{"id":168030,"date":"2024-05-23T09:33:46","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T07:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=168030"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:20","slug":"medicine-student-and-caregiver-amrish-applies-lesson-on-attention-directly-in-his-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/05\/23\/medicine-student-and-caregiver-amrish-applies-lesson-on-attention-directly-in-his-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicine student and caregiver: Amrish applies lesson on attention directly in his work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI don\u2019t like the term \u2018caregiver\u2019.\u00a0 It only adds to the pressure, and my mother and uncle do much more\u201d, says medical student Amrish Nanhu (24). His caregiving tasks increasingly confirm how he envisions the way he will carry out his future profession: with attention and respect for patients.<\/p>\n

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The love Amrish received from his grandmother as a child, he now gives back as a grandchild as well as an informal carer.<\/span><\/p>

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Thinking of his grandmother always gives Amrish a sense of being on vacation. They often went cycling or swimming together in Friesland, where she lived. The once independent woman, who moved from Suriname to the Netherlands as a young widow with four small children, now needs help from her family seven days a week. \u201cShe\u2019s always given me so much love\u201d, says Amrish. \u201cThinking back, that feels like an enormous privilege. For a long time, I was her only grandchild. Being the centre of her affection, love and attention has made me a warmer person, I\u2019m sure of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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The term ‘informal care’ is very broad.\u00a0 A caregiver, for example, does groceries for an immobile neighbour, helps with household chores because someone is chronically ill or has a disability, or provides emotional support to someone who is addicted or depressed. It involves helping someone who otherwise couldn\u2019t live at home or participate in society. Often, however, it also involves a great deal of worry about the person who needs help.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Providing both assistance and attention<\/h2>

At secondary school, Amrish wanted to become both a heart surgeon and an oncologist. This dream was inspired by hospital dramas like Grey\u2019s Anatomy and his uncle\u2019s death from colon cancer. His ambition changed in his first year of medical school. This is not for me, Amrish thought to himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turned out that I didn\u2019t see myself working in a hospital at all, and that\u2019s what the study is very much focused on. Through the student association IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Students\u2019 Associations) Rotterdam, I found the motivation to continue with my studies. They combine healthcare and human rights, focusing on improving global health. We can dedicate ourselves to well-being in the Netherlands, but if children are dying from diseases like malaria worldwide, what are we doing? Maybe I\u2019ll become a tropical doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t