Welcome back! Week 3 at Niños is done and we are still doing clinical observations! A fun fact I learned this week is that neuro-imaging is required for all epilepsy patients, whether that be a CT or an MRI scan. This is required to have on file, but only has to be updated if the condition worsens, or if the patient needs to have surgery (then it needs to be current within two years). Another point of note this week was our time in the neuromuscular clinic. It was interesting to see the different types of tests that Dr. Bogantes would do with the patients and how that translates to clinical relevance. And, a special shoutout to the one patient who was doing his math homework next to me while I was taking notes and asked if my homework was hard. I got to talk with him about the program a bit since he was surprised that the three of us were still in school and I got called “doctora” which, while incorrect was absolutely precious 🥺. These interactions are part of why I love working with kids – being able to connect to them about more than just medicine and help the doctor’s office feel like a less scary place.
Speaking of homework, I was putting the cart before the horse a bit in saying what my project was last week. After talking with Dr. Wettergreen, it’s important to keep taking good observations and to leave some avenues open. Our presentations were over our top three disease states that we could tackle, and in addition to the Mobility Scales, I want to focus on Mobile EEG Device and West Syndrome patients. Hopefully, we’ll get the rest of the feedback from the presentations and be able to narrow it down soon, since it’s almost July. That fact is unbelievable in and of itself, especially since today marks one month in Costa Rica for me!
This weekend was another chill one around the San José area. On Saturday, we went to the Refugio Animal de Costa Rica, which is an animal sanctuary that cares for and helps to rehabilitate animals. They often take in exotic animals that people have illegally kept as pets or animals that were injured and brought to them. They care for and release the animals when they can, and if not, they stay at the sanctuary. There was a variety of critters, from sloths and snacks, to monkeys and some very chatty birds. Fun fact, if you are standing by the parrots and hear a voice saying “buenas” and “hola” every minute or so, it is not a worker and is in fact, the birds. I personally thought it was cute, but I’m sure it gets annoying after a while.
Sunday, we were back in the downtown area. We started off at the Costa Rican Art Museum (which is free to the public!) and it was so cool to see. My favorite part was definitely the Gold Room, which had panels of gold art that displayed the history of Costa Rica from pre-colonial to modern times. Then, it was back to Chinatown for lunch and some grocery shopping. And yes, I did consult Apple and Rei before I ordered to make sure that I had picked something good😁. In the afternoon, Apple and I braved the rain to visit the National Museum of Costa Rica, which actually used to be a military fort. As part of the efforts to disband the military, it was converted to a museum to preserve the history. They had a great curation of pieces and I liked seeing how traditions changed and combined to create the Costa Rica of today. And, because it was a fort, it had some incredible views of the city. To close out the night, Apple and I (and our soaked shoes) went to the final show of Mujercitas (Little Women in English) at the National Theatre of Costa Rica. Our seats in the third balcony were great and the theatre was beautiful. i’m glad I knew the story going in, as it made it a bit easier to follow!
This week, we’ll be working towards refining our ideas and actually diving into our final idea, while this weekend kicks off our travel plans as we head out and about in Costa Rica. I can’t wait to see what we’ll do and learn this week and, until then, be sure to keep up with the rest of the Costa Rica crew by checking out Apple, Rei, and Connor’s blogs!