Thank you so much for
your gracious acceptance, Sajani! Please tell us a little
about your background.
I was born in India
where my family and I lived in a joint family house with my grandparents, aunt
& uncle, and my cousin (talk about the Brady Bunch). I moved to Chicago
when I was about 7 and I’ve lived there ever since. Growing up I wasn’t sure
what I wanted to do, but I knew it was something in the healthcare field with a
lot of patient interaction, that’s why I chose to pursue pharmacy. And I’ve
enjoyed every bit of it.
You've made some big
moves in your life. What is that experience like?
My move to Knoxville
was difficult; I’ve always lived around family, so moving to a new state where
I didn’t know anyone was tough. The first 5-6 months were the toughest because
I was trying to adjust living on my own (so if got into a problem I had to
figure it out on my own). I also felt lonely because I was engulfed in school
and didn’t really have time for friends.
You worked on an Indian
reservation this summer isolating yourself from friends and family.
Was it a similar experience?
I was there for a month- August, but it was one of the best
experiences I’ve ever had and I’ve recommended other students to do this
rotation next year. This experience wasn’t the same as my move to Knoxville
because I’ve gotten accustomed to living independently. I also went there with
a classmate that I have been friends with throughout school, so it helped
having someone there.
What brought you to
working on an Indian Reservation? Tell us how and why you ended up there?
I wanted to experience
something different, and I heard a lot of good things about this rotation from
an upper classman. It’s also a highly competitive rotation; only two students
get selected to go there. I was fortunate enough to be selected and fly out to
Parker, AZ. We have a couple other Indian reservation opportunities available,
but Arizona attracted me the most. I heard from previous students that they get
to go to Supai, Grand Canyon to help out in their clinic, and we get to
interact and shadow doctors while being at the hospital, so we were exposed to
a lot of things. I was able to sit in a couple circumcisions, which was very
unique. Supai was a different experience – the pharmacy there was as big as a
small closet yet they had the essential medications. The day we were there, we
had to do outdates and replace some of their emergency kits. Afterwards we were
able to explore the Supai village (at the bottom of the Grand Canyon).
Havasupai village is a very secluded area- in order to bring things to the
village; they had to be transported in a helicopter. The members of the tribe
only catered to essentials when they had to bring things into the village from
the outside. Everyone who entered the village had to check in and out of the
main entrance (it was a secure area). Many of the members of the tribe
(including elderly) walked 5+ miles to get from their home to the clinic and
mini store. They used donkeys and horses to transport mail, this was probably
the first time I ever encountered poverty among the natives. Overall, it
was a unique experience.
Parker Reservation is
rather large and has more than one tribe, which tribes live there?
Mohave, Chemehuevi,
Hopi, Navajo tribes are all part of the Parker reservation.
What thoughts were going
through your head the night before your flight to Parker?
Honestly, I was just
super excited to start there and meet the team! It was my first time being on
the west coast by myself for a whole month, I felt turmoil of emotions. I was
nervous, exhilarated, scared. But I knew it was going to be a unique
experience.
Tell us a little about
the conditions and life as you saw it on the reservation.
It was definitely
different. Like I said many patients had multiple medications, multiple
diseases/conditions but they had free healthcare that I thought was remarkable.
Some of the patients there had diabetes in the 400-600 levels (super high), but
it was normal for them. The patients that came to the clinic were hard workers
– they would be outside all day in extreme hot weathers working. One thing I
noted about them was that they never complained- they were happy with their
lives and work.
Did you find any large
differences between their hospitals and one you would find in the States or,
was the hospital in the States, bordering the reservation?
They are a federal
hospital so I didn’t really see many differences. There were a few things that
were a little different such as the amount of medications patients were on
(health care didn’t cost them a dime – so some patients were on 30+
medications), they didn’t accept any outside prescriptions (so the patients who
did see an outside clinic or hospital doctor had to go to the outpatient clinic
at the hospital and have someone authorize a script), and it was a very small
hospital with under 15 beds including ER and inpatient.
Did you experience any
different food while you were there?
They didn’t have any
traditional Native American restaurants, so I wasn’t exposed to any of their
unique foods. They had a lot of Mexican restaurants there. But I learned of a
traditional meal they have during their cultural events, it’s the frybread
(also called Navajo Tacos). It has refried beans, hamburger, lettuce, and
tomatoes and you can drizzle salsa on top or you can eat it plain with powdered
sugar.
Did you experience any
of their cultural events that you'd like to tell us about?
Unfortunately I didn’t
get to experience any cultural events, they were in the following months;
however my friend told me all about it and it sounded incredible. Hopefully I
can attend one next year.
Did you find that you
had to make adjustments to the new environment?
No, it was an easy
transition there, having a really good team and a friend there helped a lot.
After rotations, some of the techs would take us and show us around Parker.
How was your overall
experience, with the people, the land, the culture, anything at all?
It was one of the best
experiences I’ve ever had. The people there were super friendly and caring,
including the patients. It was hard to not like the patients, everyone
recognized you and asked for you during their visit to the hospital. It was a unique
experience because growing up in a big town I didn’t know my neighbors; I never
realized how different small towns could be where everyone knows everyone. I
also got to explore the ghost town on the reservation and learned a little
about their history.
Would you like to go
back?
I would go back in a
heartbeat. I came out of the Indian Reservation with some life long friends and
incredible experiences. I’ve considered working for them in the future as a
pharmacist and would be honored if I got hired.
Thanks for taking the
time to share your experiences!
If you would like to
volunteer or provide assistance to any of our Brothers & Sisters at Parker
or any Reservation you can explore options here: https://www.aaanativearts.com/mailbag-archive-2/do-indian-reservations-need-summer-volunteers.html
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