This is the start of my 3rd week in Grenada and the fact that I am only now getting a chance to write something is probably good testament to how busy I've been! The first 2 weeks were obviously alot of fun and luxurious, staying in the Coyaba Hotel right on Grand Anse Beach. It was sad seeing Amy and her Mum and Dad leave last Thursday but sort of marked the beginning of the next part of the elective. Once they had left, I moved into the apartment in Mont Tout, about 10 minutes walk up the hill, away from the beach. The photos here are the view from my apartment, and me outside Grenada General Hospital on the first day of the placement.
The hospital itself is a fascinating place. The staff and patients have all been very friendly although it is very evident that the healthcare set up here is way behind what we have at home in the NHS. I'm still finding it hard to get used to the idea that for many test, scans and procedures, patient's have to pay or leave the island to travel to Barbados, Trinidad or even the US. The basics are availiable free to the non paying patient but they really are basic tests eg. chest X-rays, simple blood tests. The lack of availiability of these things means that there is a much heavier reliance on clinical skills in diagnosing patients so it's been a good test of those skills. I've been based on the male and female general medical wards since I've arrived which are probably the 2 busiest wards in the hospital (there are approx 10 wards in total). In particular the junior doctors or 'interns' as they're called here have been very welcoming although it seems that in general the expectations of us as elective students are quite low. This is good in a way because they seem impressed any time you help out with small things such as taking blood samples, putting in intra-venous lines, reviewing patients, writing in the notes and running blood samples up the laboratory.
A typical day involves starting around about 8AM reviewing patients (how they have been overnight, any new symptoms etc) before the consulant round which starts at about 9, half 9ish and lasts 1-3 hours where all patients under the consultant's care are discussed, test results reported and managment plans drawn up. It's useful because Dr Noel (my supervisor) keeps the students on their toes by asking us questions eg. 'So Gordon, what do you think is wrong with this patient....' Err.... After the ward round there are normally lots of jobs to do on the ward and I keep busy with them and we normally finish up around time for a late lunch.
In general I'd say the first two weeks have been great, probably better than I expected. Gordon B seems to be enjoying it too which I'm pleased about. Part of what's made it so good is also the other elective students we've met, at any one time there are about 6 or us and so far we've had folk from Newcastle, Leeds, Glasgow and Southampton as well as us from Dundee. Hope everyone reading this is well and I'll try and put up some more posts from my elective here in due course...
