Monday, February 20th
Monday consisted of my first round of shadowing, as I got to sit in and observe a general practitioner. I was supposed to meet the doctor at 9 AM, but to be polite I attempted to show up early. When I got to there, I realized I was working in a walk-in clinic. There was a line out the door of people waiting to put their names down for the doctor. Since I was obviously not there for the doctor, I attempted to walk right in and get myself situated, but everyone thought I was trying to butt in line. After much persuasion (around 10 minutes), I finally got in and met the doctor, Dr. Mitra. I shadowed him for three hours and definitely saw a huge range of illness, such as:
- Paranoid Schizophrenia
- Arthritis
- Dementia
- Kidney Dialysis
- Leukemia
The most fun I had was telling a woman she was pregnant. Getting to that conclusion is a little laughable, as I will write out the doctor-patient conversation to illustrate:
Female Patient- “So, I have been feeling super dizzy and nauseous. I haven’t actually thrown up, but I feel sick.”
Doctor- “When did this start?”
Patient- “Early this month?”
Doctor- “And there is no coughing or anything, just nausea?”
Patient- “Yea…”
Doctor- “When is the last time you had sex?”
Patient- “December.”
Doctor- “When was your last menstrual cycle?”
Patient- “December…”
Doctor- “Yeah……………I think it’s time we took a pregnancy test”
Doctor- “Yeah……………I think it’s time we took a pregnancy test”
Right there and then she took a test and I got to see the two bands appear, informing us she was pregnant. When I congratulated her, I realized I was probably a little more excited than she was.
I have been talking to my flatmates a lot about the NHS and its pro and cons. There is a lot of debate about the NHS currently since they want to shift into almost more like an American system. Ironic? Americans want our health care to shift more like the NHS and the British want their system a little more American. The problem that most British people find with the NHS is that it bleeds money. Back home, I never went to the doctor unless I was bleeding from all my orifices or lost a limb, but here since it is free- people go to the doctors for anything and everything therefore costing the government a loooootttt of money. Also, I would be interested into looking at the difference in radiations felt by citizens in American versus the UK since they get a lot more x-rays here. Let’s say that the GP saw 20 patients- he prescribed at least 10 x-rays for no reason other than the ‘joint was hurting.’ Uuuh…..Since x-rays/MRIs etc are covered by the NHS, doctors just seem to give them out just to please the patient.
[Side Note: My friend Susannah who’s shtick is public health and is studying in Denmark informed me that in Denmark people still need to pay for approximately 10-15% of their medical visits in order to deter this problem that the UK is having. Denmark ALWAYS has it right.
Update from Susannah via skype:
"85% is paid through taxes and 15% is paid through co-payment and user contribution (particularly medicine and dental care) sooo i think not every service has a co-pay... all dental things for people over 18 have a co-pay"]
Furthermore, I got a little taste of the over medication in this world. Every patient that walked in to the GP’s room walked out with three drugs: pain medication, sleeping medication, and anti-depressants. I was pretty much flabbergasted that the general practitioner I was shadowing not only diagnosed people with depression, but prescribed them with heavy doses of anti-depressants. Do they not have therapists? Psychologists?
One last observation about the GPs here is that they do not move rooms. In America, a nurse will place the patient in a room and the doctor will go from room to room seeing people. Here, the patient goes into the doctor’s room where he is sitting there waiting for them. That means that is personal mementos like pictures and cards are juxtaposed to his medical table and supplies. I felt like it was a little unsterile, but that’s just me.
Later that day I skyped with Haverford’s Pre-Med advisor. It was a little awkward since she could see me and I could not see her. It went well and she said she wrote good notes down. Now we just have to wait until April when she tells me if I am ready to apply or not.
That night, I watched the BBC’s continuing documentary on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. I was literally bawling through the whole thing. Not just tears, but I was screaming crying through it. Whenever they mention Prince Philip and the Queen, I just die. My flatmates thought I was hurt and came running in, but nope- it was just me wearing my British Flag sweater and crying about the Queen. They took pictures they thought it was so funny.
Tuesday, February 21
Nothing too eventful today other than the fact a group of us Americans found this British bar near Piccadilly. It was too American for my liking. I felt like an Orthodox woman walking into that place. I was wearing tights, skirt, shirt, cardigan- all things that I thought was appropriate. Little did I know, the dress code at this American bar was ‘Slut’ and ‘Hooker' since I am pretty sure every female was wearing 4 layers of makeup and -1 layers of clothing.
The first clear sign that this was not a place for us was when we met the ‘group from Kentucky.’ People from the South: Strike 1. The group had only been in London for a week and was asking for bars/clubs to go to. We said that if they wanted really good dancing music to check out ‘Heaven.’ When they found out it was a gay bar, they started laughing and responded with, “What do you think we are…a bunch of queers?!” Strike 2. The third strike was the fact that they were all in a Christian fraternity together. This night reminded me why I am studying abroad and befriending NON-Americans.
The Brits we took with us loved it since they were getting an 'American experience.' Ugh...no...they were just living in a dirty frat party.
 |
| Me with my good British friend, Tom. |
 |
| The dirty American dance floor with my British friend Toby making the peace sign in the front. |
 |
| Friends with our Mardi Gras beads. |
 |
| A group of us in Trafalgar Square after leaving the Bar. |
Wednesday, February 22th
The highlight of today was Zach’s 21st birthday party. Since the drinking age in the UK is 18, the 21st birthday means nothing to them. We wanted to make sure Zach celebrated his 21st right and for his party these following things occurred:
- Renting out a bar
- Opening a tab
- Getting me to invite 30 of our friends
- Having 21st birthday memorabilia from America for the party.
