It’s
getting harder and harder to pretend that our semester in Cape Town is never
going to end and that it is still only January, not April. I have come a long
way in terms of understanding more about the United States, the world, race,
gender, class, the economy, and the media. I am seeing things that I never used
to see, and I am thinking about things that I never used to think about. But,
more on that in my final blog post next week. Today, I want to reflect upon the
place where I spent 7 hours a day, 3 days a week expanding my medical knowledge
and deepening my passion for the discipline: Tafelsig Clinic.
Going into
this internship, I was resolute in my determination to enter the healthcare
field as a physician assistant, but I had little practical experience to show
for it. I completed a short 3-month shadowing experience at Danbury Hospital in
high school and have worked as a lifeguard for the past 3 summers, but I was
still missing important skills such as taking blood pressure, counseling
patients, and measuring blood glucose levels. Starting on our first day, I
quickly learned how to do all that and more. I cannot emphasize enough how
welcoming and patient each doctor or nurse was towards us, always willing to have
us shadow them or practice a skill that is useful in their department. Now,
three months after starting, I have been exposed to a variety of
sub-disciplines in primary care: curative adults, chronic adults, sick
children, family planning, mental health, and antenatal care. In completing
these rotations, I not only learned more about what doctor-patient interactions
are like and how to work through a treatment plan, but I also gained so much
hands-on experience that would have been extremely difficult to get in the
United States. I am returning home able to take blood pressure, triage patients
for their symptoms, measure glucose levels, present health education talks,
give injections, and even draw blood. These will all be valuable as I complete
my EMT course this summer and begin seeking internships and applying to PA
school.
Naturally,
with the ups came the downs. Some of the most emotionally and mentally
challenging days from my semester took place at the clinic. As I discussed in a
previous blog post, just over a month after we started, a mother brought her
unresponsive 6-week-old baby to the clinic, but the resuscitation attempt was
unsuccessful and we lost the child. A few weeks ago, an unresponsive 4-year-old
was brought to the clinic, and though we carried out the resuscitation protocol
for over 45 minutes, we were again unable to revive the boy. This incident was
especially hard on me because frustratingly, the ambulance did not arrive for
over an hour after we called it, and because this time I participated in the
chest compression rotations, which made the event a little more personal. Although
nothing was quite as devastating as that, it was still difficult to see how the
facility was impacted by lack of adequate financial resources. Patients wait at
the clinic for hours due to limited staffing, and sometimes they cannot receive
the proper treatment or medication due to unavailable equipment. Yet, the
quality of care the patients are able to receive is a true testament to the
dedication, adaptability, and compassion of the staff.
I am also
going to miss people of Mitchells Plain who gave the clinic its unique
character. They laughed at my inability to pronounce some of their names and
grilled me on my support of Donald Trump. They smiled as I practiced my
Afrikaans greetings on them, and I reciprocated when some of them labored
through their symptoms in English. I met men who killed and went to prison, and
women who ran away from the abuse of their husbands. But most importantly, I
never met anyone who didn’t readily embrace Derek, Paige, Abby, or me as
learners and valuable assets to the clinic. We were often commended for the
work we did and wished a happy and safe stay in Cape Town. They could be
understandably loud and unruly at times, but it was the variety of interactions
that made each day so unique.
Sister
Castle played an invaluable role as a mentor and teacher this semester, and for
that I will be forever grateful. I am going to miss her little pearls of wisdom
and occasional goofing off in the face of a hectic working environment. I know
that I would not have grown and learned as much as I did without her continued
support, and I am definitely going to make sure that we stay in touch after I
leave.
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Eric, Sister Castle & Derek |
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Eric, Sister Castle & Paige |
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