January, January 9th
Hi everyone, it Michaela here. We took a flight yesterday from Arusha to Mwanza where we will be until Friday. Some of us went to the Bugando hospital which is about a 1,000 bed hospital. This included, Gayle, Emma, Dr. Sutton, and I. When we arrived we were overwhelmed by how many people were in the hospital and it gave us a good idea of how healthcare works in a bigger city. We started off the day with a conference where the residents were able to give report about surgical patients that they admitted overnight. The surgeons were able to ask questions so that it was a teaching moment for the residents. Following report, Dr. Sutton prepared a presentation about the management of arthritic patients. It also included things such as the different implants that were possible for total knee replacement.
We then headed to the operating theater were Dan was able to refresh the orthopedic surgeons about total knee replacements by doing a patient who was a stable patient. We learned how to be very flexible in the operating theater due to the difference in what was available. Once we were done in with the one case, we were able to round on potential patients who might be candidates for a total joint surgery.
While the rest of us were in the operating theater, Olivia and Julius went to the orphanage. When they arrived to the orphanage, they found out that they were in need of food such as fruit, sugar, salt, Vaseline, and so many other things. They went to four different markets where they looked for the requests that they had. After the market, they got to experience a huge downpour of rain. While the rain kept them inside, Olivia was able to teach to the children about hand washing and teeth brushing. At first, the children were very shy about answering the questions, but as soon as the candy was out, all of the hands were shooting to the sky. The children were very excited to receive a new toothbrush as well as new toothpaste. They proceeded to play with the children and then come to meet up with the rest of the team for . A special thank you to the donors who were able to help us to provide food for the orphanage and to help us, financially with the total joint program.
