Medical Clinic

Thus far on this adventure in Africa, my favorite days are clinic days. More precisely, I enjoy the short term teams that operate in different communities within the Mathare Valley. Each week, short term missions teams bring medically trained professionals willing to devote their time and talent to the people of this region. Schools, churches, and even meeting rooms are transformed into temporary clinics and the US staff joins arms with Kenyan professionals in a cohesive effort to meet the medical demands of the community.

Within a matter of a few minutes, a classroom becomes a consultation room, an office a pharmacy, and the small "courtyard" outside hosts triage. Members of the community flock to the center. Some are sick, others wish simply to take advantage of medical attention while it is available. Mothers come with their children -often a half dozen of them, all with the same ailment -tinea capitis (ringworm on the head).

I usually hang out in triage. Generally I aid in collecting hight, weight, temp, BP, and then with the aid of a translator, I dictate chief complaint. After the patient has been through triage, they are off to consultation with either a nurse practitioner or a doctor. While they wait for the pharmacy to fill some scripts, generally there is someone going over some health education. This is the area of medical clinics I wish to see grow. While distributing medication may relieve some of the symptoms and perhaps treat disease, it can do nothing to change the perspective of the people. If the same habits and attitudes about health are maintained, then the reoccurrence of whatever brought them to the clinic in the first place is highly likely. Prevention is key, and education is power.

I fear that because health education does not have immediate results like a bottle of antibiotics, it is considered less effective and less pertinent to the rotation of these clinics. Specific focus needs to be aimed at education if we hope to make a change in Mathare. Bandaids only soak up the blood after the wound, but would it not be much more effective to avoid injury? Can not the education of one individual spread exponentially? But what good is knowledge if it is not shared? What power do idle lips carry?

What I have come to learn is that I do not need my doctorate to open my mouth and share medical knowledge. While my knowledge may be minimal compared to a professional medical worker, the truth is that I have something to offer. In-fact, anyone who grew up in the US had medical knowledge that should not be taken for granted. How many people know how to wash their hands? How many people know how to clean a cut? How many people know to cover their mouth when the cough? How many people know to drink water when you have diarrhea?

Education -it really is the key to change.