Blogs from North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 15

January 10 Hump day! I’ve been here for almost a week and it actually feels like a month. I am absolutely loving it. The hospital staff is so welcoming and the doctors are willing to ask and answer questions (super different from USA). I observed a spinal surgery in the OR today. The surgery is called a laminectomy, and it’s where the doctor removes the herniated disc. In this case, it was in the man’s lumbar spine. He was sedated, but I found out later that most people do not get put under, only for spinal surgeries. This is super different from America, where you get put under for everything. The surgery took about 3 hours. 10 screws were placed in his back and the nurse cut up parts of his spine for a bone graft ... read more

A day to sleep in a little, which prepared for a marathon of a day! We started the day with a delicious breakfast and were off to a Thai cooking class with an older woman. What I thought was a casual time with a great Thai cook turned into a legit thing! We went with her to the market and this was nothing like the food sellers we had seen in the Walking Street or like area. Dozens upon dozens of vendors were set up with delicious, vibrant, fresh ingredients in all varieties. She took us to her favorites and showed us what to pick out for the dishes we were to prepare. This experience reminded me of a farmers market, yet tenfold in size. We were whisked back to her house where we were surprised ... read more

Today we had Koew Min Gai for breakfast. I skyped the granddaughters this morning and showed them my breakfast. Angel wanted to know why I was eating that food for breakfast. I explained that in Thailand they do not have pancakes, waffles, cereal and toast for breakfast. She said she likes England better but what is funny is she was too little to even remember England. I guess she just likes her American breakfast food. The girls also had difficulty understanding how it was morning for me when they were getting ready to eat dinner. Oh, how I miss them. This morning was cold. It was drizzling and slightly windy. The hospital is open space and there is no heat. I had wished that I had brought a sweater or something because it was chilly. As ... read more

Today was our last day of clinical at Nakornping Hospital in Chiang Mai on our respective units. Melissa and I spent the morning on our female medical unit and we got to do and observe more than I expected! We observed a thoracentesis which was done at bedside with lidocaine by the first year doctor, which went well. This was interesting to observe the dynamics of the doctor, the resident, and this intern and how they worked together but didn’t really help the intern out much. The teaching style is not through explanations but through forcing ones hands and showing after. We saw this teaching style in the labor ward as well; the nursing students are basically delivering the baby yet the instructors are forcing the student’s hands around and yelling at them. The one student ... read more

Today started off with morning ceremony again and my buddies picked me up and again told me they were up until 4am the night before setting up for the New Years Party. I felt so bad because they both looked very tired, but they were still very sweet to me and asked me about my experience at the hospital the day before. I have heard similar things from other students that their buddies tell them they were up very late the night before and we all feel so bad. I can definitely tell that the Thai people are hard workers and that they do not get much rest or time off. After morning ceremony we went to the hospital and I was in the female medical ward for about an hour before going down to visit ... read more