I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit the continent of Africa. It has been an amazing experience and maturing process for me. The people are very genuine and friendly in Malawi and they received us with caring hearts.

             Malamulo hospital is an interesting place to visit. We were faced with very different illnesses and diseases than what we encounter in the USA. We were caring for patients with Malaria (especially the kiddos), HIV and all the related complications (aka Kaposi’s sarcoma, TB, etc.), and from the surgical side a lot of abscesses and broken bones to treat. Unfortunately the OR lacks a lot of the basic equipment needed for many of the surgical cases. Dr. Fam and Dr. Matiko did an excellent job working with the limited resources they had, but they also knew their limitations and didn’t hesitate to transfer patients to Blantyre.

            We were so much more independent and basically worked as interns. I rounded on all my post op patients, writing orders, and making sure that they would all survive overnight. Many of the minor surgeries I was able to do by myself with Dr. Matiko’s supervision. My surgeries included I&D of a large leg abscess on a little baby and reattachment of a big toe on a small child. I also got to do many procedures including a lumbar puncture that made a significant impact on the patient’s treatment (it grew out cryptococcus!!)

            Unfortunately, our limited resources finally got the better of two of our patients. The first patient was an elderly man with small bowel obstruction (SBO) that also had an active case of tuberculosis. He was placed on isolation and his SBO resolved and looked like he was heading towards recovery. The second patient was a 30 year old female with acute GI problems including vomiting worms (Ascaris), she later developed shortness of breath and was found to have a R pleural effusion. We performed a pleural tap and sent the fluid for analysis. Our lab is so slow that we didn’t get any results that day so we went home.

            During the course of the night shift both patients started having complications including aspirations and respiratory distress and died overnight before we got there. It really affected our morale because we felt so helpless. We realized how limited our medical capacity is in Malawi where we have no ICU, no ventilation support, and other essential equipment. We were pretty upset about the whole ordeal but we also had great experiences with other patients in which we’ve made a huge difference in their care.

            One of the best experiences I had was when we went out to a local village to give out immunizations. We were received with wonderful music, songs and dance of welcome. We served over 100 local village children and mothers and it was an experience that I will never forget

            This experience has made a significant impact in my life as a physician, and I truly appreciate the School of Medicine and the Alumni Association for continuing to help us financially on these endeavors.