Adventures in South Africa: Last Full Weekend

Friday
Today each group had to present one of the patients they had seen on rotation this week. They had to compile all the data they had collected from their examination, the patient's chart, and their verbal history. I was able to listen to both my group from cardiology and the group from gastroenterology. We also had a lecture about antibiotic resistance and the effects of vaccines. After lecture, we had a short break before our next class. I got some lunch and then came back for a lecture on how to manage the health of various age groups. We also talked about how each age group, whether it's infant, toddler, school-aged child, etc., has different health risks and therefore require different management of their health. Our last class was about trauma and we covered a brief history and general overview of trauma. Trauma is organized into phases and hospitals are ranked 1 through 4 based on their level of preparedness and ability to treat trauma patients. The surgeon who was lecturing today also said that the medical aspects of Grey's Anatomy are actually fairly accurate, which is exciting for me because it's one of my favorite shows. We then talked about resuscitation physiology, hypothermia, shock, and metabolic responses to trauma. Later on in the evening, I went back to Pelonomi with some of the Afrikaans students for their 12 hour on-call shift. We were supposed to go into surgery when trauma patients came in, but no patients came and we ended up being sent home after an hour. As of now, I'm 0 for 2 on seeing anything happen while on call. I did, however, learn to tie a surgical knot, so at least I learned something while I was there! I plan on going back sometime next week in the hope that maybe I'll get to see at least one patient.

Saturday
Today was a very busy day. Since this was our last full weekend here, we wanted to do something that was unique to Africa. We decided to go to Bagamoya Wildlife Estate because they allow people to come in and interact with the animals. Once we got there, we went into the fence and got to play with a 3 month old lion cub named Napoleon, but everyone called him Napo. He was probably one of the cutest animals I've ever seen and he was so playful. He loved playing with the strings of one of the volunteer's backpacks, and he also really enjoyed playing with a tennis racket. In his enclosure, there were also about six Jack Russel Terriers. The reason the dogs are in with the lion cub is so that he has someone to socialize and play with because he's too small to play with the older lions. After we played with him for awhile, we then got to feed him. We bottle-fed him a mixture of cat food and water and then we each got to give him a few chunks of raw meat as well. In order to get him to eat the food, we had to hold it on the side of his mouth so he could just turn his head and take the meat from our hands. It was a really amazing experience. After Napo, we then went into the enclosure that had two lions and two tigers, each about six months old. Even though they were relatively young, they were still massive creatures. I was bottle feeding one of the tigers and he knocked me down to the ground and was practically standing on top of me while the other tiger was trying to grab my leg. They are very playful animals and have grown up around humans, so I wasn't afraid that they were trying to attack me. They were just trying to play with my but I don't think they realized how much stronger they are than me. A little while later I was standing with my back to a fence and one of the tigers jumped up and had it's paws on my shoulders. He was so huge and so strong and I only wish that I was strong enough to actually play with him instead of just letting him push me around. It was so incredible to be able to feed and play with such amazing animals and I'm really glad we had the opportunity to do so. After we left Bagamoya, we went to our friend Inge's place for lunch before we went to a pub to watch the South African rugby team play. I don't really follow rugby, nor do I know what's going on half the time, but it was a good game to watch. South Africa ended up losing to New Zealand, but it was a close match. We ended the night by going to a friend's birthday party. It was a nice chance to get to know some of the other med students that I hadn't met yet.

Sunday
Today was a more relaxing day, but it was still very enjoyable. It's Josh's birthday so we all met this morning for brunch, which was quite nice. One of the girls baked a carrot cake and it was easily one of the most delicious cakes I've ever had. We then went back to our friend Jacques' place so we could watch a Formula 1 race. I don't typically follow F1, so I wasn't sure who to cheer for, but it was still fun to watch. Just as the race had ended, the power went off yet again. Load shedding has been quite and inconvenience these past few weeks, but at least it happened at the end of the race instead of at the beginning. After spending a few hours at Jacques', I came back to my room and had a relaxing evening spent watching a movie and getting some more work done on my paper. It's hard to believe that I've already been here for three weeks and that it's almost time for me to go home. I've had a lot of fun so far this month and I've learned so much about medicine and becoming a doctor. I hate that I only have a few days left before leaving, but I'm sure they're going to be great!