saragur. They shall be given simple living quarters (separate for men and women) on a twin-sharing basis. The rooms contain an attached bath with a western toilet, cots with mattresses, and mosquito nets. The quarters are inside a gated community with adequate security staff. South Indian vegetarian food is served in the canteen or at other suitable places when taken on exposure trips. Purified drinking water is also made available. Students should get their own laptops in case they need any computer support for their work/project.

Please note that smoking and alcohol consumption are prohibited on all campuses of SVYM.