It was a successful surprise party and Zach had an awesome time. I have no idea how this cost, but I KNOW it was not cheap. Let’s just say- Zach celebrated his 21st birthday properly.
 |
| The party room with all the decorations from America. |
 |
| Zach's amazing cake |
 |
| Me with the birthday boy! |
 |
| The birthday boy blowing out the candles! |
Friday, February 24th
On Friday one of my really good friends from Haverford, Susannah, visited me from Denmark. She successfully found my tube stop and since she had been craving Indian food, my flat, the Americans, and Susannah had a nice dinner out. We got our chicken tikka masala and could not have enjoyed it more. Well…I have curry and chicken on a daily basis- It was Susannah, who was having Indian food withdrawal. I have empathy for her. Also, she told me that people in Denmark don’t eat peanut butter or beans. I probably would have just died if I went there to be quite honest. (Also, since Denmark doesn't have Mexican food (!!!) I made her nachos and burritos on Saturday. I aim to be a Jewish mother).
Saturday, February 25th
Susannah and I woke up early to do our touristy day. We did a LOT of Walking. Here is a run down of our day:
- Borough Market
- Tower Bridge
- Passing Tower of London
- Walking up Monument to get a panoramic view (a cheaper version of the London Eye)
- Globe Theatre
- Millennium Bridge
- St. Paul’s Cathedral
- Parliament/Big Ben
- St. James Park
- Buckingham Palace
- Trafalgar Square- National Gallery
- Proper Tea
- Covent Gardens
Whoah, can you say ‘London in a weekend?’
It is so nice having people from Haverford visit, as we can gossip about school at home and keep each other sane. It always nice to hear about other Haverford students experiences abroad since we can relate. The real world doesn’t have an honor code….what? Not everyone follows the saying ‘trust, concern, and respect?!’
I also found out that when Susannah and I go to Amsterdam, her boyfriend will be joining us. I am the MOST excited to be honest. I love traveling with these peeps!
Susannah really wanted to get a Guinness (can’t blame her), so that night we went to a local pub. We enjoyed our Guinness as we heard drunk professionals scream along with the Karaoke.
Saturday was probably the most gorgeous day I have had in London so far. Susannah picked a great weekend to come actually. Not only was the sun out ALL DAY, but the weather was around 55 degrees! For the first time, people were lounging in parks, eating outside, and enjoying the sun! In addition, since it was so nice outside people were less inclined to go inside, which made museum touring extra easy.
 |
| The River Thames with a beautiful blue sky!!! |
 |
| The climb up Monument was easier the second time! |
 |
| As usual, St. Paul's Cathedral. |
 |
| Parliament from behind. |
 |
| It was so nice, people we RELAXING AT ST. JAMES PARK!! |
 |
| The first black guard I've seen yet! |
 |
| Nice weather = CROWDED Trafalgar Square! I haven't seen it this crazy yet! |
 |
| Being bad and taking a picture of one of my favorite paintings in the National Gallery.... |
 |
| Thames. |
 |
| A sneak peak at the James Bond set! |
Just remembered! When walking from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square we passed filming for the new James Bond movie! There were trailers everyone and a huge crowd. When we asked the security guards what was up, they could not be 100% straightforward, but basically confirmed out thoughts.
Fans- "What is this?"
Guard - "Filming for a spy action film"
Fans- "James Bond?!"
Guard- "Mayyyyyyyyyyyyyybe" (said with a smile)
Fans- "LIKE WITH DANIEL CRAIG?!"
Guard- "MAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" (with a huge grin)
Yep...it was definitely James Bond!
Sunday, February 26th
This morning Susannah woke up before me and walked over to the Tower of London. She got a proper tour by the beefeaters (who are hilarious). I met her around noon to continue our touring. We ran over to the British Museum where I gave her a quick run through and then we ran over to the British Library. In the process, we ran through UCL. UCL is gorgeous, but in the middle of nowhere basically. Why go to UCL when you could be in the middle of the city and Kings College? (If you can’t tell, UCL is Kings biggest rival). It was my first time there, but I have concluded that I HAVE to go back. Susannah’s mom recommended going there and we made it a priority. First off, this library is HUGE. Supposedly, to actually do work there or get a book, you need to have a serious reason and ID. The ‘treasures’ of the library are all the original works such as Shakespeare, Bronte Sisters, the MAGNA CARTAA!!, Canterbury Tales, St. James Bible, and a lot of the original Beatles work. I wasn’t supposed to take pictures…..but I obviously did.
 |
| A UCL Building |
 |
| Susannah and I found a Quaker House! Haverford shout out! |
 |
| Original Shakespeare |
 |
| THE Magna Carta!!! |
 |
| Original Beatles work, such as rough drafts of songs! |
Lastly, this week is the 6 nation rugby tournament so when I was working out I got to play France play Scotland. I was routing for Scotland, but France ended up winning L
I just finished my honor code orienteer interview with my friend Maury from home. I skyped in for it and gave some nice little answers. Being back at Haverford even if it was through the computer was comforting. When I was skyping with Maury, people would recognize my voice and run over and say hi. I really miss a lot of the people there, but I am so happy I’m not actually there…it is really hard to explain!
Tomorrow I am shadowing a doctor at a sexual health clinic. Let’s see how it goesss!
Also, this Thursday the Queen, Camilla, and Kate are having tea at Fortnum and Mason. I am considering skipping class to see her go! Please parents, don't kill me....
P.S. For the Diamon Jubilee this year, London is COVERED in eggs, as demonstrated below:
No comments:
Post a Comment