Week 3

This week Kristen and I are working at Hospital del Nino. It is a fifteen minute walk away from my home on 6 de agosto. This is great for two huge reasons: 1. I can sleep in. 2. I don't have to take public transportation. We cross the bridge and arrive on Monday morning in the medical district of La Paz. Women sit on the sidewalks selling white lab coats, hospitals line both sides of the street, and scrubs appear to the community uniform. There are so many hospitals in this area!

Hospital del Nino is a three story building, wealthier than either hospital from the two previous weeks. There are computers in the exam rooms, soap and warm water, heat, and many other things that I feel surprised to see again. I used to take things like this for granted. The cool thing about this hospital is that it specializes in infectious diseases, so I get to see some interesting cases in addition to the normal check-ups.

Doctor Velasco is so amazing. He greets us with a huge hug, smile and kiss on the cheek. As if we didn't feel welcome, he keeps asking us questions, how are you doing? do you understand this? The first day, we see some very seriously sick children. We sit in on a meeting of the doctors, discussing possible courses of treatment. The cabeza of the department is very intimidating. He throws his weight around, raises his voice with patients, other doctors, residents, nurses, everyone. I don't like him, although I must admit, I really respect his expertise. Dr. Velasco stands up to him, it's impressive. He's just as confident but less aggressive. Anyways, Dr. Valasco is amazing for so many reasons. Aside from being a sweet man, he is a great doctor and mentor. He gives us a power point presentation on Tuberculosis, encourages questions, answers questions in lengthy detail, praises our efforts, allows us to work closely with patients, asks us to analyze x-rays, gives us homework...Oh yeah, and he begins the day by praying with Pamela, his assistant, for the grace to help every patient he sees. In short, I feel very lucky to be here, I have so much to learn from him.