Let me start off by saying how amazing today was. It was the perfect start to this trip and a day I will remember forever. We started our day with breakfast at the hotel then walked across the street to Sangkhlaburi Hospital. There we were greeted by nurse practitioners, nurses, and other hospital staff who gave us a presentation about the hospital and a tour. This is a government run hospital with a separate inpatient and outpatient sections. They see about 300 patients every day with only 4 doctors and 29 nurses. They are extremely low staffed right now and have had to ask the nurses to work 16 hour shifts (usual shift for nurses is 12 hours). They also have a dentist who sees about 25 patients per day. If the patient is Thai and have their paperwork then their care is free, if not then they have to pay for it. They showed us the whole facility including the emergency room, operating room, and the labor/delivery room. They have about 500 births every year, Sharp Mary Birch for women and newborns in San Diego sees roughly that many every month just to show you a comparison. They also have 6 ambulances, one truck for jungle terrain, and one helicopter. If they are unable to help the patient then they are sent to the main hospital in Kanchanaburi or to Bangkok depending on the situation. I was surprised by how clean the facility was, compared to the hospital I went to in paris which was smelly and dirty with blood drips on the floor. This hospital was beautiful, especially for such a rural town. Unfortunately we were unable to do any medical assistance here due to the restrictions from the Thai government that basically only allows Thai citizens to practice medicine. But it was a great opportunity to see how another healthcare system works, the staff was very friendly and informative, and everyone enjoyed our visit.
Next we went to lunch and split into two groups for our first medical checks at two different monasteries in Sangkhlaburi. I was partnered with Janell who is the president of HEAL and we were asked to go to the bigger temple of the two. When we arrived, we went around to the Buddha statues and said our prayers, one of Starfish interpreters who is Buddhist taught us how to properly say our prayers and do the appropriate bowing. Then we were all gathered around one of the Buddha's and the most respected monk of the monastery blessed us with holy water and he gave us a gold pendant to bring us luck on our mission. This monk ended up being my first patient and I was really honored to be allowed to perform the medical check on him. Usually monks are not allowed to touch women or be touched by them, but in a medical circumstance it was allowed, even though I had to keep my distance and stay below his level at all times to show my respect. he was sitting in a chair so I had to do my whole assessment crouching on my knees, which by the end of the day got pretty painful. We also cannot touch the top of their heads because it is the holy and most sacred part of the body. He was an 82 year old who had been a monk for over 50 years. He spoke no English but we used a translator and we were able to communicate through body language and gestures. He was very friendly and was thankful for our help. Not having done an assessment for a couple weeks I was a bit nervous, but as I started it felt very natural and I felt knowledgeable while I tried to help diagnose the patients. We assessed about 20 monks today and it was smoothly for our first day of clinics.
After the temple, we went to the river to swim and to watch the sunset. The water was so refreshing and we ran off the dock and jumped right it with the whole group, it was so much fun! The sunset was also amazing and I couldn't stop taking pictures!
Later in the night we went to a local restaurant with the whole group, and I got pad see ew with prawns and it was delicious, only $2! We sat and talked for a while about our days and I had some good conversations with people I didn't know as well from the group and had a lot of fun. We walked through the town on the way back to the hotel, saw tons of dogs, and some cockroaches too. As the day ended I noticed how calm and at peace I felt here doing my medical work. Today was filled with so many experiences I never though I'd get to do, I felt so lucky and blessed to be here with this group. Excited for our first day at the villages tomorrow!
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