Jamaica Pediatric Medical Initiatives

Day 1: First day was on a Friday- the day you go to Port Antonio hospital/clinic, which is in the parish of Portland. The ride was very scenic, and while the roads were winding they were very pristine; coming from the Bronx, NY it was nice not having to go over any potholes!
I totally forgot to bring my camera, however next friday I will so that I can catch some pics of the livestock hanging on the road sides; the local pple selling their produce (ackee, bananas, guineps) in addition to getting a great shot of the houses espetially the ones that resemble mini-hotels...I even think I saw one that was in the shape of a ship..Ill be sure to post of pic of that to convince myself!

Anyway; the hospital at Port Antonia has 2 stories, with multiple areas. The pediatric ward is humble, 1 large room for all the patients and directly across is the playroom/sitting area for families that come to visit their children. I worked most of the day in the outpatient wing; there I was in an airconditioned room...was very grateful for that, as I completely forgot I am in Jamaica and brought a lot of polyester tops rather than cotton (lol). The room is partitioned by a curtain, beyond the curtain is the examining table.
The room had hand snaitizer, soap, a sink to wash hands; papertowels and tongue depressors.
All I really needed to bring was my doctoring tools; and maybe my Harriet and Lane.

The pharmacy is on the compound, I asked the pharmacist for a formulary; which was very handy as I was able to pick out the meds I would likely prescribe before seeing patients. So when I did prescribe something, I just placed it on provided Rx pads and patients were able to get what I prescribed w/o a hitch!

Overall the staff is helpful and pleasant to work with...shot out to Nurse Burks! she worked closely with me triaging patients and obtaining vitals.

The staff here also wanted me to discuss some topics, I did 2 of 6 so far. It was well received and interactive. We talked about Bronchiolitis and Fever in baby (0-60days old); overall they manage these patients well but do to some limited resources may not be able to do everything recommended i.e. urine culture/blood culture/csf culture or spinal tap may not be performed on an infant in that age ranges 2/2 cultures going all the way to Kingston (4+ hrs away) and not returning in time...so they just treat empirically with amp and gent. Or rather than treating initially with amoxicillin for an AOM, they jump right to Augmentin....
That's all for now; Will see how the other two clinics are.
Ciao! going to enjoy a glassbottom boat ride.