UA Little Rock Student Completes Medical Study Abroad Program in Nepal
A UA Little Rock student has committed to a future career in the medical field after completing a study abroad program in her home country of Nepal this summer, where she hopes to one day both return as a volunteer doctor and practice medicine in the United States.
Nistha Neupane, a junior clinical biology major and Donaghey Scholar from Texarkana, Texas, traveled to Nepal in May to spend six weeks interning at the Green City Hospital in the nation’s capital city of Kathmandu.
“It was really life changing for me to spend two months there on my own and follow individual patients throughout the entire hospital process, from surgery to post-op and discharge,” Neupane said. “Being there fully immersed in the hospital community made me realize how much I want to be a physician. I also would not have had the same exposure to healthcare in a developing nation in the United States.”
Neupane described her study abroad experience as very eye opening. The hospital in Nepal did not always have access to the same medicines, tools, and technology that are often available at U.S. hospitals, so doctors had to be very resourceful.
“One of the most memorable experiences for me was seeing my first cesarean section, an IVF case of twins that I got to hold during observation afterwards,” she said. “I got to experience how different healthcare in another country can be compared to the U.S. Doctors have to provide the same care but with fewer resources that we have here. Some of the problems I saw in the healthcare system for patients in Nepal are similar to here, like understanding how hard it can be for people to get proper healthcare in rural areas.”
During her internship, Neupane said she was able to scrub in and observe more than 60 surgeries, work with patients in different departments around the hospitals, and serve as a translator for the other international medical interns.
“I am very grateful that the program gave me so much exposure to surgery and trauma cases,” Neupane said. “At this point, I probably have more surgical exposure than many medical students, which will prepare me mentally for medical school. I also got a lot of exposure with patient interaction in the emergency room, NICU, and ICU. Since I speak the native language, it was easy for me to work with the patients, translate for the other interns, and connect emotionally on a very deep level.”
Since the majority of Neupane’s family lives in Nepal, she was able to reconnect with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. She also visited her mother’s village of Purkot and her father’s village of Lamjung, both located within the Himalayan mountains.
“I have known that I wanted to go to Nepal to study abroad because I was born there, and I saw first-hand how my family has struggled to get proper health care growing up,” Neupane said. “I hope to go back to Nepal to volunteer in the rural areas through Nepal Red Cross Society once I become a physician in the U.S.”
