Week One

This week has been backed full of new information, both in the cultural and clinical settings.  Monday and Tuesday were public holiday here (for Easter) and so we had our program orientation and a township tour on those days.  The townships are, in one word: incredible.  There are more than 100 townships in the Cape Town vicinity, and the hospital where we are doing our clinical rotations is the district hospital serving some of the roughest of these communities.  Boundaries between townships blend together, so that when you look out it appears a vast sea of shanties... ubiquitous poverty.

Our guide for the township tour was a native Capetonian, Colleen, who had in fact lived in District 6 during her childhood and was part of the notorious forced removals during Apartheid.  We visited the District 6 Museum with her, which was a truly one-of-a-kind experience. 

I should back up just a little bit and redefine my “we” pronoun!  This is the group (from Left to Right: Shanley, Me, Jay, Ryan and Erin). 

Jay, Ryan and Erin are all graduating medical school this spring and entering their residencies (Anesthesia, General Surgery, and Obstetrics, respectively).  Jay and Ryan started the program with me and Shanley, but Erin has already been here for two weeks and has been a great help to all of us in adjusting at our clinic site. Over the past week, we’ve warmed up to each other and actually have a lot of fun as a group!