For the Benefit of Whom?

“Have you ever seen this type of infection before?” was the question asked by the doctor working in the pediatric ward of the hospital.

Believing he was talking to the medical student who was also working in the pediatric ward, I ignored him and went about my business. The doctor then asked again, “Have you ever seen this type of infection before?” I looked up to realize that, to my surprise, he was talking to me. I walked over to the child whom he was examining to see the infection. The doctor spoke to the seven-year-old girl in Luo, the local language spoken in Gulu Town, to tell her to open her mouth so that I could look. Inside, her mouth and tongue were covered with raised, white growths.

The doctor who had asked me about the patient was the same doctor that had been coming twice a day, once in the morning and once before lunch, to check on the patients in the Acute Pediatric Ward. The doctor that normally oversees the pediatric ward had been on strike all week, leaving patients to be quickly diagnosed by inexperienced medical students or by doctors practicing outside of their specialities. Ironically, the strike’s goal is to bring awareness to the community regarding the lack of resources in public hospitals and health clinics across Uganda.

After working at my internship for a week, I understand the pediatric doctor’s frustration. In the specific ward in which I am interning, there is only one nurse and one doctor. This can cause the work load to become overwhelming, especially on days where the number of patients exceeds the number of beds. Besides the lack of personnel , the lack of diagnosing equipment, such as chemical test and cultures, makes diagnosis difficult. To compound the problem, once diagnosed, the chances of the hospital having the medicine for treatment are slim. Speaking from an ethical standpoint and on-the-ground experience, instead of benefiting the patients and healthcare workers, the strike hinders the hospital’s efforts to aid the people.

Turning to the doctor, I replied, “It looks like oral thrush caused by a candida species.” I had diagnosed the patient.