Janie and I started working at the clinic this week.  I am working primarily with a Peruvian resident-intern (sorta-speak) and we usually see about 12-14 patients each morning.  Janie is working with a psychotherapist, helping to counsel patients (I believe she will be posting more about her experiences later).  Interestingly, most of the complaints that people come to the clinic for are acute problems (“gripe,” skin problems, stomach pains, body pains, headaches, etc.); I have not seen a lot of diabetes or hypertension management, and so far, I have also not seen a lot of preventative screening care.

With that said, I am really enjoying my time seeing really interesting patients, and picking up a few new medical Spanish vocabulary each day.  I had a case study prepared for today, but I seem to have misplaced my small camera, (therefore my case photo), so it will have to be postponed.  I’ll leave with just a few photos of the clinic so you can begin to see what it is like.

Patient waiting area...in the morning it is usually pretty packed.

Typical patient room...the doctor will consult the patient across the desk, and there is also a very simple examination table.

Throughout the month there are various specialists that will come to the clinic on a particular day. Patients can see what specialist services are available when, and make an appointment.