First Day of Clinic (8/27)

In a word- surprising.

I spent my first day shadowing one of the veteran PAC (Pediatric Aids Corps) docs in the COE (Baylor Clinical Center of Excellence). Paul and I saw about 20 patients, and the clinic itself saw about 140 (which was a light day).

Typical daily schedule:
7:50am- Morning prayer (sung beautifully by the staff and patients, who have been waiting since around 6am outside my cottage)
8am- Clinic starts, and all the docs see patients, with translators if needed (none of the PAC docs speak Sesotho, but there are also African Medical Officers (similar to interns) as well as local nurses training at the COE to work at the rural clinics on their own).
1pm-ish-Lunch
5-6pm-ish-Clinic ends for the day once all of the patients have been seen.

Everyone is scheduled for an appointment date, but they are seen in order of first come first serve. Some of the patients we saw had traveled from 5 hours away, and have to stay overnight to travel back home, and then do it again next month! All patients on HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), have their pills counted with each visit, to help monitor adherence. If they have less than 95% adherence, they meet with a social worker to help discuss barriers to improving their compliance.

Apparently, I had the good fortune of starting out with a very positive day. Almost every single mom and child I saw had near perfect adherence with their HIV meds, a huge feat considering the meds require taking them multiple times a day, and they taste terrible. Almost every single patient I saw had no complaints, and was doing well-- likely due to their great adherence rates on HAART. It was wonderfully uplifting, and not at all what I had expected to encounter (only two kids with pneumonia and one with malnutrition who needed Plumpy-Nut-- more stories and specifics to come). What a great way to start. I know it won't be like this every day, but it was good to ease in this way.

Sunday I will travel to Mohotklong, to work in some rural clinics with two PAC docs. It's a five hour drive, and we'll stay there for the week.

Next up, I'll tell you about the Lesotho blankets and Good Times. And I'll work on posting more pics-- easier said than done here.