Kate appreciating the previously taken for granted

As I sit down to reflect on everything we’ve done since being here, I can’t believe it’s already been almost 7 weeks! On one hand it feels like we just got here, yet when I think about all we’ve accomplished, and the routines we’re all developing it feels like a lifetime ago that we got off the plane. I am still loving my internship at Beautiful Gate. Going to the clinic on Monday’s has continued to be a very rewarding experience. More than anything, it has made me thankful in more than one way. For one, I am thankful for the health care I am privileged to have.  I am so lucky to be able to make a doctors appointment for a specific time, to have adequate transportation to get to that appointment, and to be seen in a timely matter after arriving. Patients here are just told to come in on a certain day, where they then must wait copious amounts of time (anywhere from 1 to 6 hours) to be seen by a doctor. The entire things seemed very inefficient and unreasonable until I learned that getting to and from the clinic is an issue for many of the patients. Because of that, if given times, people would miss their appointments more often than not. Furthermore, because all the patients I see are on ARV treatment for their HIV/aids, they must see a doctor quite often. For some patients, this requires a weekly trip to the clinic. The high numbers of people infected with aids who are living untreated becomes a lot more justified when that treatment requires one to devote an entire day each week to see a doctor. How can one hold a job when they have to miss work every Monday to see a doctor? Under the same circumstances, I’m not sure I would want to go to the doctor either.

Another thing that surprised me was that patients actually receive their medications at the clinic. After their appointment with the doctor is through, the doctor hands them their file (something that would never happen in the US) and sends them to the pharmacy to pick up their meds. On top of this, when the patient needs a refill yet doesn’t need to see the doctor, they are still required to come to the clinic where they again must wait insane amounts of time to pick up that medication. One of the doctors I sat in with put the entire thing in a good perspective when he admitted to me one of the challenges of being a doctor. He explained that pediatric health is especially difficult because it isn’t about simply providing the child with the correct care, but making sure someone is around to support and administer that care. Hearing him say that made me incredibly thankful for my family and specifically my parents, who have always been there to support me. It’s the things like that that I’m learning to appreciate more and more with each day that I spend here.