To Trace a Path

I was fortunate enough to go to the Philippines between my third and fourth year of medical school through the GHF program. My contact there was mys sister, who has lived in Sorsogan for the last year. Sorsogan is a southern province in the Bicol region on the same island as Manila, and the word means "to trace a path." She works for Innovations in Poverty Action on a micro finance and migration project. She was able to put me in touch with a family medicine physician who was also a tuberculosis specialist at a local hospital, and I worked there from 8AM-6PM almost every day of my visit.

Here's an excerpt from my journal that I wrote on 6/17/11:

"I had my first day at the Sorsogan MMG Hospital (pictured) yesterday where I'm working with Dr. Nancy Labarete (also pictured). It's a private hospital but they have a public multi-drug resistance tuberculosis clinic that is funded by Global Fund. People from all over the province come to get free medicine there through the directly observed therapy, or DOTS program. It was so sad to see so many sick and emaciated people and a little scary to be around such a contagious disease even though I was wearing a mask. I never realized how difficult second-line TB medications are to tolerate, or the serious side effects they have. For example, many patients come in cachectic, but it's almost impossible to help them gain weight because the daily medication makes them vomit excessively. As heartbreaking as this was, I was still so inspired by the people I met there, from patients to physicians to nurses. The were all so accommodating and invested in my learning, which is a rare thing when a student visitor is almost just passing through an already under-staffed hospital. I was actually told I was the first American medical student they'd ever had, and they worked hard to help me have a worthwhile experience, and to try and convince me to come back! I'm sitting in my sister's office right now to write this entry, then I'm grabbing a tricycle (a motorcycle with a sidecar for the passenger, which is how everyone travels) to the hospital in a few minutes for my second day, where I was told I would help run the E.R. Rather nervous about this, game face!"

Needless to say, I survived helping out in the E.R. and I went on to see multiple surgeries and procedures, as well as to continue to interview and get to know the MDR TB patients. I absolutely plan on going back someday, so I can try and return the favor of shared kindess and knowledge through extremely trying and impoverished circumstances. To the Filipino people I met- Salamatpo!