Fourth Week of Classes: September 17, 2012 to September 20, 2012

Monday Schedule

8:30-3:30pm: PHM Site Visit 3: Khon Kaen Regional Hospital

The Regional Hospital focuses on trauma care and they have an effective triage system where they are able to categorize the patient regarding their condition and thus systematically assign physicians according to the care that the patients need. The colors range from "green" where the patient has a minor condition that does not need to be addressed immediately to "yellow" and "orange" and lastly to "black" where the patient is dead. 

Some of the views around the hospital.

The Call Center of the Regional Hospital has a map of Northeast Thailand that illustrates where ambulances are located throughout the region and which ambulance should be contacted in order to reach the patient in an emergency. There are only a few ambulances packed with complex equipment while the rest are stocked with simple equipment that might not be able to handle a real emergency. Thus, they are planning to receive resources to supply all of the ambulances with the necessary equipment and to have more ambulances in the region overall. 

Faculty, staff and students have an opportunity to practice assessing an emergency.

Lunch

Tuesday Schedule

9-12pm: Writing Workshop/Consultations II for second interest paper

1-4pm: Thai Language (review for exam)

6-7:30pm: Peer Tutors III

Wednesday Schedule

9-12pm: PHM Lecture 10: Health Resources in Thailand

1-4pm: Thai Language midterm exam

Midterm exam: I was able to finish the exam in less than 10 minutes even though they allotted 20 minutes for us to take the oral exam. I hope I said everything correctly!

Thursday Schedule

9-12pm: PHM Lecture 11: Health Care Reform

2-5pm: Co-Facilitated Discussion Section (Leah and Roren)

5-5:30pm: PHM Course Review

Week Four Thoughts: I am definitely getting overwhelmed with the amount of work I need to do. I still have so many medical school applications to complete, I have a second interest paper due and I have to start my big research paper soon. In addition to doing work for the Public Health course, I still have to learn Thai and prepare for homestays and site visits. It is definitely getting hard to find the time for school work and find personal time where I can actually enjoy the country that I am studying abroad in. Although I am overwhelmed, I know that this hard time will pass and hopefully I will take a deep breath soon.