Wanderlust

Wie war die Praktikums- / Studienplatzsuche?

The idea for an exchange in India came from my two professors responsible for the lectures in clinical trials and management of clinical trials - Prof. Dr. Fortwengel and Dr. Limaye - both from faculty III. They offered interested students the possibility for this exchange and I studied under them the prior semesters.
The preparations started around one to half a year in advance and concluded meetings with the professors to learn more about the program in India. Travelling preparations were done by the student themselves.
The collaboration between University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover and the the Research Institute Of Health Sciences and Management Pune was the first time, so it had a kind of pilot character. Hence, the support from either the german or indian organization was really helpful.
Also with me four other students from the same major decided to participate on this exchange.

Wie war die Zimmer-/Wohnungssuche?

Leicht Mittel Schwer

Meine Unterkunft war...

von Privat Studentenwohnheim Eigene Wohnung Wohngemeinschaft

Über die Zimmer-/Wohnungssuche und Unterkunft

Fortunately, the Research Institute of Health Sciences and Management provided a private flat for us students.
The flat was big enough to house five students. The interior was of high quality. Furthermore, it was 10 minutes away from the Institute in which we had our lectures. The neighbourhood was quiet and nicely and restaurants, the city or malls where nearby.

Welche Versicherungen hast Du vor der Reise abgeschlossen?

Kranken- und Haftpflichtversicherung
Reiseversicherung
Unfallversicherung

Möchtest Du etwas zu den Versicherungen anmerken?

I would highly recommend an insurance for the duration in India. Several insurance model customized for personal deeds are available. I paid 7€ per month for my insurance.

Wie lief es mit den Finanzen?

I got a scholarship of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover so thankfully to this I had more than enough for living during my stay in India.
The scholarship = 300€/month.
The approximately costs for food are e.g. in a restaurant 3€ per Person which includes a bottle of water.
Public transport is given and really cheap (we talk about cent - amounts).
The scholarship covered the fix and variable costs totally.

Art der Finanzierung

Stipendium
Eltern/Familie
Ersparnisse
Darlehen
BaföG

Wie waren die Lebenserhaltungskosten?

The costs for food where compared to the german standard of living costs a lot cheaper.

Eating in a restaurant was around 3€-5€ per person in the area I lived in (not a tourist area). Buying ingredients in a mall was not significant cheaper so I preferred eating in the local restaurants.

Unterkunft im Monat (ca.)

100€

Verpflegung im Monat (ca.)

150€

Freizeit im Monat (ca.)

50€ - 100€

Die üblichen Formalitäten...

After arriving in Pune it was on time to registrate within 14 days. Thankfully I got help from the coordinator of the partner institute for the immigration process. So needed documents included passport photo, formulas, a visit on the nearby police station and a fee. The indian bureaucracy requires certainly more patience then the german so the help from the institute was warmly welcomed.

I suggest though to also check the immigration process criteria’s for yourself as you will be responsible if mistakes are made in the process which can lead to a fee or in the worst case a forbade to leave the country.

Well, except this I used the offer of the "deutsche Kreditbank" or called DKB, a online bank which advertise with worldwide toll-free withdrawal of cash on ATM's. For me it worked in several countries well and I can recommend this card as a prepaid VISA card will be included.

Internet was in the beginning a problem, as the SIM card registration for foreigners took 2 weeks because of a national law. The mobile internet is fast and 4G was widely accessible. The data volume is much more attractive than in Germany, as it is common to have 1 GB per day for 28 days and all flat for around 3€. The offers also make it possible to get more GB if needed for a really low price.

Wifi isn't in my experience common and we could find luckily find a solution with our landlord to install a mobile wifi router.

The institute has one really good wifi connection so if you need to work or need a good spot for updates there it is.

Care that in Pune on the evening hours = rush hours the connectivity will drastically reduce, and internet becomes really slow. Furthermore, on Thursdays the electricity will be on several occasions shut down, mostly because of infrastructural reasons.

Kurzbeschreibung zur Hochschule/Einrichtung...

The Research Institute of Health Sciences and Management is a small institute in Pune in the state of Maharastra, India. The location of it is quite central and an area which is used mainly for educational purposes.

The building has 2 floors in which are the secretary, offices, a library and a larger computer room.
As the Institute's has two departments, one is the education of economical teachings while the other department teaches clinical trial management. While the economical department is the bigger one, the library offers mostly books for this field of science. Nonetheless books about the clinical trial topic are available and possible to lend. The computer room offers around 60 computer working spaces if needed.

The institute has contacts to regional as also local institutions such as hospitals, manufacturers, clinical research organizations and other educational institutions. The responsible officers of the institute are willingly offering a possibility for networking with such.

Tätigkeiten / Inhalte / Lehrveranstaltungen deines Praktikums / Studiums /etc.

The courses where conducted by either institute officers or external specialists.

It was mandatory to write three exams and two presentations, which one was a group presentation representing one of the following stakeholders: sponsor, clinical research organization, ethic committee and defend the group results.

