Let's Be Well RED

Rajvi Mehta, MS3

Currently a third year medical student at Duke, I am also the founder of Let’s Be Well RED (LBWR) a social venture in India which aims to combat the widespread prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia (80% Indians are anemic) by providing iron-rich nutritional bars called GudNeSs. Each bar contains the WHO recommended daily dosage of iron.

Before I get into my time at Duke, a little more background may help: I was born and raised in Mumbai, India and pursued my undergraduate studies at Brown University. During my first semester there, I started feeling sick and pale—I was exhausted all the time, couldn’t focus while studying, and my grades suffered. When I went back home over winter break I got tested and found that I had iron deficiency anemia and through my interactions with local physicians, I also found that Iron deficiency is a huge public health problem in the country. Two things intrigued me: one, I was born and raised there, but had never heard of anemia being such a big problem and two, why is anemia such a huge problem when the solution is very simple—all you need is an adequate amount of iron in your diet! To understand the situation a little more, I conducted anemia testing and treating camps in urban slums in Mumbai and through my interactions with anemic women I realized that while most of them understood the importance of adding iron to their diet and many of them had already suffered the consequences of the condition, they were looking for a simple solution to the problem—they were looking for one food product that contained the WHO recommended daily dosage of iron. When I surveyed the Indian market, I did not find any such product, so to fill this need we created our very own iron-rich nutritional bars called GudNeSs.

GudNeSs bars launched in 2012

By the time I graduated from Brown, I had a small startup in India but I decided to go to medical school. I wanted a medical school with a great global health program, a good affiliated business school and one that encouraged an entrepreneurial spirit within the student body. Duke met these expectations and when I started medical school at Duke, I had two goals: I wanted to continue growing my company and I wanted to conduct a clinical trial to prove efficacy of GudNeSs. What I wasn’t ready for was the support I received from my Duke family! 15 classmates joined me in spreading the movement and 10 of them spent their spring break in India to start our clinical trial. Dean Andrews and Dr. Clements supported us from the start and provided the necessary guidance and encouragement. The trial proved efficacy of the bars and the results will be published shortly.

Duke medical students with LBWR health scouts in Mumbai

Medical students spreading awareness about anemia in India

Patient recruitment for a clinical study

Press meets and fun in Mumbai

At the same time, we participated and won the Duke Start Up Challenge--a yearlong program business plan competition. This allowed us to spread our services to 3 more states in India, establish our own production unit and today we have 40 employees looking after manufacture, marketing and sale of 100,000 bars/week.

LBWR wins the Duke Startup Challenge

I had no idea I would get so much support from the faculty and the medical students at Duke. I am confident that with this continued support, we will achieve our goal of combatting iron-deficiency anemia in India!

More about LBWR: http://www.home.letsbewellred.org/

Connect with us: https://www.facebook.com/SpreadGudness

                            https://twitter.com/spreadgudness

Fry Me Over The Moon

Even second years make time for the most glorious, fattening, farm-animal-filled 10 days in North

Stephanie Roses, MS2

Carolina: the NC State Fair in Raleigh! I had just finished my surgery rotation and the shelf exam Wednesday before opening day and had spent weeks planning my route for maximum intake of sugar, salt, and fried Oreos (a food group in itself). My classmates Victoria, Valentine, and I took a break from our hectic lives in the operating rooms of the Duke Medical Pavilion and dark recesses of radiology to enjoy the sunshine, pet bunnies in the rabbit barn, and watch as souped-up tractors raced each other on a dirt track at volumes that could lead to noise-induced hearing loss.

 

MS2s take on the NC State Fair: Victoria Bendersky, Valentine Espositio, Stephanie Roses status post “Fry Me Over The Moon” (Reese’s, Hostess Cupcake, Moon Pie, Oreos stacked then fried)

We thought about joining the turkey shoot, where one competes with shotguns and targets to win a turkey, but reconsidered due to our lack of hand-eye coordination and that whole “do no harm” thing. Only after sufficiently stuffing our faces with all of the food we tell patients not to eat (until nearly vomiting) did we decide that rides would be a poor decision - so we took a selfie in front of the ferris wheel instead before heading home and passing out by 9 pm, just as we would have after a long day in the hospital. Until next year!

The midway from above - Part of the first year curriculum is making sure your Insta game is on point (kidding)

 

Trucks on Trucks

Margot Cullen, MS3

Food trucks. Delicious food of immense variety that travels to YOU around the city… need I say more?

Durham is a city in the midst of a cultural revolution. New restaurants, bars, and local businesses are popping up all over town, and the once rather sketchy tobacco city is flush with new life and new opportunities. One of the most delicious results of this expansion is that of the new Food Truck Empire that reigns over Durham. Even 5 years ago Food Trucks were scarce. Now… well, now we can rodeo over 40 trucks in a single space and culinary experience. Mind. Blown.

Food Truck Rodeos sound like the best thing since sliced bread. However, with the intrinsic laziness that comes with being a third year medical student off the wards, there are these horrible things called “lines” that form and make you “wait” for your food. Lines... what a horrible invention. This is what led me and 3 friends to a magical event – one where you pre-bought a ticket for a limited no-lines mini 20-truck rodeo.

Stuffed is an understatement when you make it through 18/20 Food Trucks (and that is sharing a ticket, BTW). From pulled pork sandwiches to kimchi quesadillas to nutella crepes, the list of taste bud glory continues on and on.

So I could continue to just list delicious foods for a couple paragraphs, but (as hard has it is to believe) the best part about this experience was the opportunity to hang out with close friends for the first time since getting out of the hospital! Being in the hospital is a different world, particularly as a second year medical student – you are always on and always thinking about the next test, the next pimp session, how your patients are doing, how much sleep you are going to manage, etc etc etc. More than anything, third year has been a chance for a mental break! A chance to relax, to catch up with friends and NOT talk about shelf exams, and to reclaim our lives from the hospital to which we will dedicate so much of our future.

Basically, third year is the best. So here’s to a year filled with food, friends, and fun!