Hospital Time

First day in the hospitals. This week Kristin and I are rotating at La Maternidad Isidro Arudya. It is a public maternity hospital, funded by the government. Dr. Leonard Marquez was our preceptor, a very nice man. He really tried to explain things to us and make sure we were seeing and understanding what was going on. He spoke a little English, so we communicated in Spanglish. The funniest part of the day was trying to find Dr. Marquez. We asked at the desk, they said to go to the second floor of the building we were in. Went there. Nurse said Dr. M didn’t work there, he was in the other building. Went there. No, Dr. M doesn’t work there, he’s in the Sala de Parto (delivery room) in the other building. Went back to original building and asked where the Sala de Parto was; in the other building where we had just been. Then a nurse informed us that Dr. Marquez was in a meeting until 9. So we waited until 9:30, then began again. Finally, a pharmacist directed us to the Sala de Parto, through some doors that said “entry prohibited”. We felt a little bad, because Dr. M said he’d been there all morning wondering where we were. But we explained it to him and I think it was all okay. Tomorrow we know exactly where to go, by golly!

While at the clinic we observed three DNC’s. That’s what I thought he said anyway. Basically, from what I understand, it was an abortion. There were 5 women in the hospital with incomplete abortions, from either botched back alley abortions or “natural” spontaneous abortions. So the doctors performed DNC’s to complete the abortion for the woman’s health. It was really very interesting, even observing from the back of a group of residents. We also saw a woman with eclampsia. They had her arms tied to the bed with gauze because she was seizing, and they were preparing her for a C-section. And we were also able to see a new born baby being cleaned up. They use rubber bands to remove the umbilical cord, because it’s cheap and effective.

The hospital itself is really interesting. There was a very long line of women on the first floor waiting to be seen by doctors. Not all of them were visibly pregnant, I think the hospital does gynecological exams as well. No one had private rooms. The rooms for women post-delivery were very large, holding maybe 40-50 women. In the delivery room there were less people per room, maybe 6-7. Operating rooms are the only rooms a woman would have to herself. Especially interesting was the lack of toilet paper and soap in the doctor’s bathroom. There was also no toilet paper or soap in the patients bathroom. Doctors only wore gloves when they were putting their hands inside a person’s body. For drawing blood or other task they went without. So different from the U.S.! I think it’s all about a lack of resources. They have to stretch what they have to the very limit to be able to help the most number of people. People have said that it is different in private hospitals and clinics; I suppose I’ll find out when I rotate at those.

The doctors and nurses were all very jovial and friendly with each other. I think they didn’t really know why we were there! One asked if I was going to try one of the procedures, so I had to explain that we were not in medical school and were only there to observe. I wonder if they think that we are unfriendly. All the doctors greeted each other with hugs and kisses on the cheek, but not us. Tomorrow we need to be more pro-active, and initiate more conversation.

A few of us skipped out of Spanish class early. Too much information for one day! I walked home in the rain, got some sympathetic smiles from other women drudging along. I’m hoping to find a bookstore around here later this afternoon, I want to get a medical dictionary. I think it would be helpful. Well, that’s about all for today, amigos! Hasta luego!

New Word of the Day: el cuaderno (notebook)