Day 2 was our first day in our particular rotations in the hospital.
Mark - I spent the morning in the CRIN, which is the malnourished children department. Everyday Dr. Savilla and the medical students make a diet for each of the babies and children depending on their growth. After that, I spent an hour sitting in on a medical school class with two of the students.
Craig - I was able to spend the day in the emergency pediatric department. I was fortunate to be paired with Dieter, a 6th year medical student who spoke some broken English so communication was not too much of an issue. It was an amazing experience and I was impressed with how efficient they were with the limited resources they had. I was thrown right into the mix and allowed to perform complete physical exams on a 9 year boy with a chronic ear infection and 1 month old girl with pneumonia. Dieter was nice enough to explain what was happening as we went along and I can't wait to get back there this morning
Pete- I spent yesterday in the burn center on rounds with the 5th year medical students. The chief resident was grilling both students, and each of them did a good job of presenting both their patients. After rounds we had a bit of down time, so I visited with Marta, a little Quechua girl. She was burned by boiling water on about 20% of her body, mainly her chest and abdomen. Little did I know that 5 minutes after playing for a brief bit with Marta I was watching her wounds and skin grafts being cleaned by the staff. This impacted me the most as I will be forming relationships with the children one minute and observing surgeries being performed the next.
Cory- I spent yesterday in emergency OB/GYN. I started talking with a student in her last year of education who spoke fantastic English. A few women were coming in to have their stitches removed. The student, Susana, told me to start helping. I had never done anything clinical really before, so it was great to start. I watched some students take out two womens' stitches, and then it was my turn. I thought it went well, and a student told me I did a good job. After that, I learned from a third year student how to feel the abdomen to distinguish how a baby is positioned. All in all, it was interesting to see Bolivian medicine.
Mark - I spent the morning in the CRIN, which is the malnourished children department. Everyday Dr. Savilla and the medical students make a diet for each of the babies and children depending on their growth. After that, I spent an hour sitting in on a medical school class with two of the students.
Craig - I was able to spend the day in the emergency pediatric department. I was fortunate to be paired with Dieter, a 6th year medical student who spoke some broken English so communication was not too much of an issue. It was an amazing experience and I was impressed with how efficient they were with the limited resources they had. I was thrown right into the mix and allowed to perform complete physical exams on a 9 year boy with a chronic ear infection and 1 month old girl with pneumonia. Dieter was nice enough to explain what was happening as we went along and I can't wait to get back there this morning
Pete- I spent yesterday in the burn center on rounds with the 5th year medical students. The chief resident was grilling both students, and each of them did a good job of presenting both their patients. After rounds we had a bit of down time, so I visited with Marta, a little Quechua girl. She was burned by boiling water on about 20% of her body, mainly her chest and abdomen. Little did I know that 5 minutes after playing for a brief bit with Marta I was watching her wounds and skin grafts being cleaned by the staff. This impacted me the most as I will be forming relationships with the children one minute and observing surgeries being performed the next.
Cory- I spent yesterday in emergency OB/GYN. I started talking with a student in her last year of education who spoke fantastic English. A few women were coming in to have their stitches removed. The student, Susana, told me to start helping. I had never done anything clinical really before, so it was great to start. I watched some students take out two womens' stitches, and then it was my turn. I thought it went well, and a student told me I did a good job. After that, I learned from a third year student how to feel the abdomen to distinguish how a baby is positioned. All in all, it was interesting to see Bolivian medicine.
How interesting! Everyone sounds like he is enjoying the assignment he got. I love the idea of the personal interactions with the patients and others that you revealed in your notes. Don't know if these are your first "hands on" experiences but they will surely be unforgettable ones.
ReplyDeletePete, Imagine how comforting it was to Marta to have you there as her new friend when the painful cleaning and dressing were done.
Sounds like a busy hospital! Keep up the good work .
Betty and Bob