Both yesterday and today I went with Dr. Prine and his group to a couple of villages to have a make-shift pediatric clinic there. We went there along with the dentist and his assistants. When we arrived at the villages we were introduced to the Chief of each village to ask if it was okay with him if we set up their. In both villages the Chief sat on a little coushin-throne in a clay hut and someone from our group offered them a small gift of flashlights. They allowed us to work their and see their villagers so we set up a couple of benches and a table and went to work.
It must have been like the circus was in town because everyone swarmed around us and every once in a while we had to ask people to step away from us just so that we could see the patients. Shortly there after though, we were just as crowded and we just had to work through it. We saw a lot of healthy kids with some minor issues but we did bring one 3 year old boy back with us to the hospital today so that we can treat his typhoid adequately.
The clinic was pretty rough and we didn’t have all the medicine that we might have needed but for the most part we were able to treat most of the kids. Most of them really didn’t need anything but it was like every mom was bringing all of her 5 children to us to be seen, regardless of whether they were sick or not. I guess they just wanted us to make sure they were okay so we handed out a lot of multivitamins.
The village we went to yesterday wasn’t too far away but today we drove for about an hour and a half to get there and the road was challenging to say the least! On the way there we pretty much had to climb up a cliff and move rock from the road to get there and then on the way back we almost got stuck in the sand after crossing a small stream. We all got out to help push the vehicle but the whole thing was pretty funny. The scenery was beautiful though and I was hoping to see a giraffe or elephant strolling around to perfect the image but aparantly the don’t live around here.
Dr. Prine is leaving tomorrow afternoon along with the dentist, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and the rest of their crew so tomorrow I’m gonna try to soak up as much knowledge as I can on rounds in order to be able to see most of the peds patients on my own. We still have Dr. Etuh who is a Nigerian general surgeon working here for the year, so we will still be able to treat surgical cases. Other than that it will just be Sheila and I, two residents from Missouri, Rich (our attending), and Jake (a student who is leaving on Sunday).
Anyways, being outside all day yesterday and today took a toll on my shoulders, even with plenty of sunscreen and trying to be in the shade while working, but hopefully it will fade soon 😉 Sheila and I were on call the last two nights. The first one was pretty uneventful but yesterday morning Sheila gave blood again to the little boy. Unfortunately he was too far gone and he died yesterday afternoon. Last night was a little busier as we got called on a lady in labor around midnight and a boy in respiratory distress around 3 am. So, not much sleep but they both did well so it was worth it. Tomorrow is another clinic day but I am definitely looking forward to the weekend. Just to get to relax for a little bit will be nice.