Today was my first day of work but it was more of an orientation day than work. I spent most of the morning waiting to figure out who I will be working with. As I tried to chat with peers, I was scared to learn just how different certain dialects of Spanish can be and how difficult it can be for me to understand them. Many of the people I met used slang and spoke rapidly… all which made me feel really uneasy about signing up to work here a month! I guess my biggest worry was that everyone here would think I was stupid or would ignore me. I’m used to feeling like a good student and was suddenly totally overwhelmed with the thought that I may be the dumbest person that they work with all year because my Spanish isn’t up to par and because I’m not used to their way of doing things.
Luckily, I met a really nice residency coordinator who answered all of my questions nicely even if I had to ask her to repeat things a few times so I could understand her. I was relieved to find out that nothing was lost in translation and that the residency coordinator here understands that I am just a medical student and that I don’t start my residency until the summer. Phew! She was very friendly and encouraged me to make the experience my own. I’m only required to be at the hospital from 7am until noon! Of course, they said I could stay longer and work as much as I want, but that would be up to me. It felt like a relief that they don’t seem to expect much out of me. I’m worried that I will disappoint everyone! This week I will be working in the emergency department of the women’s hospital. Next week I will be working the labor and delivery floor. After that the post-partum and then “we will see”.
I got a tour of the hospital today. Since it is so warm outside always, most of the hospital has tons of windows for “natural air conditioning”. The hospital is divided into large open wards where patients have no privacy and at times are sharing beds. Women sit bed next to bed naked, moaning, exposed. My first reaction was to look away in the hopes of providing decency. In the laboring room, women lay in their beds, waiting for their turn to deliver. Perhaps most shocking was the delivery rooms where women were on small tables completely naked but covered in blood, being operated on in a large common room. It was definitely something that I’ve never seen before.
I'm sure that I will have more stories to tell later in the week once I start working more. In the meantime, I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. There are times when I feel great being here and there are times when I'm not going to lie- it's a struggle. I started feeling really overwhelmed and tired at the end of the day today; I was frustrated with my Spanish and still struggling to run in the weather. I wanted to use the internet and feel like myself again but the internet went out. I felt so alone and wasn't sure how things were going to turn out. Luckily, as I went to the kitchen to get a snack, I met wonderful people my age and spent the rest of the night with new friends. Even more, I was super excited to find out the internet returned. Thank goodness!! So the day started out exciting, then I got frustrated with my running and my language skills, but ended well thanks to David's phone call, new friends, and internet access. I'm glad to report that I think that qualifies as staying afloat. :)
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