Wodi 4

Today I spent the morning in Wodi 4 (ward 4). As a part of my two week orientation, I rotate through each of the wards in the hospital to become better acquainted with the staff and patients.
Wodi 4 is the pediatric ward and was managed by Victor today. Victor is one of the local "clinical officers" working in the hospital. St. Benedict's has a number of Assistant medical officers = 4 years of training, Clinical officers = 3 years of training and medical officers (4 years of school + training). So I believe that I am one of 6 medical officers. There is one visiting orthopedic surgeon, one general surgeon, two medical doctors, and one HIV/tropical medicine doctor (also a VSO volunteer) and myself. (The maternity ward is run primarily by two assistant medical officers who I have not met yet).
Victor and I rounded on about twenty -two peds patients this morning. Like most of the wards in the hospital, Wodi 4 has roughly about 30 beds, arranged almost side by side in one open room, which is "relatively clean" but does have a lot of flies swarming around.
Most, if not almost all of the children are admitted with malaria, which is by far the most common illness children get admitted for. Most children present with fevers, malaise, body aches, and GI or respiratory symptoms.
As an aside, what becomes obvious very quickly when working in this hospital or in countries of "tropical medicine" is that so much of the day to day care/treatment of patients relies on the clinical judgement of the doctor, i.e. the routine labs and imaging are not being performed. Sometimes its hard to imagine what limited resources this hospital is faced with, but it is a reality!
At around 11:30 after we finished rounding, one of the nurses came in to tell us that there has been a change in the status of one of the patients. A young girl who had severe malaria and hydrocephalus was brought into the "intensive room". Her eyes were closed and she did not move. It was obvious that she had passed. Victor confirmed that she died and we told the father, who was appropriately sad.
According to the St. Benedict's Ndanda Annual report, last year 87 children died. I will never know how my impressions/feelings about death compare to those of the people of Tanzania who are faced with this reality each day. When there is a death of a patient, the nurses end their notations in the log book the same way each time, let us pray for him, amen.
On a little lighter note, I had the afternoon free so I went for a walk around the town. Its definitely getting hotter here (i'm sure you feel sorry for me:) and I wished I had some sunscreen on; I feel a little bit awkward walking around because people I meet or have not yet met, seem to already know me. I went to buy some milk and eggs from the kitchen and when I asked the sister if I could have milk without cream, she said "why don't you like cream? you are a doctor, you should know its ok". I was surprised to hear this from someone I had met only once before!
On a different note, I expect to have some new pictures up next time. I've been spending a lot of the down-time studying Kiswahili because its becoming very apparent that to gain the respect of my colleagues and patients means speaking without an interpreter. I will try to take a break from studying/working and re-enter tourist mode with my camera tomorrow!