A Beacon of Hope and Light

Written by Nikolas Moring, '20

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One week in Naggalama down. I can’t believe it. It seems like we just arrived here  yesterday. My first week in Uganda has been so different from what I had ever expected. I don’t even know where to begin. I spent countless nights trying to imagine what this experience was going to be, but knew from the beginning that was a fruitless exercise. Upon arriving, that was confirmed. It is simply so unique, and so different, that there was no way to even begin to project or predict what it would be like.

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The Uncertainty of Medicine

Written by Melvin Philip, M.D., medical resident at the Greater Danbury Community Health Center Internal Medicine Residency Program

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Naggalama has become my “home away from home.” A small community hospital run by Sister Jane, St. Francis Hospital caters to the underprivileged villages of Naggalama and is contained within a small Christian community consisting of a primary and secondary school, a nursery, a church, and housing for hospital staff. The medical director, Dr. Otim, has been our guide and resource in introducing us to the art of medicine in Uganda. The faculty have welcomed us with open arms.

The Qualities That Make a Surgeon Great

Written by Bryce Bludevich, M.D. '17

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He was a young man with a seemingly bright future ahead of him, a university student with a loving family. He was only twenty years old when he came to Mulago Hospital. He was skin and bones by the time he had arrived, his eyes sunken and blank as if he knew the end was in sight. Under his thin bedcovers lay the source of his malady: an open midline incision. The suture lay exposed, along with his spleen and small bowel. His tattered skin crisscrossed over his open abdomen, the edges of his incision well worn. He had multiple enterocutaneous fistulas.

Minutes Turn to Hours and Seconds Slow to Eternity

Written by Imelda Muller, M.D. '17

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Minutes turn to hours and seconds slow to eternity as we wait. Those once lining the walls have begun to indulge in the vertical support behind them, some sinking to the floor. We are all waiting for the man in the long white coat.

Have You Ever Lived Like This?

Written by Katherine Wang, M.D. '17

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been less than a week since we arrived home. It simultaneously feels like I’ve been back for an eternity, Uganda a distant memory, and like I was just there yesterday. Home is such a vastly different place—from the weather and physical setting to the people and customs. On the flip side, it is so familiar that it has been easy to settle back into the routine, hopping back into a car to drive on the right side of the road, and working out on the treadmill. I almost wonder if it’s been too easy, given the prevalence of reverse culture shock. Maybe it just hasn’t set in yet, but I am certainly happy to be home as well.

Noticeably Absent

Written by Erin Pichiotino, M.D. '17, M.P.H.

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Orthopedic Trauma rounds are every Monday morning. We visit each and every patient, take down dressings to look at wounds, review x-rays, and as a team come up with a plan for the week. Other than that, the orthopedic officers and nurses are responsible for following the plan, performing wound care, administering antibiotics and otherwise managing the patient, consulting the surgeons if and when necessary for proper patient care. The day-to-day needs of the patient including procuring implants and medications, bathing, feeding, and physical therapy if needed are taken care of by the caretaker, friends and family members who come to the hospital to help. Most of these caretakers sleep outside the hospital on the concrete, washing and cooking in the open space between wards.

Jebaleko

Written by Mitra Sadigh, UVM post-baccalaureate student in pre-medical studies

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“Jebaleko, Nyabo.” “Kale, Jebaleko Ssebo,” I respond to the jolly man standing to my left behind the emblematic blue-against-lemon-yellow MTN stand where we are both waiting to buy airtime, something I seem chronically depleted of these days, an affliction with my lazy 1000-shillings airtime purchases the likely culprit. A surprised smile conquers his face, eyes shining with perfectly aligned teeth.

Kaleidoscope

Written by Imelda Muller, '17

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Tiny shadow forms topple over each other, Crowding around the man and the truck. Rising in swells, Moving toward the wall where he is pinned. Falling smoothly in concert. As the truck teeters on the ledge. The weight of their jostling vibrations, Abrasively declare his fate, and Travel up my arms as the front lens spins in my fingers.

Olumwa: The Dangers of Complacency in Global Health

Written by Janel Martir, '16, recipient of an honorable mention for the Consortium of Universities for Global Health Essay Contest

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“Olumwa?” I asked in my best impersonation of a Lugandan accent. My patient pointed to her belly. She looked as if she had swallowed the moon. She was writhing uncomfortably on her bed in the maternity triage laying on the single sheet of black plastic. I scanned the room one more time to look for any physicians. The interns, called junior officers, were on strike. They had not been paid in 5 months so the strike was a drastic measure to confront the unfairness of their plight. The residents, called senior officers, were taking exams and were studying in the small hallways in Makerere University quizzing each other on clinical technique and treatments.

Bringing a Unique Perspective to Healthcare

Written by Jamidah Nakato, former coordinator of the Makerere University/Yale University Collaboration, founded by the Director of the UVM Larner College of Medicine Global Health Program

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I worked for the Makerere University/Yale University Collaboration as an administrator for almost six years until retiring last September to pursue my PhD. Working for the collaboration gave me the opportunity to meet new people, exchange ideas with brilliant students, staff, and visitors, and provide them with guidance or a listening ear when they needed it. At first, it was difficult to make new friends in such a short time only to say goodbye six weeks later. But with time, I felt increasingly inspired by the experience. Many of these program participants were in Uganda for the first time. Some, not ever having heard of Uganda, had found it on a map just before arriving.