The call me "doctora"

Today was an exciting day in the hospital! Franco and I went to Puebla Ortopedia y Trauma hospital which is a public IHSS hospital. IHSS is the healthcare program for workers in Mexico. O&T is a mid level teaching hospital. It’s definitely nicer than some I’ve seen, but still subpar compared to most hospitals in the U.S. When we got there we met one of the attending physicians and three of his residents. Residents at O&T go through three rotations over the course of four years: emergency, columnar (spine), and long bones. The residents we worked with today are doing their rotation in long bones. (I’m sure there’s a better translation but that’s what they call it). We started with morning report where we sat in a 5^th floor conference room overlooking puebla and listened to the residents report on the new patients who had arrived during the night. The residents had x-rays for the new cases and explained to us how to read long bone x-rays, how to find the angles of broken bones, and how to name fractures. The naming system is different in Mexico. In Mexico they use numbered quadrants. For example the upper arm is one, lower arm is two, thigh is three, calf is four. Then each quadrant has three numbers; for example the upper arm shoulder end is one, mid upper arm is two, and elbow end is three. So a fracture in the middle of the upper arm would be a 1-2. After morning report we went on rounds with the attending doc and residents. One of the residents reported on each patient (old cases and new) and the doc gave orders for care. After rounds the residents split up to see their patients. We went with one of the residents and helped him see his patients. Most of the patients in long bone have closed fractures or complete breaks and many have screws, plates, and open wounds. Most are motorcycle or car accidents. A few are falls or severe osteoarthritis. So most of the work was bandaging, setting casts, and assesing x-rays for surgery. We saw around 30 patients today. Most of them needed fresh bandages and we got really good at cleaning wounds and wrapping broken legs; the resident we worked with showed us how to do everything, from cleaning and dressing wounds to setting a plaster cast. I loved the hospital today because I felt like I actually got to do a lot of hands on learning. The hospital itself was a little scary. Except for the resdidents and Franco and I, I never once saw anyone wearing gloves or a single plastic bag (trashcans don’t have liners in Mexico). I’m not saying it wasn’t safe, it was just different: in the U.S. you can’t TOUCH a patient without gloves. Like the other facilities I’ve seen in Mexico, it was crowded, I don’t know how better to describe it. There were very few private rooms. There were long hallways with 10 beds, curtains between each bed, and a common bathroom. There were a handful of private rooms for the most severe cases where patients had been living in the hospital for months. The atmosphere wasn’t bad though. All of the nurses were happy and friendly and wearing spotless white uniforms and caps. The residents really impressed me too. They were just kids (not any older then me) but were very mature, quiet, respectful doctors and always talked to their patients with compassion and patience. It was a great experience. I’m not gonna lie, I really enjoyed doing rounds with the residents in my bata blanca, my labcoat. And they call me doctora here =)

Later we spent the evening with the international students who are all leaving tomorrow…it was a sad day. It’s making me think about how we only have a little more than a week left in Mexico. Time is going by so quickly and a month just isn’t enough…I never want to leave!!!