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Ok I've been thinking, at what point in time did God/ creation/ evolution decide that cockroaches were a good idea? Hmm? Yeah, that's right, they're not a good idea. I REALLY don't care to find cockroaches in my shoes. Or in my kitchen. Or near my toothbrush. Or anywhere, frankly.
I've started making a list of things I appreciate about America and about India. I made the list about America because I've realized that I take a lot for granted living there, such as… traffic laws, toilet seats, and spay and neuter programs. My India list is to help me remember why I came here and why I enjoy it here (it's easy to feel overwhelmed). A few things on this list are: auto-rickshaws, open markets, and guavas.
Rachel and I have been hitting some rough patches when its come to rotations. We're rounding at this maternity hospital called Patankar and we're trying to head off some negative vibes. The first person to go there said she had a great time, so we expected this hospital to be great. However, we've started to realize that she probably found it great because she spoke Hindi. And for those of you that don't know, we don't speak Hindi (and apparently that's more than a minor issue). Everything is in Hindi/Marhrahti; the meetings, rounds, surgery's, drop in, deliveries, charts… you name it.
So, since we can't quite communicate what we want, or hear what's going on, we're missing out on this pretty sweet opportunity. We also think that there's been some lack of communication as to why we're even there in the first place. I don't want to say that Dr. Dabak has laxed out here, but somewhere alone the way the "American interns are coming" message has been lost. Maybe it was the head of the hospital not informing residents or something but it's been rough. Also, residents don't really want us. Believe me, we've tried to follow, but somehow they manage to push us to someone else- who also doesn't want us. So we end up sitting in the waiting room with patients because no one is willing to slow down and take on an intern. They've tried, they have, but at some point they're going to have to meet us half way when it comes to effort and enthusiasm.
It's just rough when you can't communicate well. It's frustrating. I want to be able to go on rounds and watch deliveries.. I like being quizzed by an attending and residents.. What I don't like is being told my questions will be answered later and they never are, or when the doctor won't even take a second to introduce himself/herself (somehow they always find out who WE are, but they seem to evade us). I don't like being dumped in a patient's room and told to watch a monitor, have the monitor malfunction, and not being able to find the resident because she up and went and didn't tell me where she was going…AND that I couldn't communicate what was happening because everyone around me speaks Mahrahti!
What I would like to see happen with this program is that the communication gets stronger between Dr. Dabak, his connection to the hospital, and the doctors and residents at the hospital. I really think this hospital could be a great addition to the CFHI program. But they need to realize that there will be MANY more students coming here and that a good percentage of them are not going to speak Hindi or Mahrahti. If I could suggest ONE way to improve the program I would say spend mornings at this hospital with a resident that is FORCED to stay with an intern. They can't dump us, pass us on, or tell us to go somewhere. We all know, it can't be a shadowing program if no one is willing to be actively shadowed.
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