The courses by name where budgeting, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, ICH guidelines, statistics.

The work language of course was english and lecturers where hold with the help of power point slides.

The lecturers budgeting was hold by the vice president of Fresenius Kabi Pune.

Another aspect of the exchange was the internship part, which was during the last third of this exchange. I was creating my questionnaire there and worked with ayurvedic and allopathic doctors on it.

There was also the option of voluntary field trips to hospitals or companies.

I participated in a two day trip to visit in neighbouring cities (Kolhapur and Sangli) following companies:
- IT solution company in the field of medical sciences, successfully global actor in Dubai, Malaysia and India, working there with the minister of health, creating IT solutions in form of software’s for major hospital groups in private as public sectors.

-pharmaceutical manufacturer producing for Bayer and Pfizer in India

-traditional ayurvedic manufacturer

-clinical research organization, seeing in the practise how the recruitment, treatment and documentation is held.

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In all the visits I had the chance to see the whole facilities together with an explanation. In the end of each visit I could talk with the CEO's and their responsible head officers about the work and we exchanged impressions and ideas. I highly appreciated this chance and it gave me precious insights of the persons in leading positions I would not easily obtain.

Wie war der Kontakt zu Kommilitonen/Arbeitskollegen/Einheimischen?

The contact with the four other german students was okay, as we studied together. I can just say that participating in a pilot exchange program in a country so different as India requires to be able to accept this new environment and other views and a certain degree of flexibility and mature. Maybe because as five german students it was too much of a comfort zone for some of us to not experience this exchange to the fullest.

The four indian students were already ayurvedic doctors and had families so there was a age gap which doesn't made a difference as I had a great time with them. The kindness of them was great and really appreciated by me, they invited me and the other german students for a hiking trip or just to eat something.

As I wrote above I had a really great relationship with all institute officers and also outside of lectures they were always willing to help if emergency appeared which I highly appreciated.

The landlord was frequently visiting us and also invited to have breakfast in his place. He was also able to speak german.

I made local friends and spend a lot of my free time with them, going so far as travelling with two of the germans and several indian friends together to the northern part of the country together.

Generally spoken the people in Pune consists of a lot of people which seek education as this city is famous for it. Therefore, the city attracts many young people from all over the country. The townfolks are polite and a always on the search to network. This makes it easier to make contact and eventually develope this to friendship.
As written the educational level is high so english is widely spoken.

My free time developed with time. While in the beginning I spend my time with the other german students I seeked to experience this exchange to the fullest and escape from the bubble of comfort. For one talking most of the time in german was not sufficient enough for me, I wanted to improve my english skills.

Was hast Du in deiner Freizeit gemacht?

I spend time with the fellow indian students as well as local friends I made and two of the german students.
Activities where discovering the city together, trying different kind of dishes (the indian cuisine is superb!) and to try to understand their culture slowly. Visiting local markets, city areas which hold temples and going for a hiking trip. To make the counterpart for this activities I spend also time in the nightlife of Pune which is rich and offers many unique clubs and pubs. Also visiting museums and live concerts.

The availability of cab companies such as Uber or Ola for a for german standards really cheap price makes the transportation easy.

A huge interest of mine was travelling. I travelled to an old cave city, visiting different towns with local friends as well organizing one bigger trip for two weeks to the north of the country with a big adventure character.

Fazit und besondere Erlebnisse

Retrospective this exchange enriched me in many ways and I am glad to have this opportunity.

To extend my horizon, making new friendships and experiencing the country not only from the eyes of a tourist which mostly sees the surface of things are for me a precious experience. Before going to India I had sadly a bad impression of the country with many prejudices, which after experiences it myself not even in the slightest became true. It is the opposite. The kindness of the people is one thing I will miss as well as the more polite interaction. Of course, the food is much more various and tasty, so I am now learning how to cook indian cuisine. A precious thing I learned as well is to stay calm when things are not turning to go as planned. I am still in contact with my friends from India and I will visit this country for sure in the future again.

Wie klappte es mit der Anerkennung der Leistungen für das Studium an der HsH?

The recognition was without any complications.

Welche weiteren wichtigen Hinweise hast Du für zukünftige Studierende?

First: Vaccination in germany is nice and good, but costly. In India vaccinations for example against rabies uses the same vaccine as in germany but to 1/10 of the costs. I vaccinated in germany to prevent being physically down in india but one of the germans vaccinated in india without problems, so I can recommend this option.

Please inform before deciding to go to India about the culture, ways of communicating, the food and how to dress in this culture.
This will eventually prevent some problems.

Wie wirkt sich dein Aufenthalt auf den weiteren Werdegang und die Pläne für weitere Auslandsaufenthalte aus?

This exchange was during my 6th semester and in the 7th semester I will write my bachelor thesis, so from a professional view this exchange helped me getting a good insight of how specialists and manager in high positions work.