In clinic, we all got to be practice patients for the national student's clinical exams. Their exams are incredibly thorough. I was examined for lice, checked for sinus pain and congestion, and had my lungs listened to at least 30 times. I'd like to add that it is not an easy thing for a non-native Spanish speaker to repeat "perro" (the equivalent of our ninety-nine) 20 times while rolling their r's. The exam also pointed out some significant differences between a country like America, and a country like Mexico. In addition to being checked for lice, I was also asked a lot more questions about the services (gas, light, water, etc) at my house, how many people are living there, as well as childhood infectious diseases that we are all vaccinated for. Overall, it was a great experience because it gave me the opportunity to listen to and learn from a well-executed and thorough history and physical exam.
I also had the opportunity to talk to the doctors about the health care system in Mexico and the training of young physicians. One of the interesting things they discussed was the inability of new medical students to listen to the patient and diagnose by touch and physical exam. There are copious amounts of information out there and we are so focused on questions and answers that we forget about the patient in front of us. Watching our doctor with patients has been great because we see how a doctor should interact with their patients. She never interrupts them, and she watches and studies her patients very closely. A recent patient came in with abdominal pain and our doctor diagnosed her mostly on the way the patient sat up and laid down on the exam table. If I've learned anything it's that I still have a long road ahead of me and a lot left to learn.
Despite our 9-9 days, Claire, Kasey and I still managed to have fit in a lot of fun and cultural activities. Wednesday night we went out with some of our favorite UAG medical students. We went to a Cuban restaurant called La Bodeguita del Medio. We met up at 11pm to enjoy good conversation, tasty mojitos, and delicious food.
Thursday afternoon, we went on a little adventure with some of our classmates. Instead of taking the bus, we thought we would walk the mile and a half to the other UAG campus, meet up with some of our same friends, and then walk together to Tortas Tono. Our mile and a half walk failed and it took us over an hour to get to our destination. We walked and walked and walked, then asked a 12 year old for directions, walked some more, asked a few police officers where to go, flagged down a taxi, piled 5 girls in to the back seat of a teeny tiny car, and finally arrived. Now, had these been bad tortas ahogadas, we would have all gone to clinic in a very bad mood. Fortunately, these were ridiculously delicious. The bread had a crunchy exterior and soft interior, perfect to soak up all the spicy tomato sauce. It was filled with well seasoned and tenderly cooked meat (pierna) and covered in sliced onions, cabbage, and lime juice. The perfect combination of textures and flavors was all we needed to lift our spirits. The afternoon was completed by a trip to the local pastry store, Marisa, where we bought some gelatin treats and chocolate cake for later that night.
To end our busy week, Friday night we went out with one of our roommates and her friends to a local bar. The drink of the night, tequila. We attempted conversations with an interesting mix of English and Spanish and danced the night away. Drinking, dancing, and having fun are three things no language barrier can get in the way of.
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