Thai Traditional Medicine

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Jan 18^th,

Sixteen days in… the exhaustion has hit me. This trip has been such a blessing, but it has been pretty draining at the same time. Today was one of those days for me where I would’ve just liked to spend the day alone. However, in Thailand, there is always plenty to do!

We got to see the traditional aspect of Thai medicine this morning through visiting the part of the hospital that specializes in massage therapy, acupuncture, and heat compresses. Through asking people and observing the culture, we’ve found that traditional medicine is often turned to before pharmacologic medicine.

I wasn’t able to eat lunch (because of it not being gluten free) for the third time this week. Instead, I decided to soak up some sun outside. After “lunch,” we got together to meet with all of the nurse managers from the hospital for the last time. They were all so kind and had such big hearts. My manager, Thom, blew me away with how hardworking she was. She never once complained. During the meeting, we discussed on experiences on each of the units and talked about some big similarities and differences between nursing in America versus nursing in Thailand.

In the evening, we went to Chang Mai University and walked around a beautiful lake at sunset. After getting our exercise for the day in (lol), we did more shopping at another “walking street.” There are endless places here to shop at where vendors and shops line the streets.

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