Master of the Monkeys and Medical Records

Since I last wrote, I have mastered two things: monkeys and medical records. In anticipation of a plethora of questions, let me explain myself:

Last Friday, I had my first day at my internship. I was working at a community health clinic in Kayamandi, one of the townships of Stellenbosch. I started my day in the patient records room where I was given the task of putting laboratory test results into patient folders. This would have been a very easy job, had there not been five large shelves spanning the entire length of the room with files on them, or if the patient records were not torn, falling apart, misplaced, or just plain missing. My task quickly became difficult, since I was unable to locate any of the patient folders that I needed. Swallowing my pride, I sheepishly asked the receptionist, for help. She immediately pointed me to a pile of patients that had been seen yesterday and told me that the missing folders would 'naturally' be there. I am glad I asked, or I would probably still be in that room scouring for a needle in the haystack. My 'mastery' of this archaic filing system definitely made me appreciate how efficient electronic medical records are back in the states.

Once I had finished this job, I learned how to complete patient intake forms. This consisted of calling the patient up to the front desk for his or her appointment, then making sure his or her medical records were up to date, and entering the data in a computer system (which, by the way, was on a computer from the 1970's and programmed entirely in Afrikaans). Luckily for me, the patients and staff were understanding, and didn't mind waiting a few extra minutes as I learned this new system (and language!).

After a tea and lunch break with the nurses at the clinic, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the pharmacy, counting pills and appropriating them into the correct containers. Since this wasn't rocket science, I had a chance to observe the operations of the pharmacy, and ask some questions about their work. It was amazing that I, without any formal pharmaceutical training, could be allowed to count pills. You'd need to be at least a pharmacy technician to do that in the states, a testament to the fact that these clinics definitely need an extra set of hands on deck. The entire day was a good learning experience, and I am excited for more hands-on work in the coming weeks.

On Saturday, I donned my tourism cap and spent the day around Cape Town with a group of girlfriends. We made stops at the beautiful botanical gardens at the base of Table Mountain and Camps Bay beach (see above photos). But by far the best part of the day was our visit to the "World of Monkeys and Birds." The place was basically an open area, where birds of all different species could fly around, and monkeys could wander (of course, the dangerous ones were safely in cages). While the birds were beautiful, it was the monkeys that we had the most fun with. Before you could blink, they'd be crawling up your legs and onto your backpack, trying to open the zippers in search of food. One even tried to untwist the cap of my water bottle! Once we all got used to the monkeys climbing on us, we had a blast taking pictures and trying to get back the things the monkeys had stolen (i.e. food, lunch bags, etc.)

So there you have it: from medical records to monkeys, I have had a pretty busy past couple of days! Looking forward to a great week, with more adventures to come!