One week down, seven to go. This week has been different to our usual placements and we have been challenged with our clinical knowledge, skills and our communication skills.
Suitably for studying medicine 5000 miles from home, the very first condition we encountered was a snakebite. Here, medical students are expected to know a lot about a variety of different bites, but as we only get 100 snakebites a year in the UK with few venomous snakes, our knowledge was sparse to say the least!
Other differences here include the lack of what we would consider basic investigations and critical emergency drugs in the UK- for example there is no ECG machine and imaging relies on ultrasound and X-rays. Being in an unfamiliar ward setting, being rusty on what are here core clinical subjects, and not being able to understand the local language (or Ugandan English even) has been difficult at times.
However, we have managed to get to know some of the clinical assistants, admin staff and nurses better, which has been a great encouragement.
One big surprise is the pace of life here – everything is a lot, lot slower than the UK, even the speed of walking. Nothing gets done in a hurry!
Everything also stops in the rain- ward rounds start late, chapel is delayed, people don’t turn up for clinic- which is very different. We have been imagining how your consultant in the UK would react if you arrived an hour late for ward round using the rain as your excuse!
We are grateful for encouragements this week such as food from the kitchen- we’ve had French toast twice and chips once this week- which was so special after every meal being the same traditional Ugandan set up. We also met some visitors from London today, who are visiting for a Church conference- it was a great break to meet them, chat about life back home and discuss our challenges.
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