Shock value

As I am finishing up my time at Chris Hani Baragawanth Hospital, I am realizing how used to the conditions that I have become.

Someone will go down the street with 2 different crutches, mothers will carry their infants tied to their backs (I have yet to see a stroller), and a patient who can barely walk will climb the stairs since the elevator is broken. The hospital runs out of prednisone for weeks, we search high and low for IV starting equipment, and patients wait for hours for a clinic appointment. Patients carry around their x-rays and their medical records so they won't get lost, patients go to the ward to check themselves into the hospital, and patients stay in the hospital for weeks, if not months.

I have only been around for 3.5 weeks, yet I am already getting used to the things that shocked me in the beginning. Doctors struggle everyday to fight the system, our consultant calls in favors frequently, and the registrars do as much as possible on their own in order to provide their patients with the best care possible. It is so encouraging that they care so much, but to not become burned out in a system like this would be so difficult.

Another general medicine ward rounds tomorrow, so should see many new things!

Cheers.