We had an incredible day teaching in Butare yesterday. We
started the morning with the 3 first year residents, going over things like
anesthesia considerations and how to make an anesthetic plan. They were
extremely enthusiastic and eager to learn, and it was very encouraging to see
how quickly they are improving. They are so motivated and thirsty for knowledge
– it is a pleasure and an honour to teach them!
In the afternoon, we were delighted to have two of the first
years, Benjamin and Gaston, join us at the medical school to teach basic
communication skills to a class of second year medical students. Without any
preparation at all, the anesthesia residents blew our socks off and much to the
delight of the medical students, provided outstanding and comedic presentations
on how to communicate effectively with patients. They outlined with maturity
that was both humourous yet extremely powerful, how they had dealt with
difficult situations in the past and provided advice for the students on how to
deal with challenging situations. They are amazing role models and are natural
teachers and leaders. We are all so excited about the future of anesthesia in
Rwanda with so many incredible residents already in the program, and hopefully
the future students who will be inspired by these residents to join us in what
we know to be the best medical specialty J
We also had the opportunity to speak with some female
medical students (who remain few and far between) and commend them on what they
are doing, as well as encourage them to thrive in a world that at them moment
seems very male-dominated. They were amazed (and hopefully inspired) to hear
that in Canada, there are now more women entering medicine than men.
Thursday night we held journal club for the Butare residents
and had an excellent discussion about critical evaluation (I personally never
thought I would have an excellent discussion about this, but seeing the looks
of understanding on the residents’ faces as we explained different topics to
them was really gratifying) over ice cream. One of the residents even tried ice cream for the first time - it was incredible watching his face as he first felt the coolness of the cream which then transformed into an explosion of flavour! Can you imagine going your whole life without ice cream? That's probably why they have such nice teeth here...
Friday started off with morning report in Butare,
which was opened by a song and a prayer shared by the group – it was quite a
lovely experience to take part in, and we think it really helps to build the
sense of teamwork that we see in Butare. We then discussed some of the cases
they had seen over the past few days, including some incredibly challenging
cases in the ICU – things that would make us quiver in our boots if we were
faced with them on a Royal College exam!
After morning report, we got a ride to Gisenyi, where we
will overnight before starting on our strenuous bike ride tomorrow (I say
strenuous because I know what kind of rides Patty has convinced me to do in the
past!). The drive was gorgeous – fortunately the road is quite new so there
wasn’t a lot of traffic on it (although that didn’t stop me from having the
occasional arrhythmia as my life flashed in front of my eyes). Along the way,
we passed the Rwandan cycling team (which Patty saw when she was in Gisenyi
last weekend). They were biking – or should I say barreling - up the longest
hill I have ever seen in my life. I think it would take me at least 3 days to
walk up the hill and they were already near the top at 10:30 in the morning,
still riding their hearts out! They will wear the yellow jersey proudly at the
next Tour de France I’m sure!
Now we’re lounging lakeside at the Paradis Malahide in
Gisenyi, listening to the incredible sounds of life. We just saw dozens of
fishing boats heading out for a catch, and heard the fishermen chanting in
unison as they rowed their way out into the middle of the lake. Just as they
passed, a chorus of singers began their rehearsal just a few hundred metres
away. It truly is magical here!
Lauren
P.S. Terri and I tried the banana wine that we bought last
weekend – unless you like to lick ashtrays, I would recommend staying away from
it!
No comments:
Post a Comment