I wake up every morning just so thankful I’m here its overwhelming. We started our internship this week and I am so happy to say it is everything and more than I expected it to be. I work at the Tafaelsig Clinic in Mitchell’s Plain. It is one of the more prominently poorer areas in Cape Town and it has really opened up a new perspective and understanding for the people who call it home. We shadow nurses and doctors and also do little things like HIV testing, adult prep, and bandaging. The nurses and doctors who work there are so willing to teach us and educate us on how the clinic and healthcare works here. It’s already so different than the states. Every patient has their own folder in which they are responsible for and confidentially is very loosely regulated. They also have adopted the social medicine model so all medications and visits are paid for by the government. It’s definitely chaotic there, but I love it. I’ve already seen many cases, some sad, but all have showed me what it is like to live in such a poverty filled area. There are many cases in which the patient has aches because they are so stressed about money and family issues. One case that stuck out in particular is a woman who had frequent anxiety attacks because her daughter had a condition called chronic congenital insensitivity. Meaning she could not feel pain. She had eroded off her entire nose and lips from picking at it and her mother claimed that the more blood she saw the more excited she got because she couldn’t feel anything. No school would take her because they didn’t want to be responsible if she broke a limb and no one would know. She was too much of a risk. The doctor on call that day told me that a case like this was only something you read about in text books. It was really extraordinary. The girl couldn’t talk because she was deaf but she knew some sign language and was able to wave when I waved and smiled at her. I enjoy working with people and the medical field and internship are so interesting to me. I know I have found an area and future career I am passionate about. In the future I would love to go abroad again and work in a clinic or hospital.
Our classes also started this week and I think they are both so interesting. Vincent’s class was extremely interesting and Vernon’s class was super emotional (next week I’m bringing tissues). Just being on the UCT campus is so nice. Friday we had the day off so we went to the beach for the day. A bunch of us tried to surf for the first time. Just as we were about to enter the water, a loud siren rang and everyone ran out of the water. A great white shark had been spotted. The beach we went to was right between the shark’s breeding area and eating area. They are so used to sharks in the area they have a monitor station on the mountain nearby. There is also a flag which they change so it tells you how the shark spotting visibility is and when the shark alarm is over. After about 20 minutes we were allowed in the water again and surfing itself was so hard but we all had so much fun just trying. We met a few locals that helped us out a lot. They were also able to tell us about the area and the many places to check out. Everyone here is so friendly. I’m almost scared to go back because I feel like my life here is so much better than my life at home. I have to keep reminding myself I’ll never be in a house with all my friends living in Cape Town again. I figured time would slow down after we have gotten all settled in but it seems like it is going by faster than ever.
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