Boda Boda ??

So, here in uganda there are a few ways to get around, on foot....public large buses...mini buses...and boda boda's. Boda boda's are motorcycles that you can hop on for pretty cheap and they will take you anywhere. A few of the drivers have helmets for themselves, but more commonly they do not. They weave in and out of traffic almost running over pedestrians left and right. You will often see women sitting sideways with their dresses, with children in there lap. For me and lisa, this is a no brainer, spend the extra few bucks to not have to ride on one of these death traps! But I am amazed by how many med students from all over the world don't think twice about it. We are definitely the odd ones to not ride them. I think Lisa and I have made a smart decision.

I have worked in Medical Casualty for 3 days now, and I have gotten to see alot of interesting cases and pathology. I have been keeping a list, so I remember all the things I have seen. Tuberculosis is everywhere! Both Miliary and pulmonary. I have been trying to avoid patients with Tb, no one wears the masks, so instead of being the only one wearing it, I try to avoid contact. Also, the national average for HIV is somewhere around 5-8%, however, being at the hospital it seems higher here. The "Medicine casualty" is the first line work-up of non-surgical patients. There are 2 tiny rooms with 2 beds each that the intern or general practitioner bounces back and forth between doing the initial work-up of the patient and admitting them to "emergency" where they stay for 1 day until it is determined what is going on and which ward of the hospital they should go to. There are just not the resources for really sick patients, for example where in the US we may intubate a patient, put them on pressors, do CPR, cardiovert...none of this done here. I have heard that they have 3 working ventilators. It takes some getting used to when patients die in front of you and your used to lots of people doing everything they can to bring them back, vs. knowing that the right thing to do is to move on to the next patient.

Yesterday I caught up with some med students from the US that had come with there attending who is a critical care pediatrician, so I rounded with them at night to see some interesting cases. I saw a patient with parylitic rabies, cerebral malaria, Pott's disease or spinal TB and alot of other cases that I would not see in the US.

With easter this sunday, Friday and monday are holidays for many, obviously not in the hospital though. Lisa and I are leaving tomorrow morning to go on a trip to Murchison Falls where we will take a boat trip on the Nile, go chimp tracking, see a bunch of animals and get up to the falls. It will be nice to see some of the countryside, since we went straight into Kampala after we arrived and Kampala is a big city with LOTS of people, cars, and trash. There is a 25 minute walk to and from work every day that is dealing with alot of traffic, trying to avoid getting hit by cars and boda boda's so it will be nice to be out of the congestion for awhile. I am just not a city person!

I will try to post pics when we get back, but we will see if it is possible! Until Monday.