Adjusting
to life here in Cape Town has been nothing short of an adventure. We started our internships this week, and I
can safely say that I have already learned so much from my short time at
Maitland Cottage. On Tuesdays, we are
able to accompany the doctors and med students as they conduct rounds. We visited each and every patient, and the
Doctor and his fellows discussed, and thoroughly explained, each child’s
diagnosis and treatment. I wish I had
brought a notebook with me to record everything they were saying, but for this
week I simply had to remember all that I could and research the conditions more
thoroughly when I got home (which I did eagerly). Maria and I also went on Friday morning for
what the hospital calls their ‘club foot clinic’ where the doctors and
physiotherapists see around 50 patients over the span of just two hours. Each child they see is assessed and, if
needed, fitted with a plaster cast to begin or continue the process of
correcting their club foot. Maria and I
were even able to assist the doctors in fitting the casts on some of the
children. While we were observing the
appointments (which occur without virtually any privacy), one interaction stood
out to me. One little girl, who I
believe had spina bifida, was desperately in need of braces for her legs. As I listened to the conversation between the
doctor, physiotherapist, and the girl’s father, I learned that this young girl
had been without braces for six months and would not be receiving them any time
soon due to a lack of funding for their production. This was heartbreaking to hear to say the
least. This little girl would continue
to be unable to walk and every previous effort that had been made to correct
her legs would simply go down the drain all because there was no money to be
had. I also noticed that, while
conducting rounds, the doctor was primarily concerned with discharging patients
in a timely fashion not because the hospital was losing money, but because the
limited funds they had must be used on patients that were in the greatest need
of their specialty care. Both of these
experiences allowed me to view healthcare outside the context of a money-making
industry, but rather as what it should be; a self-less effort to better the
lives of patients. It is unfortunate
that, although this is perhaps the ideal viewpoint that healthcare should be
operating from, patients such as that little girl with spina bifida must suffer
from its pitfalls.
In
addition to the start of our internship, we also started class at UCT this week
and had a double lecture on the history of South Africa. I have never been much of a history buff and,
truth be told, the subject usually bores me.
However, I was engaged throughout the entirety of Vincent’s class. It had become clear to me in the past two
weeks that South Africa’s history is rich and extremely complex, but to be able
to finally understand a significant portion of it and place a timeline to
significant events was extremely helpful and interesting. I honestly can’t wait for next week’s class.
To
end out this week, Becca, Libby, Abby, and I hiked to the top of Table Mountain
yesterday. While it was perhaps one of
the most challenging hikes I have ever done, the view from the top was nothing
short of incredible. Just being there
allowed me to gain an amazing perspective of my life at the present
moment. In just three weeks, I have made
friends with incredible people, learned to view the world in a different light,
and have the knowledge that I will continue to learn even more throughout this
trip. I highly recommend viewing the
world from thousands of feet up, just make sure you take a map with you or
you’ll end up hiking twice the amount you intended to. Unfortunately, we got a little lost and have
the sunburn and sore limbs to prove it, but the view of this incredible city
made all of it so worth it.
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| Trista looking out on this incredible city |
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