Andrew Brainard’s Blog

Getting the hang…

Hello Blog,

Things have smoothed out here a little bit. I’m beginning to figure out how things work and can navigate my way around the hospital grounds without too much trouble, grab a bus or moto into the nearest ‘real’ town, and make change without getting ripped off. I might even be picking up an Irish accent.

Ugandans are unbelievably friendly, helpful, and funny. They will cram 20 people, 5 chickens, and a ton of charcoal into a VW bus, bribe their way through the police checkpoint, and laugh as the children sick up and on your shoes and mother continues her labour contractions.

The internet and power has become more reliable but now the cell phone tower is down. Most locals cook with charcoal, but since we are rich doctors, we get propane for our stoves. However, we are now having a propane and a charcoal shortage. In another week, we might not be able to boil our water. It’s the little things…

I have been perfectly healthy since I’m been here despite forgetting to take my malarial drugs for a couple of days, wading in human secretions, and eating tons of village fried dough. It did stub my toe yesterday, but this is much safer than working at some hospitals in the States. .

It just started to rain like mad. My first African rain is currently refilling our water tanks and creating breeding grounds for millions of mosquitoes. It also just washed away a woman in a wheelchair. I’m sure she will be fine.

The clinical side of things are still a bit rough. We (I mean the entire country of
Uganda) is out of blood, and that really increases our mortality rate (especially since I currently have 4 patients with a Hb below 3). I’m getting to teach and learn some procedures, learning the difference between deadly malaria and just really bad malaria, and getting a small handle on TB and HIV treatment regimens. It has been worth it for my learning, but I would need much more time to really become proficient working in this type of environment.

Q3 call is getting tiresome, but this my golden weekend is upcoming, so I think I’m going to raft the headwaters of the Nile. Anyway, I’m still busy, still healthy, still getting used to working in a place where people have a 40 year life expectancy.

In Uganda…

Hello blog.

Alright, I’m back on the internet to blog. I’ve been here in Uganda for a little more than a week and things are going pretty well. There is certainly a bit of culture shock, but I feel that the InMed materials have been surprising good at preparing me for this.

It is kind of crazy. 250 beds. 9 doctors, 4 medical students, and myself. There is lots of HIV/AIDS, tetanus, malaria, trauma, and maternal deaths. No Ebola, but I did lose a mother to DIC a couple days ago. Its tough.

There is only power for only a couple hours a day, unreliable water and a poor internet connection. I think that I learning some good stuff, lots of procedures, and tons of weird diagnosis.

The doctors, staff, and patients that I’m working with here are amazing. There are a couple senor Ugandan and European doctors, and couple of Ugandan and British doctors in training.

There are some many interesting and unfortunate social, public health, administrative, and clinical issues here that I don’t even know were to start. I’ll think about it for next blog.

Travel Day

Hello team,

 I’m welcoming myself to the world of blogging.

 I broke up my travel from PA to Uganda but having a long layover in Europe. It has been great, but cold. I look forward to flying to Africa this afternoon. I will try and keep the blog updated.

 Andrew Brainard

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