First of all, super excited to be going to India as part of CASI Aravind! I want to start off by thanking everyone who made this possible.

My name is Abhinay Ramachandran, but you can call me Abhi. My family is from a city called Coimbatore, which is a few hours from Madurai, where I will be for Aravind. I was born in England, but moved to the US when I was 4. After a couple of years in Brooklyn, NY, we moved to Cleveland where I have lived since. My hometown is Westlake, a suburb on the west side of Cleveland. I am a rising Senior in the Engineering School at Penn, studying Bioengineering. I am a premed student and will be applying to medical school this summer! In addition, I am completing a minor in Biological Basis of Behavior and Healthcare Management. My favorite activity on campus is the Club Tennis team, of which I was captain for the past year.

I will be at Madurai as part of CASI Aravind, working at the Aravind Eye Hospital. I have varied interests that I am excited to get involved in: clinical research, bioengineering research in optics, and healthcare management and operational efficiency studies.  I am sure Aravind will be a great opportunity as I will have the opportunity to take part in all of these. In addition, I look forward to being able to shadow doctors in ophthalmology, a field of medicine I have not a chance to explore. Aravind is well known for being able to provide world-class eye care at low cost to millions of people, much of which is charity care. It is a model that has been studied extensively for its ability to maximize the iron triangle of healthcare: cost, access. quality. The questions I will be asking is: “Are there aspects of the Aravind Eye Care System that can be brought back to the US to decrease costs and increase access to healthcare to Americans? Also, are these aspects at Aravind compromising quality in any way?”

I want to be in India in part of this great internship opportunity, for the reasons above, and for the personal and cultural growth of living in India. Though an Indian, I have yet to had the opportunity to live independently in India. I’m looking forward to exploring on my own and immersing myself in the culture. I’m most looking forward to sharing my experiences with Jane and Zach. Each experience will be unique because I will get to see it from multiple perspectives. I am excited to travel South India with Jane and Zach.

Here’s a photo of me at a tennis tournament with the Club Tennis Team: