Day four - Clinic day

First things first: it was so humid today. I have never sweat so much in my life. Imagine sitting in a steam room for eight hours surrounded by mosquitos while wearing scrubs. 

Secondly, I am having an unbelievable amount of fun! 

We took the bus to the village from yesterday. The doctors rode with us. Once we got there people were already waiting for us. We set up as fast as possible. 

I took the first patient. Working in the pediatric ER for my preceptorship prepared me so well for working with patients. We worked in groups of three and we stayed with our patient from beginning to end. We took turns presenting patients to the doctor and sat in on the assessments. 

These doctors spend a lot of time with each patient and talk a lot with them. In the US the doctors focus on the physical assessment and ask a couple questions before prescribing meds. 

The second half of the day Leah and I worked the pharmacy with Tracey's husband, Larry. I got to transcribe the doctors prescriptions (written on index cards) onto labels and count out pills into little bags. They prescribed a lot of ibuprofen and vitamins. Unfortunately we ran out of children's vitamins pretty quickly.

The people had to wait for so long. You would think they would be unhappy or impatient. But they were all so chill and helpful. When it started pouring rain in the afternoon the roof began leaking. The water went right down my neck. A bunch if guys immediately helped me move the "pharmacy". 

The council members were saying that try would have fixed the roof for us. They are all so friendly and sweet. 

I learned to explain medications to mis pacientes en español. I'm so excited to use my Spanish with my patients in the States.