Got there around 7:35-40ish and saw my partner Leslie. We were there too early because the doctor hadn't arrived yet. He ended up arriving around 8:15. The doctor we spoke to, Dr. Carlos Cruz, was the director of the Centro. He assigned Leslie and I to different doctors and I got assigned to Dr. Francisco. He was a great doctor to shadow because before we began anything, he told me about the healthcare system of Mexico with all the different insurances and stuff. Apparently, PEMEX, which is like the ONLY gas company in Mexico, has its own hospital since they are SO big! The people who see them I think are like investors and stockholders. There is another hospital just for veterans, hospitals for the working class, and then there's the hospital for people who are none of the above. There are two types of insurance in this category: Seguro Popular, and Oportunidades. Seguro Popular is just for sickness. You go in for a consult anytime and they pay for basically EVERYTHING ranging from the consult to tests, to surgeries! Oportunidades just lets you get a checkup every 6 months. With Dr. Francisco, we saw a lot of Oportunidades patients. He showed me how to do a checkup one time, and then he told me to do it the next. It was kind of embarrassing because I couldn't find the heart, or hear the sound. Turns out, I wasn't putting enough pressure on the stethoscope or putting it in my ears far enough haha. So, I got to check the throat, lymph nodes, check heartbeat, and respiration.
There was one interesting case though. This 21 year old was pregnant. So Dr. Francisco did the test on her. He pressed down on her tummy on some areas pretty hard to check the baby, and then he showed me how to do it. I was able to feel the baby's head and the mother's uterus! It was so interesting because it seemed as if the the baby's head was enormous! It seemed to take up the whole width of the abdomen! Then, he used this cone like metal hollow device with a hole at the end and pressed down REALLY hard on the belly. Apparently, that was to hear the baby's heartbeat! I got to do that too! It was REALLY hard to hear the heartbeat, but I think I did hear it. It was super faint, and kind of dull. He also showed me the ultrasound and I saw the baby's vertebral column. It was such an amazing experience. It really made an impact on me. The story of life is so amazing and it just really reflects God's love to me. He delicately and artfully created each one of us, and just being there to experience the development of everything is really precious.
Dr. Francisco told me some very interesting things that just reaffirms what we learned about in the lectures. He told me women in Oaxaca get pregnant as young as 13. They also wed very young and have many children. I asked him if they use contraceptives and he told me no. I asked him if it was due to religious reasons since I know that Catholics do not allow it. He told me that it was mainly due to the males not allowing the women to take birth control, and since the males are aggressive, the women can do nothing about it. I asked him if there are many cases of domestic violence here in Oaxaca, and he told me yes. "The men here drink a lot and it leads to violence," he said. He told me just last week, he saw a young woman who came in with a bruised eye because of domestic violence. It's such a sad thing to hear. It really makes this issue real for me to hear it from a doctor, and it's sad to because it is so instilled in the Latino culture and thinking. Hopefully, there will be a change to this and women will have more respect here.
Dr. Francisco only saw like 10 patients and he was done for the day. What a busy man huh. So, Dr. Cruz, other doctor and nurses, Leslie and I went to this school for a health fair. Apparently, it was their first time hosting it so it was a pretty big deal. It was interesting because they gave out free Hepatitis and Tetanus vaccines. Also, they had this medicine to prevent intestinal worms, and another medicine to prevent dental plaque haha. I learned from the health fair the unlike the United States, folic acid isn't added to their foods. They need to take it as an extra supplement. So, we were also handing folic acid out haha. "Una tableta diaria." Teenage boys usually didn't want it because they thought it was only for females, and if I gave it to a boy, the others would make fun of him Haha. Folic acid IS important for women because it helps the neural crest form for babies. If they don't get enough during development, sometimes spina bifida can occur. The pictures are NOT pretty. ANYHOW, these boys knew it was for women, but through BIOCHEM, I learned that folic acid is needed for metabolism SO I convinced many boys to take their folic acid. HAHA.
We were also handing out toothbrushes and it was SO ironic because we have this bowl of the BIGGEST MARSHMALLOWS I HAVE EVER SEEN right next to the toothbrushes and in front of the pictures of the stages of cavities. So funny! We also had condoms too and MAN, young kids were grabbing them left and right! What has this world come to?! Anyhow, it was funny because Dr. Cruz was telling these girls that the condoms were actually inflatable boys. Yep.
So yea. Our shift ended at 12pm, but we ended up staying until 2:30. It was a great day!
Wish I brought my camera today!
Hasta manana!
WOW! It sounds like you had one AMAZING day!! Working in the clinic sounds like you'll be getting lots of hands-on experience. it's going to be a lot of fun and so interesting to hear what happens next!!
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