Last Week Already??

As the rotation is winding down, I mostly find myself saying "where did the time go??" I've hit a few more speed bumps along the way, including my hostel owner forgetting that I reserved my room until April 6th, so tomorrow I get to move. Also, ironically enough, I passed out yesterday while discussing syncope in the ICU. So the gringa who already sticks out like a sore thumb just made herself that much more conspicuous. But hey, I got to experience going to the ER as a patient for the first time ever while in Ecuador. (I'm fine, fyi)

So now that I'm pretty much packed up to move tomorrow before work, I can continue my reflection on this rotation. One useful thing I've noted during this rotation is the commitment to medical education across the board. The family medicine and internal medicine faculty continuously question the residents (myself included) and students and the residents question the students. Each morning, the family medicine faculty review admissions with the residents and students. Every day there's a case review led by one of the internal medicine faculty members. Expectations are definitely high in this environment, which certainly contributes to the excellent reputation of the hospital.

As I've mentioned before, this hospital has patients who are better insured and have more resources than the majority of patients I see at Sunrise. Reflecting on resource allocation and reconciling what I experience here just has not yet been applicable. However, I've had the experience of assisting a patient who was unfamiliar with the health care system and Spanish was not his first language. While working with a family medicine physician in clinic, we saw a patient who had recently moved to Ecuador. He did not speak Spanish, but the physician and I were able to communicate with him in his native language. After his appointment was finished, he mentioned that he had difficulty finding the clinic within the hospital. So I showed him to the lab, imaging, and endoscopy lab. Today, I helped him understand the colonoscopy prep instructions. Seeing the health care system through his eyes reminded me of why I chose to work at a clinic like Sunrise where I can help patients navigate the complex health care system and confirms that that's the sort of environment I want to continue working in.