First Day of Clinic

Judging by my last post I'm sure it sounds like this is just one big vacation, but I promise it is an internship and I am actually working! Which leads me to my first day of clinic. It was at a hospital called "La Maternidad" which is a Gyno/Obstetrician hospital. After waiting in the lobby for a while, Jessica (another student) and I got our scrubs and met up with one of the Docs (Dr. Gomez). He doesn't speak english, but he was really good about speaking much clearer than most people which was nice considering pregnancies are confusing enough in english (for me). There are obviously many differences between this ER and one in the states. One that jumped right out at me was how the doctors have their designated "office" with their computer and examination "bed". We started out with a lesson on long division and calculating how long patients have been pregnant based on their last cycle. No one uses calculators, even the docs write it out on paper.

One of the most common problems seen in Quito is Pre-Eclampsia. The tell-tale signs are Protein in the Urine (Proteina en la Orina), Bruising/Swelling (Edema), Headaches and Ear Aches (Dolor de Cabeza o Oido), and High BP (alta presión). Of the 10 patients we saw, I believe six were diagnosed with it. Another difference is they patient-doctor relationship. At least in the ER it seems almost all about cranking out patient after patient here, which it was similar in the US but not as much. For example my time observation time was almost four hours and one Doc saw ten patients. The lists goes on for things that I saw today, but I think I'll leave it at this for now.