Arrival in Ghana


It is 8:00pm in Ghana, and I am finally settled in Cape Coast. I arrived at 2:00pm in Accra after a 9.5 hour red eye from NYC. I realized quickly that a plane is not a good place to sleep. On arrival we took a taxi and bus to Cape Coast. Ghana is extremely hot. The sun has been down for over 2 hours, and it is still probably 80 degrees outside. I am very tired from traveling for almost 36 hours, but I am excited to explore Cape Coast and get oriented at the hospital for work on Monday. This trip began in the planning stages in March 2019, so I have been anxiously waiting to be here for a while. On the bus ride into Cape Coast, I met a nice guy who asked why I am interested in international medicine, and I wanted to share with you all why it has piqued me interest. When I first decided that I was going to be a physician, I initially wanted to work with Doctors without Borders. My reason was that I wanted to help those in worse situations than me. I now have a new perspective. I realize that when I come do these trips, I actually get more out of it than most of the people I am “helping.” My reasoning has changed to be more interested in learning about different cultures and how that culture affects the way medicine is provided in those countries. I look forward to trying to assimilate into the Ghanaian culture as I know that will be the most rewarding for me. Another reason I have become more interested in international medicine is that I want to do rural family medicine. As I’ve learned over the last two years, sometimes the test you need to do on a patient may not be available in a rural setting. I have learned that this is true for many third-world countries as well, even in the cities. You have to work with the resources you have to provide the best care to the patient in front of you. So often in US medicine, we get bogged down in referring to a specialist for something that can easily be taken care of by a primary care physician. One of my goals this month is to continue learning how to provide the best treatment available with limited resources. That’s all for now! I look forward to sharing more from my first day in the hospital on Monday.

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