This week we finally got a chance to go to Muhimbili. We spent 3 days there working with the technicians and helping troubleshoot equipment. There are a lot of broken devices here! Much of it sits in the BME department’s main workshop, waiting for spare parts from dealers or other cannibalized equipment. If broken parts can’t be obtained or the device can’t be fixed, then it is “condemned”: stored in the courtyard for an annual public auction. Additionally, Muhimbili seems to depend on inconsistent government funding and donations from NGOs to obtain new equipment, unlike Aga Khan which replaces its equipment after 5 years. Thus, the hospital has many brands of the same type of equipment, but parts in those devices are not analogous with each other, resulting in even more machines collecting dust in the workshop. I wonder how this lack of functioning equipment affects Muhimbili’s patients, doctors, and nurses, and if there are any technologies that Rice and DIT students could develop to help.

We were also able to see some of the hospital wards, like maternity and the surgical ICU. Unfortunately, we found that we had yet another obstacle to overcome: while we were allowed to work alongside the BME department, we had not received authorization to ask doctors and nurses questions about neonatal and maternal care. We’ve now written and submitted yet another letter that specifically requests permission to do so, and I hope that it is approved soon.

While I’m getting more accustomed to the slower pace here, peeling back these layers of red tape is incredibly frustrating. My main goal for this internship is to learn about patient care in a low-resource setting. I hope to compare the standard of care, available facilities, and patient/provider needs here with those at the hospitals and clinics I will be trained at when I begin medical school in the fall. Of course, I expect that the technologies and resources in an American hospital would far exceed those at Muhimbili or Aga Khan, but I wonder if those advancements have any trade-offs that might be revealed when talking to healthcare providers here. Furthermore, I am really interested in observing patient care that occurs in a different culture and language.

On Thursday, Grant and I attended a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between Rice and DIT. We witnessed the principal of DIT sign the document and said a few words about our schools’ partnership. I’m excited to see what the internship looks like in a few years’ time! Hopefully, pushing through all of our current difficulties will pave the way for future interns here.

Finally, some bad news. We spent the weekend in Zanzibar, which was beautiful and lots of fun! But Gilden was right to be worried about my phone; it was stolen while we were there. 🙁 Sadly, my future posts will probably not have pictures. Note to future interns, especially wearers of pants for women: your pockets are not a safe place for your phone!!