Eli's last post

I just want to reflect on the different environment that we were in in Panama, and how things differed from what we expected. Where we worked in the clinics, it was fascinating even to just observe. The nurses and doctor's operated really quite similarly to how we do in the US, but the patient's seemed different. I do think that the language barrier and even just our presence as students contributed to this, but they seemed even a little afraid of having to be in a clinic to get help at all. Most conversations were very short, with simple answers to detailed questions by the practitioners. Patients were incredibly hesitant to go to hospitals even in emergencies. It seems to me that there is a pretty big gap between what health care is there, and how it is perceived by the natives. I heard that another students research showed that pap smears are often thought of to be birth control, and to protect against STD's... This misunderstanding could explain the high incidence of STD's and cervical cancer there, and shows that much more education is needed, and quite honestly could probably be more helpful than some of the services that the people there are getting. At the health fair there was a pretty impressive turnout, although communities within a mile told us that they didn't even know it was happening. The nurses really seemed to love their jobs there, and also seemed very up to date, showing that despite the incredible distance between real civilization they were able to stay on top of their education. I can see how working in health care in this area could be mentally exhausting though, seeing the hardships of the people and having limited access to help them was even frustrating for us in our brief visit there.