An awesome 24 hrs

Last night I met really neat people staying at my hostel. They are ecology graduate students that do field work throughout the DR. They spend months at a time exploring the huge uninhabited areas of the DR- they even travel with a donkey! I had such a blast learning about what they do- it's totally different job than anyone I've ever met. I've been here less than a week and have already met so many incredible people!

Since there were some guys in the group, I ventured out of my hostel after dark. We went to an authentic Dominican restaurant. The food was awesome and the company was wonderful. As lame as it sounds, making new friends every few days is really awesome. The restaurant had live music and dancing. I loved watching Dominicans dance- they are incredible! I even got to dance a bit. It was a blast!! Being here in the DR makes me feel so alive sometimes- the music, the people, gosh it is just awesome!

I went to work with a level of excitement- today would be better because I would be better prepared. I understood much more of the morning conference. The acuity of illness seen in this hospital is insane. As a quick example for any medical readers, a woman came to the ED pregnant with pre-eclampsia which turned out to be thyrotoxicosis which rapidly lead to congestive heart failure, C-section, ICU admission, and sadly death... all this happened within a matter of a few quick hours.

I felt brave today in the ED. I walked into the crowded waiting room and did my own triaging. I saw some really awesome patients. I understood them (for the most part) and they understood me (for the most part). I presented my patients in Spanish using all the right words I had written out the night before and admitted several to the hospital. All of this would be pretty easy standard stuff at home but I was just so darn proud that I could stay afloat today. As a result of the mini personal victories, the number of patients and the acuity of illness seemed less overwhelming.

I have a HUGE amount of respect and love for my co-workers in the hospital. They are incredibly patient and kind with me. More, absolutely everyone I have worked with has unheard of phenomenal clinical skills. I can't say this enough- they are AWESOME whether they are medical students, interns, or residents. For every pregnant patient, they use their stethoscopes to measure the fetal heart tones. How insanely awesome is that?! Clearly, it's a technique I'm still learning since back home I was pretty spoiled with using Doppler ultrasound on everyone (and used to be super proud of being able to hear the heartbeat easily).

So the past 24 hrs has been awesome. I'm still sweating tons, learning tons, and adjusting but today is the first time I'm excited to say I feel like I'm making progress. :)