Kelsey Murray

Instituto de Maternidad = Maternity Institute

So, with about 1.5 weeks left, I switched hospitals to the Maternity Institute, a public hospital in downtown hospital, obviously specializing in maternity. I'm with a doctor, who is a radiologist, working in the ultrasound room. I think he also used to be the director of a few hospitals and that he still teaches medical students. My first day, I was able to stay with the fifth year medical students and see a natural birth, the end of a c-section through the "gallery" = the window of the door outside the surgery wing, and another procedure after a miscarriage. The natural birth was pretty long, and they had to repair some damage done to the woman by the baby after. It was also really funny because there were 4 medical students, me, a 2 residents, a doctor, and a nurse, all crowded into this small birthing room. We were moving around and trying to see from any angle -- pobre mama, as my host mom said (poor mom). It was a little bit 'grosser' than I thought, but so interesting. I've seen a bunch of ultrasounds as well:
-pregnancy (a lot)
-baby's hips
-transvaginal
-thyroid
-kidneys
-ovarian cysts

I also got the chance to see a C-section!  We ran to the pharmacy to buy a disposable gown, mask, cap, and booties, and then we rushed to get changed! They were all really nice, and asked us about ourselves and where we were from, etc. All the doctors operating were residents, not yet specialized in OB. And there were 2 anesthesiologists in the room, who were really funny - typical, playing music, dancing, laughing with the doctors. They played us this very funny Anesthesiologist Song.

It only took about 5-10 minutes to get the baby out, but then it took another hour to sew everything up! I was surprised at how long it took. I saw all the different layers of the abdomen and uterus, and the different types of needles they used and the sutures they were doing. It was so cool.

Anyway, I hope to see more this week! And I'll try to post again soon. I also want to post about medicine in general in Argentina, about my family, and about other general observations.

Peace,
Kelsey