Monday

Today we got up at the usual time and trudged to the ED.  We didn't see any patients on our own, and the ED was actually pretty empty.  There were a couple interesting patients - a boy with an umbrella spoke stuck in his leg, a woman from the "provinces" (other islands) who had a large cyst on top of her head that ruptured, a couple of overdoses (silver polish is popular) and one fireworks accident.

We had another lecture by the illustrious Dr. Ted Herbosa.  He went over the origins of Emergency Medicine in the world and in the Philippines.  He showed us a photo of the PGH ED from 2002 - gleaming white, monitors for every bed, beds for every patient, curtains in between.  The PGH ED today is unrecognizable from those photos.  He says this is because the government has let the public hospitals go to pot.  Quite a shock what 7 years of bad management will do.  We were informed this morning that after they ran out of normal saline and IV catheters, they also ran out of OXYGEN over the weekend.  Ouch.

I came home early due to some GI complaints (I've been in a third-world country for 3 weeks, it was bound to happen) and took a rest.  The other ED girls enjoyed two more lectures (one NOT in English).  The OB Gyn girls had some more interesting tales to tell.  Let's just say that NONE of us will be delivering here.  Megan delivered a 7 lb 2 oz baby that the residents thought was "huge".  There was also liberal use of episiotomies and forceps, the practices which are fading in the US except in extreme cases.  Carol on Family Medicine did house visits with Hospice care and saw a less than appetizing case of testicular abscess. 

After a quick dip in the pool, Erica, Megan and I went to Teriyaki Dragon for some Shabu Shabu and sushi.  They didn't have a huge selection of sushi, so I'll still need to get my fix before I leave.  Shabu Shabu is basically a pot of water which boils atop a grill set in your table.  You add veggies and meat to the pot, eat them with noodles, then eat the soup that you've created.  There were some interesting sauces to try too.  We're pretty sure we made a fool of ourselves, but we got fed, didn't we?  To top it off we headed to Dairy Queen for some Asian-sized Blizzards.  The food sizes here are much more reasonable, and you can order a medium (12 oz) without feeling too guilty. 

I finished the evening writing this blog and reading my third book of the trip.  Tomorrow we start ACLS training and I'm meeting my cousin, Reuben, for dinner at Intramuros.

Bry leaves a week from today - can't wait to see him.  We've successfully booked plane tickets and a hotel room on the island of Palawan.  We'll be 'availing' of the tours to Underground River and Honda Bay, as well as a city tour of Puerto Princesa, complete with trips to the alligator farm and penal colony.  

Have a good Monday.  We look forward to reading the comments.