Sunday, March 16

    Today was our first day of work, so we got up extra early. Most of our group went to start construction on the church, but some of us, including me, set up a clinic for the community. Initially, we were going to have to set up our clinic outdoors, which would have been awful because of the heat and UV. However, one of the houses on the block was abandoned, and we got permission to set up in there. Our clinic was open, for free, to anyone who wanted/needed medical care. Our clinic had three sections: education, triage, and appointments. The education section comprised five booths, one for each system of the body and how to take care of it. In the triage section, we took each patient’s vitals, such as blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, blood glucose levels, heart rate, weight, and temperature. We also spoke to the patients (with the help of a translator) about what they needed to talk to the doctor about. Finally, the appointments section was where the patients got to speak to doctors about their ailments and get medication prescribed. I was working at triage, where I tested blood glucose levels, temperature, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels. To test for blood glucose levels, I had to put on a fresh pair of gloves, swab the side of the patient’s ring finger with an alcohol wipe, prick the patient's finger with a needle, collect it on a test strip, and let a machine measure the value. Today was hectic, so I was constantly rushed to help each patient. After the clinic, we drove back to where we are staying and ate dinner. Finally, we took a short hike to a river on our property and explored the owner's library. The owner used to sell books, so his collection was very impressive!

Me testing blood glucose levels

Our set up at triage

The street we set our clinic up on

The blood glucose test





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friday, March 21

Image
    T his morning, our group worked on construction. However, a few of us, including me, stayed back until lunch. At around 11 AM, we drove to the work site and joined the rest of the group. After lunch, we cleaned up the church for sabbath tomorrow. We washed the chairs, cleaned the trowels and mortar boards, took down the scaffolding and put it in the shed, swept the dust off the floor, and washed it. This process took two hours, but the church looked really polished when we finished. After we cleaned, we each wrote a note on a slip of paper and put it in a water bottle. Corbin, the group leader, gave me the honor of placing the bottle into a block and cementing it so that it would stay in the building we dedicated so much time and effort to. Next, we walked around the community to invite people to church and hand them medical information pamphlets. I was part of a group with five other people, including the pastor, who was very excited to share the new church with his ...
Read more

Wednesday, March 26

       Today, I shadowed two otolaryngologists (ear, nose, and throat specialists) in the clinic. All day, I observed appointments about various issues such as ear infections, earwax blockages, eustachian tube problems, sinus infections, deviated septums, congestion, tonsillitis, laryngitis, sleep apnea, thyroid nodules, Graves' Disease, tumors, facial deformities, and aplastic anemia. A lot of the appointments were to follow up after surgeries, so I got to see the aftermath of the surgeries I witnessed yesterday. The most interesting issue I saw today was aplastic anemia, which is a disorder that occurs when the bone marrow cannot produce enough blood cells. Aplastic anemia increases the patient's risk of getting cancer, so it requires biannual checkups. A common symptom of aplastic anemia and aplastic anemia medications is bleeding gums, so that was one of the things that the doctor checked for.       During lunch today, I sat in on a Zoom meeti...
Read more