March 28, 2010: Week 2
So I am coming to the end of my second week here in Roatan, and each day I feel really glad that I came. Working at the clinic has been a great experience. The majority of patients that we see come in with some type of parasite infection, mostly ascariasis. However there are also several other parasites and bacterial infections that we see. We have also seen a couple of patients with malaria, as well as other topical bacterial and fungal infections. One poor child had a fungal infection that had gotten so bad it was forming a very large lump near the top of her head. Many of the children also come in with a combination of parasites, upper respiratory infection, and/or fungal infection. Many mothers come in stating the same chief complaints for their children, gripe, cough, diarrhea, and sometimes also fever (although very few if any actually have a thermometer to take their child’s temperature). It is very interesting to observe the doctors as they tactfully extract the necessary information from the mother have to arrive at the correct diagnosis. Even though the mother are sometimes unhappy at first because they come in requesting a specific medication because it worked for someone else, or it worked last time. The doctors have to patiently explain that antibiotics will not do anything for a viral infection or that their child does not actually have the same infection and that another medication will be much more effective. But it has been a great learning experience to see how to deal with these types of issues effectively as almost all the mothers walk away happy when they leave our clinic. Sometimes we see patients again outside of the clinic and they are always very happy to see us and thank the doctor’s letting them know that their child is doing much better.
Working with the children who come into the clinic has been really fun as well. Most of the children are very friendly and happy despite being sick and very few are afraid to be coming in to the doctor. Those that are nervous or afraid usually easily assuaged by some comforting words or a little bribe. I usually tell them that if the help me with a few things they will win a prize, and once I get them to step on the scale, stand by the wall to measure them, and let me take their temperature, I reward them by giving them a sticker, or a sheet of paper to color on, and a pen. Before I came here my parents bought me a bag full of assorted colored pens and pencils, so I usually give them away to the kids that are old enough to use them. And also we have some little chairs and some story books in the clinic that the children are usually happy to play with, and having their own personally sized chairs usually makes them feel very happy and comfortable. It is really great to see their smiling little faces, happy to be there, and saying “gracias” to me, even though I am the one that is thankful to be here, and thankful that the clinic exists to be able to help them.
Well to continue with my overly emotional tone, I would like to say that one sad thing happened this week. The two doctors from the U.S. returned home. Dr. Catherine and her husband went back home Friday afternoon, and Dr. Preetha went home today. It is too bad that I only got to work with them for two weeks, but the two weeks were really great. Now it will be just me and Dr. Sara for a little while, which also has its advantages, because I will be able to spend more time with her, which will allow us to get to know each other better and work together even more effectively.
Another update is that the clinic has been repainted! Well part of the clinic. One of the walls in the front room of the clinic had apparently suffered some water damage some time before I arrived, and the doctor’s had been trying to get someone to fix it but the people who were supposed to fix it were just not coming, and we really needed to get it done, so I volunteered to do it this past Friday that way it could be ready by Monday. It was just a matter of scraping away the damaged portion of the wall, sealing it to help prevent damage in the future, and then repainting it. Dr. Sara and I went to the hardware store to buy the supplies on Thursday, after we were done at the clinic, and Friday I got to work. And since we were going to buy the paint, I took advantage to paint most of the front room as many of the walls had begun chipping or had some minor scrapes, or poorly painted areas where the color that was underneath still showed through the top coat. So the nice yellow room where our computer area is, and where I take the patients info and weigh the children, as well as our informal third exam area is contained, is all bright and new again.
Well I think those are all the major happening of the week, I cannot wait to see what next week brings. Until next Sunday, adios.
