Went Back 2 Decades

I always knew that Ghana's hospitals would have less technology than hospitals I've worked in at the US. The halls in the hospital were narrow, barely two people wide and cluttered with desks and hand-washing stations. Four patients and their family crammed into each room. What I've realized was that I have been spoiled with the electronic medical records and did not even imagine what written medical records were like. Needless to say, I vastly prefer the efficiency and organization of an electronic system but I did not see a single computer in the entirety of the hospital. Here is one of the medical record folders and there are just MASSIVE stacks outside, what if weather damages the records? It would probably just be like a server crash. I have pictured one of the folders of records for one patient, imagine hundreds of these. When patients come in for the first time the doctor must handwrite the individual and familial medical history, parental education and occupation, and social history. This is pretty time consuming and they ask many other questions like whether or not anyone in the family has sickle cell anemia. In Africa being a carrier of sickle cell is an adaptive trait as it provides immunity to malaria. But, that runs the risk of more people having sickle cell anemia since the carrier population is so massive. I was also surprised about the socioeconomic questions that were taken into consideration of the treatment process. US physicians could take a hint from Ghanaian physicians and provide a more holistic approach to healthcare.

This week, I was placed in a mostly neonatal ward. I was pretty much clueless about this patient population since I have never worked with pediatric populations. Per usual many patients had respiratory infections. But I also saw some more unusual things like an abscess in the arm, a potential congenital heart defect, and a shrieking nine-year-old who absolutely did not want an IV put in. I find myself pretty self-conscious about asking questions, for fear of asking a "stupid question". But I realize this is not the place to be shy and I need to be upfront and be involved as much as I can.

I've seen a lot of issues that exist in infrastructure of the city to the hospitals. They are so deeply institutionalized I am quickly realizing the difficulties many groups face trying to address these issues. I want to learn what people are doing now to improve as well as improving my medical knowledge.