Glory to God, two weeks has gone by successfully and been fruitful and productive as I had anticipated.
Week 1 began with getting acquainted with how things are done at Tenwek. It began with a meeting with the paediatric staff during their daily devotion and signing in. Our consultant Dr. Clark Sleeth a very thorough and dexterous paediatrician consultant helped to make me fit in perfectly.
At the signing in meeting that morning, I had the pleasure of being assigned to a smart , astute and hardworking Medical officer intern Dr. Joy Mueni Muli.
I was also intrigued by the calliber of cases seen here which was quite different from those I had previously seen during my clerkship in Accra, Ghana. There were lots of hands-on sessions that taught me to better appreciate and learn , how to better use an ultrasound to access adequate hydration, good state of the heart, how to take arterial blood gas samples, setting improvised central lines , identifying pneumothorax and pleural effusions on ultrasound, learning to pass an umbilical catheter and how to properly run a blue code.
My first week also happened to be the prematurity week under theme “skin to skin contact for the care of premature babies”. Among activities to commenmorate the day, the paediatric staff organized a session to educate mothers who had and have premature babies about possible complications and expectations. Also, mothers of previously premature babies gave testmomies to encourage women who had premature children. We gave gifts to the women on the ward and encouraged them as well.
My first week ended with me being on call with Dr. Joy. It was a very great experience coupled with a wide array of new cases and emergencies throughout the day and night. This call was the first ever I had done and been actively involved. So it did have a heavy toll on my health of which I recuperated through an 8hr sleep postcall.
Later that weekend, I visited city nearby called Kericho famously known for tea to have fun with the praise and worship team at the Church. On our way I got to appreciate the beautiful tea plantation scenery. Indeed Kenya is beautiful!
My second week came by so fast, by this time I had gotten patients of my own and also had to work independent of Dr. Joy since she had graduated from internship.
My major problem at this time was the language barrier. However, with the help of other interns and nurses communication was made easy.
The weekend was thanksgiving, and I had the pleasure of celebrating it with an American missionary family. There was lots and lots to eat and drink. At the end of the day I was very happy to have joined and have a feel of the typical American thanksgiving culture.
So far God has been gracious and has giving me a good time here. Looking forward to what the few weeks holds for me !
Blessings!