It is crazy to me to think that I have been in Roatan for almost 4 weeks now, and even crazier to think that in a little over a week I’ll be back home. How the time has flown! There are many things that I am looking forward to in the States, chief among them being air conditioning and no sand fleas, but I also wish I could stay on this little island paradise for a bit longer. It is a great balance between work and play: I generally spend my mornings in the Roatan hospital, my afternoons in Miss Peggy’s clinic, and my evenings exploring the island with other volunteers. Overall, I’d say it’s a pretty great life.
The hospital has certainly been an eye-opening place to work: without running water or air conditioning, it isn’t what I’m used to seeing in the States. The contrast was driven home for me last week when a premature baby under the RVPC doctors died because the hospital didn’t have access to the ventilator he needed and his family didn’t have money to take him to the mainland. It was frustrating and confusing to see something so preventable take a life, and made me appreciate even more the efforts of organizations like Global Healing and Miss Peggy’s clinic.
On a lighter note, the hospital has also taught me a lot about what I like and dislike about medicine. I know now that I could never study dermatology (I feel like I use half a gallon of hand sanitizer every time a child comes in with a rash), and that I love the feeling of fixing a problem and seeing immediate results (which mostly manifests when I give a feverish patient acetaminophen, but still, it’s something). I’ve also been able to expand my Spanish vocabulary. I learned the word for “breastfeeding” early on, as not knowing made for some awkward charades, and I’ve used the word for “kidneys” and “gall bladder” more than once. I’ll have to try to slip those into a regular conversation someday…
The hospital has also given me a good idea of what life as a pediatrician looks like, at least here in Honduras. I get to triage all of the patients that come through the clinic, and then shadow the doctoras after, so I see a lot of the diagnoses and the treatments that are given. The most common ailments seem to be ear infections, fever, and rashes (bug bites and fungal infections being especially common). It is also interesting to see the different styles of all the doctoras. During my time here, I’ve had the chance to work with four: one a native Honduran, two volunteers from the US, and one resident in her last year at Stanford. All four have been fantastic, and quite different. I noticed one focused a lot on basic health recommendations, while another paid most attention to the specific problem. Bedside manners also varied: some focused more on the child, while other mostly addressed the parents. Yet, somehow, all of the methods and manners worked. I’ve seen that there isn’t one perfect way to approach a patient, but rather a way that works for each doctor. It’s a good lesson to learn.
The afternoons in Miss Peggy’s clinic are lots of fun. As an unofficial volunteer, I usually end up helping in pharmacy. The pharmacy orders tend to come in spurts, so in the down time the other volunteers and I do everything from quizzing each other on medicine names to deciding which Harry Potter houses we belong in. I am also always careful to keep an eye out for banana doughnut man, who will single-handedly be the reason I gain 300 lbs in my time here. Life is short, right?
In the evenings, the other volunteers and I explore the island. While here, I’ve tried iguana (gross), choreographed and performed a dance to Backstreet Boys at karaoke night, eaten more baleadas than I can count, and have snorkeled a lot.
I’m excited to see what the rest of my time at Roatan will bring, even with only a week left. Pretty soon I’ll be introducing the new intern, Israel, to the clinic and to the blog! Get excited. I know I am.
Until then,
Jena
