Blogs from Saint Lucia, Central America Caribbean - page 4

So I've started on A&E this week. It's quite interesting. The medical conditions are very similar to England, with people coming in with shortness of breath, chest pain, etc. But the department is very different. There are only 6 beds in A&E. So to treat people in this A&E, if they are conscious and probably won't stay the night, they are all put on chairs in a small bay. So this morning the bay had 7 patients. Some were in wheelchairs, some were on oxygen masks. The doctors then talk to and examine the patients right there, in front of all the other patients. And these patients are all sat shoulder to shoulder because there are only 4 chairs. They even take their bloods there. If they need a bit more space or privacy, there is ... read more

So today was my last day of Paediatrics. These past two weeks have definitely gone quite quick. Today I went to the outpatient clinic which is based at the new hospital. Apparently the outpatient clinics are the only thing that is finished, and Victoria hospital doesn't actually have any rooms for clinics, so they moved there last month. It is a much nicer hospital. Proper flooring, proper chairs, proper examination beds. Still no computers though, and not even a digital scale for babies. They have to move a weight along a scale until it balances to weigh the babies. But it is nice. It's a shame its not properly finished and funded so they can use the wards. It's much cleaner and they have proper sinks in all of the rooms. The patients don't have an ... read more

Not much of an update because I've not done a lot with the rain. It was better weather today, but I just went to town to get some few things, then I've had to do some work for a presentation tomorrow to the doctors on sickle cell disease. Just so many patients with that. So the baby with kidney problems should finally get some albumin tonight, because the private hospital managed to pull some strings and source it sooner. So Victoria hospital is paying the private hospital to have some. So good news for her. I felt pretty smart yesterday when I was the only person there that knew what a hemiplegic migraine was and had to explain it to the doctors because a young girl almost definitely had it, but they'd never seen it. I ... read more

I got invited to do some more touristy things with the other students today. So after hospital we went to watch the cricket. It was Windies vs Sri Lanka test cricket. This was day 2, and it was already 4 hours in before we came. The stadium was pretty quiet because all of the locals will still at work, so apparently the weekend is a lot busier and a better atmosphere. It was quite good fun to watch, but after about 15 minutes of cricket, it started to pour it down with rain, so they had to cover the field with tarps and stop the game. The rain only lasted 5 minutes, but they then spent almost an hour drying the field, rolling over the whole field with like a mini steam roller. So after about ... read more

The last two days at the hospital have been much of the same. There are 5 patients on the ward, and they have all been here longer than I have. So ward rounds are very quick. Today one of the doctors did a presentation on diabetes. It was really odd because other than the consultants, I knew more about diabetes than every doctor there, including the one presenting. It's just not common over here at all. The only reason they were doing the presentation is because a young girl was diagnosed with diabetes on the ward two weeks ago, and none of the doctors or nurses knew much about the treatment or complications. It made me feel smart, and better about knowing nothing about sickle cell anaemia the days before. It was also odd because their ... read more