Walking into a trap

Since Scott has been gone, I have been the only doctor in the clinic. This doesn't mean I have been the only one seeing patients. We have others who are able to see and treat many different problems. Our resident nurse (her name is Ling Ling) is pretty much at the level of a Nurse Practitioner. She is very capable of evaluating and treating many of the common problems seen in our clinic. We also have volunteers who are at various levels of training, including our newest students, who apply what skills they have to each patient encounter. For some that simply means observing for now, others are capable of obtaining vital signs, and some who have been working with our clinic for years can triage and evaluate patients themselves. The key is that we stress to everyone not to exceed their capabilities and comfort level in treating patients. Everyone has someone else they can call on for assistance.

During the past 2 weeks, I have returned to the clinic after our afternoon Tagalog lessons to make sure that everyone is seen and that any difficult cases are evaluated. The first day that I did this was just after Scott left and I felt like I was walking right into a trap. When I entered the clinic, there to one side was gathered in a huddled mass of chairs the sickest and most difficult patients of the day... and they were all waiting on me to arrive. It was then that I felt kind of sick myself! But I started one by one to hear their stories and decide what should be done. The day ended well and we were able to show the love of Christ to each one.

After our next Tagalog lesson, I returned to the exact same scenario in the clinic. But, this time I returned with a completely different perspective. Here in that huddled group sitting off to one side of our clinic was our group of sickest patients. I didn't have to sort through the runny noses, the coughs, and the aches to get to those who I may be able to truly change their health (hopefully for the better). I've enjoyed this filtered group of patients recently. It's a little like being on call in the hospital - you get called to consult on the "good cases".

I have added a picture of our new missionary training class to the blog below describing them.