IPSL Service: Day 1

Yesterday was my first day at my IPSL placement. I was a little nervous because of the language barrier, but today was a great day and I learned a lot. I started by going over to the hospital after class. Every Thursday, they have a meeting and they decide who is going on rounds where. The same doctor does not go on house rounds each day, they all take turns going to the different barrios. After the meeting, I had the option to come back at 2:45 for this special program that they run for the elderly, or to come back at 4 when we started our rounds. I decided to come back for the “programa del buen vivre del adulto mayor”, and I am so glad I did! It is a program that two of the doctors run each Thursday. It is a community program that encourages the elderly to keep informed about their health, to exercise, and to keep them engaged in the community. First, one of the doctors, Victoria talked for about a half hour. I didn’t really understand what exactly what was she was saying, but the people in the program had the chance to ask questions and actively participate. After that, we all got up and they put some music on so we could all dance. It was very reminiscent of the time I went to the Parkinson’s Disease Community Group with my Freshman Seminar class.

Then, at 4 pm, I went next door to the hospital so I could start my rounds. I was with a doctor and a nurse, Catalina and Jenny. We went to the barrio Manzanillo, which is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Galápagos. We had the sheets that I had learned how to fill out yesterday. We went to all of the “at risk” and new houses that had been marked down before we left. We went from house to house (which was not easy because there was no real road) knocking on doors and checking on people. Many of the people were not there, so we need to go back today. I met several people who did not want to come to the hospital, for some reason, so we took their blood pressure there, and tried to make a compelling argument to convince them to come. It was a little difficult for me to understand what was going on, but I started to get more and more of the new Spanish vocabulary after a few hours. Some people clearly did not want to talk to us. Some people were more than happy to answer our questions. The doctor I was with was on her family medicine rotation. It was interesting to me to see what Family Medicine is like here, because back in January, I was talking to my cousin who practices Family Medicine. She was saying how sometimes she feels like her profession is turning into a glorified social work position. I definitely could see that after today. I felt like what we were doing was more of a social work type thing, but I still enjoyed it a lot!

We were finally done at 7 pm, and it was about a half hour walk back to the hospital. On our way back, I was telling Jenny (in broken Spanish) that I would like to learn some medical skills. When we got back, she said she was going to teach me how to take someone’s blood pressure! She explained it in Spanish, which was pretty confusing, but I think I understood the basics. I am also learning a lot of medical Spanish terms, which I think will be really useful in the future. When I get back, I can teach my Dad them because he always says he wishes he spoke Spanish because there is such a high Hispanic population in the Brooklyn/Queens area.

It was also really interesting to see the differences between a developing and a developed world from a health-based perspective. I have taken Dr. Matcha’s “Health Care in a Developed World” class, which is basically a public health class from a sociology-based perspective. I really enjoyed it (barring the 18 page paper), and I learned a lot about different health care systems. It is fascinating to see the contrast in health care here, because the Galápagos are still developing. However, it is still interesting to see how surgeries and hospital visits are free. I am not sure yet how they are subsidized because I cannot find anything online about public health in the Galápagos. After I finish my research paper, I am going to look into Ecuador and see how they lump the Galápagos into there.

 I am excited to go back to my placement today!