Ah! Day Three and it was so exciting and interesting! Today I started my "field work" shadowing an OB/GYN and general practitioner Dr. Ravi Stephen and his wife Dr. Rohini Stephen, or what she wants me to call her "Chickoo", in their nursing home. At first I was a little nervous with the unknown and all, but once I met the doctors they made me feel right at home and were so helpful.
Firstly, just to clarify, even though this institution is technically called a "nursing home", it is actually just a general practice with a specialty in OB/GYN. Dr. Ravi is actually the only male gynecologist in Trichy, and so the only patients that come to him are ones that they call "more broadly minded" which I found intriguing, as there are many male gynecologists in the U.S where many don't give a second thought about it.
Overall, my day consisted of going on rounds with Dr. Rohini and checking on all patients who were currently admitted into the practice. Some of the cases included recovery from surgery, pallative care, and HIV positive care for those who need it. Another aspect of Indian healthcare that is different from the U.S. is that not many healthcare professionals in India want to treat patients with HIV due to lack of education about how the disease is spread, especially in Trichy. So, because Dr. Rohini and Ravi have educated themselves about the disease and how to treat patients with it, many HIV patients from all over the city are referred to their nursing home. Luckily, this ignorance is decreasing because doctors are finally becoming educated about the disease and are now beginning to accept patients who are HIV positive. I found this heartening to hear.
I then spent the rest of my "shift" shadowing Dr. Ravi, the wonderful head nurse Leena, and Dr. Rohini as they saw outpatients and talked to incoming admitted patients.
Once my morning work was done, we were shuttle back for lunch and then we decided to go into the city on our own, but just to the shops that we were permitted to go of course. Within this trip, we crossed the street without a guide! What a success! Once we crossed I felt like all of the honking and shouting was for me, as a congratulations that I was able to be so independent! (Lets get real here though, the honking was probably because I didn't get out of the street fast enough). Anyway, it was a successful trip.
I then spent the afternoon at Dr. Stephen's Nursing home, seeing more patients, many of whom had diabetes. Dr. Ravi informed me that this is common in Indian people, due to their rich and carbohydrate filled diet and craving for sweets. I found this very interesting, as I had not thought of the traditional Indian diet to potentially be so harmful. All patients with diabetes were very friendly and nice though, and I enjoyed watching Dr. Stephen interact with them.
I then returned to the hostel where we had dinner with Dr. Relton, to talk about weekend plans and how our first day went. Upon leaving, he remarked on how I had gotten bit on my back and that to be careful for the mosquitoes. Curious, I felt my back, realizing that the bumps he was regarding to was the sign of my lingering pubescence... not a mark of love from a mosquito. Alas, no mosquito bites for me today, just a reminder that I need stronger acne cream. It was rather funny, yet encouraging, as I was glad to know of Dr. Relton's concern for our health.
Overall an exciting third day. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings (I know what you guys might be thinking - A SHORTER POST!...I will I promise!...he...hehe...)
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