After the first week here, they have us see patients and staff them with the PAC doctors. Today was my first day, having spent most of the week on outreach. I have learned so much about HIV care, but seeing patients on my own was/is a little nerve wracking. I mean, these patients have the same problems as all patients but their immunodeficiency makes each illness just that much more scary. I was suppose to see the uncomplicated ones, but triage here is not necessarily the best so I saw a mixture. Most of the kids were doing well, which has been the case for many of the patients but other not so much. I saw several children brought by their older sisters who were around 13 to 15. Mother, grandmother, or auntie couldn't make it today so sister came instead. We still see them and try to communicate back to the family. We also see a lot of teenagers on their own, in part as teenagers here are seen almost monthly as so many teens default (just like any chronic illness right?). I was exhausted at the end of clinic. I think in part because of the newness and double-triple checking that I did. I also feel uncomfortable at how long patients wait for us to finish charting. In Botswana every patient carries their own medical chart so patients can't leave until providers have finished documenting. This leaves a lot of awkward silence as you hurry to type the note and then send them on their way.
Christmas around here means that most natives head back to their cattle station. Cows are BIG here and hence beef is cheap. Everyone lives away from their home village and hence travel back during the holidays and family celebrations. I tried calling a patient's grandmother today and was told she was not reachable as she had already gone to the cattle station. Definitely a different world.
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