My First Two Weeks

During my first two weeks, I was with a group of students who were finishing their four months here at the Centro de Salud. It was quite a culture shock in the beginning, my last rotation was in the ED at Children’s where we were well supervised and had access to any test we wanted. Here, we are the primary doctors, performing procedures, making decisions, often with little to no laboratory / imaging data. The outgoing Guatemalan students, after almost 4 months, were very comfortable in their role, and, according, they let me manage almost any situation I wanted. Below, I am suturing a child head post trauma. Also, I was the “attending” on 4-5 births, an incredible experience, seeing as we have only stethascopes and Leopold Maneuvers. Also below is a picture of us out on the town. It is a funny change, the Guatemalan students are, medically, at the level of our 2nd year residents, but, for many, this is their first time living away from their parents.