Wards and 1st Weekend Fun!

Sunday evening, January 8, 2012

After one week in Eldoret, I’d like to say that I’m all settled…but that isn’t quite the case.  I do feel very comfortable here at IU House, but I will be moving into the Hostel in the next few days.  I will miss this giant room and private bathroom with hot running water!  I can now navigate MTRH (the hospital) as well as the hustle and bustle of town, but have yet to do either completely on my own.  I will be moving to a new pediatric team tomorrow; one where I will be the only non-Kenyan.  Hopefully we will have an Intern and possibly even medical students, which will help define my role on the team.  It has been easy to float along the other team without taking any real responsibility…a nice way to ease into this new environment, but I’m ready for the real deal to start.  I think. J I hope everyone is as welcoming and helpful on my new team as my old one!

My reaction to the wards thus far: Mixed.  The registrars (residents) have been great and seem to know their stuff and I have been impressed with the team’s ability to take care of the high volume / wide variety pediatric ward.  However, it is impossible to miss the limitations of this system.  The consultants (attendings) are focused on teaching instead of patient care, and are not a daily presence.  We must work within a limited and ever-changing formulary.  Even if we order a medication, there is no guarantee that it will be given.  Ordering any kind of test or study is a big question mark.  Will the patient have the money to pay for it?  Will the supplies be available?  Will it get done today?  And for the love, WHEN will the results get back to us?!  That might be the most frustrating part.  I am very Americanized in my medical training in that I am used to basing many treatment decisions on these tests.  I realize that.  I would love to get away from that.  I think I will be forced to get away from that through this experience.  I could vent about how this imperfect system is less perfect than our imperfect system, but I’m here to learn and help and not to criticize.  (No promises that it doesn’t come out in the paper I have to write at the end, though, haha.)  In all reality, I’m working on the public ward in an excellent referral hospital in Kenya—the “SuperWomWom” Wishard of Western Kenya, if you will—so this is likely as good as it gets!  And from hearing other 3^rd world medicine stories from fellow IU House residents, it’s pretty darn good.

Now, for fun part: WEEKEND RECAP!!  I will be working Mon-Fri during these two months, leaving my weekends free and clear for adventures.  This weekend I jumped in with a group going to Naivasha, Kenya.  We spent Saturday at Hell’s Gate, which is a giant open park where you mountain bike through the wildlife. For a lot of it, there are huge beautiful rock cliffs along either side of the path.  We saw zebras, gazelles, antelopes, water buffalo, adorable little warthogs, giraffes, and baboons!  All around us!  At the end of the park is a gorge for more hiking and exploring.  Our hired guide showed us the hot springs (actually hot!  I need to look up how that works) and supposedly where the devil lives.  We took a picture in his bedroom, and maybe stole rocks from it for good measure. J

At the equator!

Hell's Gate bike path--we went to the Gorge.

That night we were exhausted from our rather strenuous biking and hiking, and stayed the night in the very swank Naivasha Country Club.  Really, it was unnecessarily swank, particularly for my first weekend when I wasn’t desperate for a hot shower.  In fact, we couldn’t even figure out how to get our shower working so I ended up taking a hybrid shower/bath, haha.  The following morning we got up early to head to Crescent Island.  This is the island where they filmed “Out of Africa,” I’ve been told.  Apparently us Americans brought in a bunch of animals for the movie and then left them there.  Typical.  But it ended up being this gorgeous oasis surrounded by crystal blue waters with mountains in the distance.  Literally breathtaking.  We were able to walk among the animals (no predators, same as in Hell’s Gate) and for some reason it had a completely different feel.  The scenery was spectacular, and off in the distance you could see groups of all different kinds of animals, often intermingled.  Who knew that wildebeest and zebras could be buds?  We found a particularly friendly and photogenic group of giraffe, and spent quite a bit of time with them.  Then we stumbled upon a group of hippos on the ride home.  It was ridiculously amazing.  The pictures don’t do it justice.  I feel like it could very well be the highlight of my trip, and I’m just getting started!

 

Again, internet is an issue.  I’m actually finishing up this blog on Monday night from my hostel bed so I will stop here.  The hostel experience deserves a blog post of its own!  I was talked into getting up at 4am to watch the BCS championship game, and my team is on call, so tomorrow will be a long one.  Better get to sleep.  As always, questions/comments/updates are encouraged!