Today started out as a really great day! I had my 8-noon Spanish class and learned a lot of interesting vocabulary on nutrition and daily routines of patients. Although I was falling asleep in the first half of class, I finally bought a cappuccino mocha from the university today and tried it for the first time. It was SO GOOD! And only about ¢590 colones ($1.18 roughly). That woke me up, along with some pretzels. Anyways, after class, I came home and had a quick lunch of tortillas and peanut butter, haha. Then it was time for me to get ready for my internship at the clinic.
Once I got to the clinic, I was expecting to do more office/administrative work, like I did last Friday. However, today, one of the receptionists led me to an exam room, and said that today I would be shadowing Dr. Rojas! I was so excited - my first time shadowing a doctor! I was so excited and ready to observe and learn. For about two hours, I observed the doctor and his interaction with the patients. Although, I admit, I did not understand a lot of what they were saying, I was still fascinated by what the doctor was doing and how the patients were describing their symptoms. During that time, I was reminded as to why this career was my biggest passion, and how excited I was to be studying to become a doctor. The doctor talked to me a lot and explained the forms to me that he would fill out for the patients; I even talked with one of the patients before her consultation and told her a little bit about me and what I was doing in Costa Rica. The doctor told me that he sees patients with chronic conditions, like hypertension, diabetes, etc. So basically, he is an internal medicine doctor. He had patients come in who had back pains or leg pains from working, and he even let me feel the difference in muscles in the back (what muscles normally feel like, and what a muscle that has been hurt during work feels like). I really enjoyed the hands-on experience and the whole environment in general.
Although, I can't say that the last hour of my time at the clinic was my favorite. Before a patient was supposed to come in to have a consultation, a woman and two other staff members came in and started asking me a lot of questions. I wasn't really sure what they were doing at first - I thought they were just trying to get to know me because I was a student. They were asking where I was from, what I was studying, where I was studying here in Costa Rica... Basically trying to get information about me. I thought it was some sort of interview, or something that they needed to do to confirm my placement at the clinic based on my level of Spanish... I wasn't exactly sure what it was.
But then they asked me if I had credentials from the University stating that I was allowed to be in the clinic with the doctor and patients. I didn't exactly know what they meant, because the program I came here with had set everything up for me and arranged my placement at the clinic. I wasn't aware that I needed to show anyone any type of form; let alone the fact that I didn't have any of those. The woman then told me some stuff in Spanish which I did not understand, and then at the end she told me that I needed to leave the clinic. I was very confused and didn't know what I did wrong. So I went back to my supervising doctor, the one who I met when I toured the clinic the first day. It was hard trying to explain to her what the woman had told me, because I was confused and did not really understand exactly what was going on. So she made some phone calls, and then basically told me the same thing - to leave for today and just to come back on Wednesday.
I was really confused because I didn't know what was going on. I thought I was in trouble and didn't know why. I was really enjoying my time shadowing the doctor and just experiencing that type of environment. I went to my program facilitator, the one in charge of my placement at the clinic and explained the situation to her and expressed my confusion. She didn't know what was going on either, but told me she would contact some people and then email me when she found out more information. She later told me that she received an email from my supervising doctor stating that the woman who was asking me all the questions was some supervisor in the clinic. This woman apparently has had an ongoing problem with volunteers being in the clinic, which is why she was asking me so many questions and made me leave. However, my program facilitator was confused because there was another girl who is doing an internship at the same clinic, and she hasn't had any problems with them. The doctor stated that she did not know why there was a problem with me being there, and she said she was going to try and work everything out today and tomorrow to see what the problem was. I guess I will see what happens whenever my program facilitator emails me back today or tomorrow.
So, I guess I'm free for the rest of the day. I'm probably going to rest a little and study for my first exam on Wednesday. Can't wait for dinner!
Once I got to the clinic, I was expecting to do more office/administrative work, like I did last Friday. However, today, one of the receptionists led me to an exam room, and said that today I would be shadowing Dr. Rojas! I was so excited - my first time shadowing a doctor! I was so excited and ready to observe and learn. For about two hours, I observed the doctor and his interaction with the patients. Although, I admit, I did not understand a lot of what they were saying, I was still fascinated by what the doctor was doing and how the patients were describing their symptoms. During that time, I was reminded as to why this career was my biggest passion, and how excited I was to be studying to become a doctor. The doctor talked to me a lot and explained the forms to me that he would fill out for the patients; I even talked with one of the patients before her consultation and told her a little bit about me and what I was doing in Costa Rica. The doctor told me that he sees patients with chronic conditions, like hypertension, diabetes, etc. So basically, he is an internal medicine doctor. He had patients come in who had back pains or leg pains from working, and he even let me feel the difference in muscles in the back (what muscles normally feel like, and what a muscle that has been hurt during work feels like). I really enjoyed the hands-on experience and the whole environment in general.
Although, I can't say that the last hour of my time at the clinic was my favorite. Before a patient was supposed to come in to have a consultation, a woman and two other staff members came in and started asking me a lot of questions. I wasn't really sure what they were doing at first - I thought they were just trying to get to know me because I was a student. They were asking where I was from, what I was studying, where I was studying here in Costa Rica... Basically trying to get information about me. I thought it was some sort of interview, or something that they needed to do to confirm my placement at the clinic based on my level of Spanish... I wasn't exactly sure what it was.
But then they asked me if I had credentials from the University stating that I was allowed to be in the clinic with the doctor and patients. I didn't exactly know what they meant, because the program I came here with had set everything up for me and arranged my placement at the clinic. I wasn't aware that I needed to show anyone any type of form; let alone the fact that I didn't have any of those. The woman then told me some stuff in Spanish which I did not understand, and then at the end she told me that I needed to leave the clinic. I was very confused and didn't know what I did wrong. So I went back to my supervising doctor, the one who I met when I toured the clinic the first day. It was hard trying to explain to her what the woman had told me, because I was confused and did not really understand exactly what was going on. So she made some phone calls, and then basically told me the same thing - to leave for today and just to come back on Wednesday.
I was really confused because I didn't know what was going on. I thought I was in trouble and didn't know why. I was really enjoying my time shadowing the doctor and just experiencing that type of environment. I went to my program facilitator, the one in charge of my placement at the clinic and explained the situation to her and expressed my confusion. She didn't know what was going on either, but told me she would contact some people and then email me when she found out more information. She later told me that she received an email from my supervising doctor stating that the woman who was asking me all the questions was some supervisor in the clinic. This woman apparently has had an ongoing problem with volunteers being in the clinic, which is why she was asking me so many questions and made me leave. However, my program facilitator was confused because there was another girl who is doing an internship at the same clinic, and she hasn't had any problems with them. The doctor stated that she did not know why there was a problem with me being there, and she said she was going to try and work everything out today and tomorrow to see what the problem was. I guess I will see what happens whenever my program facilitator emails me back today or tomorrow.
So, I guess I'm free for the rest of the day. I'm probably going to rest a little and study for my first exam on Wednesday. Can't wait for dinner!