On Monday Liz and I said goodbye to the MRTC Clinical Lab that had been our homebase for the past week or so. Although we had practiced making and reading slides we didn't have the time to become certified (though we hope to do this in the week we'll have after returning from Bandiagara).
Tuesday we started our visit to the clinic and vaccine trial site in Sotuba (a village on the outskirts of Bandiagara). The village seems rather rural and we learned that is actually used to be located several miles from the city, but al Bamako has grown the villages has almost been absorbed by it. At this clinic they are continuing the monitoring stage of a vaccine (MSP-3). The first day was very hot. In the morning I was with Dr. Mariam (at first she didn't seem to want me there, but she warmed to me). We saw kids with rashs, sinus infections, intestinal parasites, the gamut. But in the afternoon things slowed considerably (apparently all the mothers take their children with them to the market, so there aren't many patients in the afternoon.
For dinner Tuesday night Iesha made us some very delicious fried (I named mine Alton before I devoured him).Wednesday I had a cold and stayed home from the clinic.
Thursday we nice and cool and there was a bit more to do. I shadowed Dr Alhousienni, who sees patients that are not involved in the trial (the children in the trial get free healthcare). This time I got to see pateints of all age ranges from the village and I also saw my first case of severe malaria in a child (it was remarkable how sick she came in, but after a few hours on a drip of IV quinoline she was much better).
During our visit we also ate lunch with the people from the clinic and it was usually prepared by the wife of one of the clinic workers (I can't say the food was great, but it was definatly interesting).
Friday was our last day in the clinic. It began to down pour as soon as we arrived, which apparently kept patients away until the rain stopped (though it did make the day much cooler and more agreeable). In the morning I was in the lab and got to examine the slides from the few cases of malaria they had that week (it's still early in the season so there aren't many cases yet). In the afternoon we sat and talked with the various people at the clnic. As a thank you gift I gave the clinic a big bottle of hand sanatizer, which theems to be pretty valuable there as most of the examine rooms don't have sinks for washing and the physicians don't wear gloves. All and all it was a good week that gave us a different view of the healthcare system in Mali.
No comments:
Post a Comment