This week has consisted of more shadowing at Hospital Clínica Bíblica and starting to brainstorm some ideas of needs and projects we may want to work on.
But first, a dinner party! Ravi cooked a great chicken stew on Sunday night and we all sat down in the kitchen to eat together. It was nice to see everyone in the same place all at once, especially since Santi and Emily were away on a work trip for the first half of this week.
At work this week, we spent the first three days continuing in the OR, then switched to the emergency department. Our first surgery on Monday was a gastric bypass. It was definitely the most “graphic” of the surgeries we’ve seen so far, because the laparoscopic camera and the monitors were such high quality. You could see every single little blood vessel on the liver and the stomach. I started to feel a little queasy, admittedly, but I made it through and I’m glad I did, since it was very interesting. We also watched a septoplasty (nose surgery) and osteosynthesis of the wrist (adding plates and screws). The surgeons used repeated X rays to check the positions of the screws, so we had to wear heavy lead vests while we were in the room.
For the second half of the week, we visited the emergency department. There aren’t as many major devices being used here, so most of our needs observations centered around processes and systems. For example, several nurses and doctors mentioned that one of their biggest frustrations and inconveniences is that the software system can be slow. Even though this isn’t directly related to medical devices, it was still useful to understand the daily responsibilities of the staff, as well as the patient flow.
This weekend we’re off to Manuel Antonio National Park for some fun and relaxation! More to come soon.