In the morning, Yuri picked me up from my house and I went with him to La Carit (the all women's hospital and clinic I'll be working at) for introductions and to officially begin my rotation! He gave me an abbreviated tour of the hospital as we made our way to the pharmacy. Yuri informed me that usually employees and students eat for free in the hospitals that are part of La Caja, but the kitchen in La Carit is under construction and currently only feeds the patients. He explained there are plenty of places to eat a full lunch nearby for 1000-2000 colones (2-4 USD). Upon our arrival in the pharmacy, we met Doctora Méndez, the pharmacy director at La Carit. Dra. Méndez was very excited to meet me, as was I to meet her! Yuri, Dra. Méndez, and I met in her office and spoke for a bit about what plans she had for me for this month. She explained that I am the first student she has ever had on a "rotation" and the first pharmacy student to ever come on rotation at La Carit! She became the pharmacy director at this hospital in June 2012 after coming from another hospital that was part of La Caja. She explained that the pharmacy was actually preparing that week to move to a brand new pharmacy down the hall that would be much more modern than the current. After Yuri left, Dra. Méndez introduced me to everyone in the pharmacy, all of whom were very nice and welcoming. I must say old habits die hard, especially when in a professional environment, its hard to resist sticking out my hand rather than sticking out my cheek! Then Dra. Méndez took me on a real tour of the hospital so I could see how it functions as a whole rather than just from within the pharmacy. You would have thought I was the next biggest thing since sliced bread the way she was introducing me to everyone we ran into. It was great, who doesn't love some attention! Most of the hospital employees had a similar reaction to when she said I was from the University of Connecticut. Where's that? So my response became, do you know where NYC is? Have you heard of Boston, MA? CT is the state that separates those two. After returning from our tour, the director had the technicians and pharmacists explain to me the work flow, how the pharmacy works, who they serve, etc. I started with Andrey, who was dispensing at the outpatient clinic window. The first picture below is what the outpatient window looks like from inside the old pharmacy. To Andrey's right is the window that the patients come to from the outside. The second picture is a shot of the window from the outside where the patients approach.
The photo below is how they organize the filled prescriptions that are awaiting pick up. Every prescription has a 7 digit number on it when it comes to us via the patient from the clinic. After we fill the script, you look at the last digit of the 7 digit number, and put the bag of medications in the cubby that corresponds with that number. When the patient comes to pick up their medication(s) they hand us a small piece of the prescription that contains the same 7 digit number, and their "carnet" which is equivalent to our social security card. Using the small piece of paper, you search in the respective cubby to find the bag, then verify the name on the carnet, and the patient is all set. Their system really isn't all that different from alphabetizing the prescriptions and putting them in cubbies according to first letter of last name.
The first day was great! I learned how to dispense on the outpatient side in the morning, and the afternoon I worked on filling for the outpatient side. Most of all I got to know the technicians and pharmacists and the flow of work there. In the morning, everyone arrives at 7, and has some coffee or something small for breakfast. Then we each go in groups for a 15 minute coffee/real breakfast break between 9-10. We have 3 shifts of lunch breaks, one from 1130-12, another 12-1230, and the last 1230-1. Then we have a 15 minute afternoon coffee/snack break in groups between 2-3. And we go home at 4!
When I left the hospital on my first day, I will admit I had NO clue where I was going; hence, I got extremely lost. I got lost despite the fact that Yuri and Mama Tica had both shown me exactly where I had to go 2 separate times. Three hours worth of lost. It took me and hour just to find the bus that goes from San Jose where the hospital is, to Guadalupe where my Mama Tica's house is. Once I found the bus, I got on at the end of the route, so I had to sit and wait another 30 minutes on the bus for it to fill up again and for us to head towards Guadalupe. Then I asked the driver (just like Mama Tica taught me) to make sure the bus was going to Guadalupe el centro which is where I live. He said he could let me know when we were at that stop; however, the bus quickly filled with 30-40 passengers and all hope was lost. I couldn't see out the window, and he couldn't see if I got off at the right stop. Finally when there were fewer people on the bus, I went up to the front and asked him if we passed my stop yet. He laughed and explained that was about 20 minutes ago. We proceeded to drive all the way to "las fincas" which is the rural area outside of Guadalupe where there are only farms. This ride continued for another 40 minutes until we looped back around and got back to Guadalupe el centro. I got off and thanked the bus driver and now proceeded to wander around the streets of Guadalupe el centro, in the dark, looking for my Mama Tica's house. I had her "address" which read "Al esquina noreste de la iglesia de Guadalupe. 200 metros al norte, 100 metros al este. La casa blanca y naranja." After another half and hour of wandering around, I started to ask nice looking older ladies if they could help me find me home. After about the three different women tried to point me in the right direction, I broke down, started crying, and got really nervous. The last woman I asked to help me must have been an angel because she basically walked me to Mama Tica's door. Every woman I asked was so sweet and gave me great directions, I would just forget what to do once I walked away from them! Anyway, I arrived home and Mama Tica was running around worried that I had been kidnapped and calling the foundation telling them to come looking for me. Needless to say she was very comforting and the next day she brought me to and from the hospital to make sure I knew where I was going, and I never got lost again (knock on wood). I also bought a Costa Rican phone because that is one experience I am not trying to repeat. Overall a great first day, but a lesson learned, that I really, really need to work on my sense of direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment