Josephine Morley - UK

Post date: Oct 26, 2010 10:35:28 PM

Report: VPWA placement at Asuboi Health Clinic – 11/08/2010 – 9/09/2010

My reasons for doing a placement at a health clinic in Ghana this summer was to gain experience in the medical field, and an insight into the health service available in a country other than my own. All of this I have been able to achieve at my placement at Asuboi Health Clinic.

I visited the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District Headquarters to meet the Director. After a discussion about my intentions it was chosen that I would attend Asuboi Health Clinic for my 5 week placement. One my first day at the placement, I received a warm welcome from all the health care workers at the clinic, and was given a tour of the facility. During my placement, I have spent time in the consulting room, observing consultations between patient and doctor; taking history and prescribing medication, any questions I had were answered by the doctor. I have also spent time with the Health Care Assistants, helping them to prepare the bandages and observing bandage re-dressing, I also did some malaria testing. The Health Care Assisitants responded quickly in the event of a child arriving who had a fever, by cooling them with water and administering Diazepam. I also spent time at the dispensary, seeing how they make a record of what drugs are given out. I learnt about the different types of drugs available, for instance Artesunate – Amodiaquine for malaria. I spent time in the family planning part of the clinic, were I learnt about the different options for the women who attend. I also spent time at the reception desk, where I gained an understanding of the process of signing in patients and checking the insurance numbers given by patients is on the system.

Every Tuesday and Friday there is an ante-natal clinic, where the health of the pregnant women of the community is checked. I took blood-pressure, and observed the examination, which included the palpation of the fungal, the measuring of the fungal height and I was able to listen to the foetal heart beat. I thought that the quality of the ante-natal clinic was very high, much time was spend educating the mothers-to-be on how to have a healthy pregnancy and there was great emphasis on the importance of breast-feeding. They were even given demonstrations for the correct position and attachment for children when breast feeding. One of the days of my placement there was a child immunsation clinic, the outpatients arriving filled almost the whole waiting room!       

To sum up, my time spend at the Asuboi Health Clinic was enjoyable, and has confirmed my desire to study medicine. My most memorable experience was witnessing the delievery of a baby girl, I feel very privileged to have had the oppotunity to see it, and am very grateful to the staff there. All the staff were friendly toward me and more than happy to answer any questions I had. My only regret is I feel I was unable to contribute as much as I would have liked to. I understand that as an untrained individual there is not a great deal I have the skills to do.