So I know it's definitely not day 10, but coming back home I definitely needed sometime to settle down and unpack before I wrote this last post. The last clinic day I really focused on taking notes about all the different patients we saw. It was a great day to do this because we really did see a lot, including a vaginal infection, a hemorrhoid, and even emphysema. The man who had emphysema had started smoking at the age of 9!!! It was crazy hearing the reasoning behind him smoking. He had said that his father used to give him cigarettes because it would cool him down when he was working on the farm. The man had also had time to tell us a lot about his life, like the fact that his first wife died giving birth. And his son was now living in Texas and he misses him a lot, even though his son doesn't really make an effort to come home a lot. It was heart breaking to see the tears in his eyes as he talked about his family and how much he missed his first wife and his son. You could tell through his face that it still broke him a little inside every time he talked about his past. And yet he still lived in the same small country village where his past remains with him. He seemed like a humble, calm man who was still living life and moving forward. His personality, like so many other patients, was inspiring. Although there were many other patients that I met that I loved talking to, he was one who definitely stood out to me. For the rest I have written notes on my medical guidelines packet so that I can remember their stories in the future. An important thing that the doctors also taught me was that as a doctor it isn't about being buddy buddy with your patient. Although we are supposed to help comfort, it is important to be straight up with the patient and the patients have to meet you half way in the situation, you can't force them to tell you things or explain their problems. For example, there was one lady who was really embarrassed about going in the back to show the doctor her vaginal infection or fungus that she had described. The doctor said we couldn't prescribe any medicine until we could see it and we also couldn't force her to show it to us. In this situation that patient wasn't coming half way and that made it difficult for us to help her. Luckily in the end she decided she would let only the doctor check her and it did help her because she did have a fungus. It was definitely a learning experience to see the patient doctor interaction. Lastly, as the day was coming to and end, our translation Matt mentioned how my spanish had improved a lot since the first day we had been in Costa Rica. It definitely put a smile on my face to realize that my Spanish was improving and I already felt a lot more fluent than I was coming the first day of clinic. This trip helped me move forward in learning such a beautiful language and I can't wait to go again to a spanish speaking country to keep improving my spanish! I really felt immersed in the language, the food, the culture, the people, and even the dancing and music! As the summer begins with a busy schedule, I have made goals to keep improving my spanish and staying involved in the spanish culture here in America. I can't wait to see how this trip has helped me grow as a person and as I experience more in my life back home! This trip has been amazing and helped me realize how much I appreciate traveling! I can't wait to go out and explore the world more but until then I'm going to enjoy every moment as the Costa Ricans would do!
Quote of the day: Pura Vida! :)
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