Linda's in Oaxaca, Mexico!: Learning that Life Moves On

This week has been hard for me due to what had happened...but I HAVE to blog sometime since this is actually an assignment. Can you believe that? It's alright though...helps me keep track of my life here. So, I'm actually really behind on my schoolwork due to my recent ordeal...so I'm trying to catch up, but it's failing pretty badly. Haha.

This week's lecture topics have actually been pretty important. We compared the US Healthcare system to the Latino healthcare system.. It's actually a pretty complicated and confusing topic. So far this is what I understand...

Mexico's healthcare system is very fragmented because of various insurance policies that are all a part of the government (multiple parallel government-operated health systems). The type of insurance you get is dependent on the type of employment. For instance, people that are formally employed get a type of insurance. People in the military get a different type, and people who work for PEMEX, the only oil company in Mexico have a different health insurance. HOWEVER, these are all government programs with different incentives. The limit of choice removes the incentive to contain costs and increase quality.
Only 5.6% of Mexico's GDP is spent on healthcare. It should be at least 12%.
Seguro popular was created for people who have no jobs and no insurance as a result.

Dr. Adela Torre was explaining to me that Mexico is moving towards socialized medicine. However, socialized medicine decreases the incentive for competition. Thus, reducing the incentive for quality and cost control in order to retain members. Also, though Mexico want to move towards socialized medicine, it really does not have the resources to. I'm still confused about that...so I have to talk to her about it more. But, I really like this stuff. It's confusing, but I'm all for healthcare for all. Nevertheless, what Dr. Adela said about the incentives part really made me think. Anyways, I really need to finish my reading in order to discuss about this topic.

Other than that, the last week of my first rotation started today. Our rotations are all two weeks long. Somehow, these days are really flying by. Today, I got assigned to a new doctor at Centro de Salud Col. America. I was assigned to shadow Dr. Rogelio. I am disappointed to say that this rotation has become completely mundane. Consultations suck. Well, they don't suck, but they're not that interesting honestly. Plus, this doctor never explains anything to me like Dr. Francisco, my previous doctor did. So I started at 8am, but he ended at 10:30! My shift is 4 hours...so I ended up going back to shadow Dr. Francisco. I really like Dr. Francisco because he takes the time to explain everything to me. Today, I saw a 19 year old girl with 3 kids already!!! Then, Dr. Francisco told me the reason why there was so much poverty here! I finally understand!! People here have too many children at too young of an age! Kids get married as young as 14 or 15. This is due to the fact that the parents have too many kids, no education, and no money to support the children, so all they can do is get married. Plus, many people here don't believe in contraceptives, especially the men due to the "machismo" mentality. So they have tons of kids, and they have no money, nor education. The woman usually stays home to take care of the house while the men is on the street selling popsicles for 10 pesos ($1usd), or selling tamales or something. EDUCATION AND FAMILY PLANNING! HAVE LESS CHILDREN! It's actually a sad cycle because it happens generation after generation! Dr. Francisco also told me that it's the doctor's responsibility to educate the families, but he says it doesn't really work because the culture itself doesn't believe in contraceptives. Sad...

Anyhow, I thought that was interesting since I have been wondering WHAT was the reason for this much poverty in Mexico. Today, I also got to pet a doggie! ^_______^ So happy!! She was so cute and I always pass by her when I walk home from clinic!! :) That made me happy! Hehe.

This afternoon, I went to study at Cafe Brujula's for the first time. I really like it! I was so happy because they had jasmine green tea! I ordered that and it came in a pot! I wish I took a picture of it because it was pretty cute! I stayed there for 3 hours attempting to read, but alas, didn't get much done. :( Afterwards, apparently everyone was at this other Cafe for office hours! I ordered a torta for the first time. It was pretty funny.

me: Puedo tener una torta con huevo sin queso? (can I have a torta with scrambled eggs without cheese?)

Waiter: Una torta? ....con huevo? (looks side to side..) .... sin queso?... (a torta?...with eggs....without cheese?)

me: Si, sin queso (yes, without cheese.)

I swear he thought I was an alien for asking it without cheese or something. So yea, been studying at cafes a lot these days and it's bad because it's eating my money up! Cafes here aren't that cheap! They are around the same price, if not a tad more expensive on some drinks, compared to US. But the cafes are way cuter, and the drinks are pretty :)

Here are some pictures from this weekend of studying! "studying.."

Friday night-visit to John and Andy's home to visit Toby, the evil chihuahua..their house is soooo cool!!!!!!! omg.