I think I speak for most of my
co-educators when I say that after two weeks of seeing beautiful sights and
acknowledging South Africa’s long walk to freedom, we readily embraced February
1st, the first day of internships. I am so glad that orientation included visiting
everyone’s internship sites because I got to see firsthand how issues like economic
inequality, farmers’ land rights, and rape culture are being tackled on a daily
basis. However, closest to my heart is medicine and health, so our visit to Tafelsig
Community Health Clinic made me anxious to begin my service.
Just based on my initial impressions
of the building and the short introduction by Sister Chordnum, I could tell
that treatment in South Africa is vastly different from that in the United
States. For example, because Tafelsig is a free public clinic, patients line up
outside of the building as early as 4-5:00 am, even though it does not open
until 7:00am. When we walked into the waiting room, we were met by a staggering
number of patients, and I couldn’t even begin to wonder how long some of them
might have been sitting. In addition, Sister Chordnum, in concordance with the directors
at Maitland Cottage and Sarah Fox (other healthcare internship sites), informed
us that Tafelsig was primarily run by female nurse practitioners called
sisters, and there were few, if any, male doctors. In fact, she mentioned that
because I am a tall white male, patients might regard me highly and refer to me
as a doctor, despite the fact that doctors often report back to the sisters. I
was initially flattered, but I then realized how females might respond to this
presumed inferiority. Having made note of this, I was eager to see the clinic’s
day-to-day operations.
 |
| Medical Interns: Mariko, Paige, Collette, Lily, Maria, Derek, and Eric |
When Derek, Paige, and I (feel
better Abby!) walked through the door at 8:30am, we were again struck by the number
of people in the waiting room. Dressed in our blue scrubs, Parks ushered us to
the consultation room where we finally got to meet Sister Castle, whom I had
heard so much about. She graciously welcomed us to Tafelsig and took us through
the halls to introduce us to the friendly doctors and sisters who treat
anywhere between 500 and 700 adults and children each day. Shortly after
compulsory teatime, we were put to work in the “engine” of the clinic: the medical
records room. After patients get a number in the queue, their records need to
be painstakingly located in the thousands upon thousands of files ordered by
identification number on 10 two-sided bookshelves with 4-5 shelves each. This
all had to be done by hand, and a patient could not be seen until we fetched
their information; a doctor or sister couldn’t conveniently pull up the records
on a computer or tablet.
The other stark difference I noticed
was, like most other things in South Africa, the pace. Despite having over one
hundred people waiting to be seen, Sister Castle took the time to talk to each
patient to understand their lives and the reasons underlying their symptoms.
She might take 15-20 minutes per consultation, discussing a wide range of
health topics (like safe sex, proper food preparation, etc.) and teaching us
along the way. I remarked at how different this approach was from doctors in
the United States, who often localize the ailment to the specific part of the
body, treat it, prescribe medicine, and move on to the next patient. This might
leave the patient feeling detached and disconnected, whereas I feel like all of
Sister Castle’s patients respected her word and her tough love. Throughout the
rest of my internship, I will continue to make note of differences in
healthcare practices so that I can find areas of improvement upon my return to
the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment