13
May
There were vary different experiences at the varied hospitals. Port Antonia was the most spectacular of the three locations. The hospital is situated on a bluff overlooking the bay, with the ocean views overlooking the city. The hospital was a journey from the resort with a travel time around 2 hours each way. Our day was much slower at Port Antonio. We spent the entire day in the A&E (Accident and Emergency). We shared a room there. We only had a pediatric patient (birth to 14 yo) about every hour. They highlight of the day was a darling 11 yo girl who just stopped in to our exam room to chat with us while we were waiting to see another patient. She was a fifth grade student who was watching her 2 yo nephew while her sister was being seen. She was a bright and articulate student who was also remarkably polite. She was the highlight of a good day.
Port Maria was a crazy first day to say the least. We were divided in the morning, Becca worked in the A&E and I in the clinic. When I arrived at 8:30 there were patients lined up outside the clinic which did not open for another hour. When the clinic started I was handed a stack of eight chart (dockets as they are referred to here). While I was seeing my first few patients the nurse returned with several more stacks of charts. Between 9:30 and 2 I saw 16 patients from asthma follow up, viral illness, well child check, to septic arthritis. I did have one mother refuse to see me, requesting that she see the “black doctor”, none of which were there that day. When I finished clinic, I joined Becca in the A&E. She had been busy as well seeing more than a dozen patient’s in the time I was in clinic. She was seeing a wider variety of patient’s including children as old as 18. She was finishing up charting when I arrived. Several more patients came in while I was there. We only had the one exam room so we rotated patients. By the end of the day on Monday we saw 35 patients between the 2 of us. It was a great but tiring day.
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