Monday, October 8, 2007

MUST Welcomes You

Mbarara University of Science and Technology



The hospital is a series of small cement buildings connected by dirt paths and some covered cement paths. Most of the buildings are off-white or yellow, and the metal roof could use a paint job.
There is a front security gate (which was behind me when I took the above picture) with a 24-hour security guard. There is the intern house, where the interns all live, and where we can get lunch or dinner.

It's hard to get photos of the campus because there are people (mostly women) everywhere, sitting along the paths and outside the buildings, and I don't want to scare them by taking photos without their permission. The women are also in the grassy areas, washing clothing and hanging it on lines (I think they are the attendants of the hospitalized patients. Each patient has an "attendant" staying with them, bringing them food and caring for them, as there is not enough nursing staff to do so.)

The obstetrical unit is one building - to the right is triage, the delivery area and the antepartum area. To the right is the postpartum unit.
The gynecology unit is in the next building, connected by a covered path. It is one room with about 14 beds.

This is Eve standing under the trees. On the other side of the gate is the obstetrics building. There is laundry hanging on the fence behind her.

The operating theatre is about 50 meters from the obstetrical unit. You change your shoes as soon as you enter - you put on clogs that are left always in the theatre. Scrubs are provided, and you change in a small changing room. There are two theatres adjacent to one another. Only one surgery can proceed at a time, but one patient can be prepared while another case is finished if needed. To operate, you put on large rubber boots and a plastic apron. Gowns are cloth, and after the Caesar is done, you take off your gown and place it on the stretcher, where it becomes the sheet for the patient to lie on. The other person's gown becomes the sheet to cover the patient (and yes, they are usually covered in blood and gook).

The ICU, from what I saw, is a tiny room that looks like a storage closet. There is a cardiac monitor and a ventilator. The cardiac monitor is one that we would use as a portable monitor - to place on the bed while transporting a critical patient.

There is a nice library, with large windows, ample seating and a computer room with about 10 computers wired for internet access. Internet is slow-ish, but better than other places I've been.

This is the view from outside the library. The library would be to your right.

And there is some kind of crazy-looking bird that hangs out on the campus lawn. Two of them, actually, and one has big jowls. I wonder if they are what makes that nasal HAAA HAAA HAAAAAAA sound I hear every morning. I used to hear that in Kenya, too.

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