Day 114: Morning Rounds

One of the things about my mentoring job that I enjoy is morning "rounds". This is where I gather all the medics and go from bed to bed discussing the patients that are on the ward. I try and make suggestions and maybe go over some physical exam pointers. Like I've mentioned before, the approach to diagnosis and treatment is very different here. Most of the professed "doctors" in the clinic never went to any formal medical training. Many of the "docs" have a background in pharmacy so they are very good at throwing the medicine cabinet at patients, but not at taking thorough histories or performing physical exams. It's like having brand new medical students!

Where did my medics go?

I swear I had a crowd of medical officers and medics gathered around me, and taking in all the medical wisdom I had for them. I guess we'll have to save working on the attention span issues for another day.


Here is a picture of myself followed by Dr. Ainullah, who is actually the lab officer/senior physician (used loosely). Here we are during morning rounds evaluating a patient with right lower quadrant abdominal pain. As I reviewed the chart I noticed...a brief history (in Dari), good...a FULL set of vital signs, great...a completed urinalysis, excellent...and when I asked about a physical exam...a blank look. So I decided to take some extra time to demonstrate a basic abdominal exam which Dr. Ainullah found to be a rather novel idea.


After rounds, we went for a visit to the lab which is Dr. Ainullah's domain. Here is a quick peek at the lab and his lab tech, Said Kamal. I can probably count on one hand the number of lab studies that can be performed in this lab, but it's a start.


Despite the many frustrations that I may encounter at the clinic, I can always count on one thing. A nice warm cup of chai! It's the Afghan way. Cheers!

"And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." II Timothy 2:2 KJV