Just What the Doctor Ordered

I am really starting to like my work on the Women's Ward. Most likely because I'm getting to know the patients that have been there all week with me as well as the nursing staff. It's very different than working at the hospital at home, in Kijabe all the patients are located in the same 4 rooms on the same floor instead of spread throughout a 12 story building in a high-rise in Seattle. The same nurses come in everyday and you start to get to know them more each day and well as the idiosyncrasies of working here and within the Kenyan culture. And all 16 patients are mine, I take care of them from 7am to 6pm (and sometimes late at the night or the weekends when I'm technically off but know no one is watching after them or knows their stories as well as I do). I do have a wonderful teammate Martin, a clinical officer which is like a physician's assistent, who is brand new out of training so has a lot to learn but is motivated and a great help with "scut work" and translation. Dr. Scott Myhre is also on our team, a US trained physician who is also new to Kijabe, but has been working in Uganda for several years and who's awareness and depth of knowledge about treating tuberculosis and HIV related complications is invaluable. It's a lot of work and we have some very sick patients but I feel very dedicated and honored to do it, just wish I had my fellow Swedes (residents) here to whip this hospital into shape!

After Saturday morning rounds Zach, Gus and I headed out of town for the afternoon to Lake Naivasha. We went to a beautifully landscaped country club with a pool and also took a boat out to see the wildlife. Gus finally got to see hippos! As well as many birds, giraffes, monkeys, etc. It was a very relaxing day, just what the doctor ordered.
---Katy