And We Continue To Walk...
I didn't go to morning rounds on Monday but still met with Dr. Hong to discuss about my progress. I was put to the task of reading what goes on behind the scenes and what structures are put into place behind trauma systems. I have yet to go further into that within the blog.
Tuesday got a little bit rowdy for me. I went in for morning rounds at 7:30 am as usual and I basically saw a wound cleaning as well as stitching. After seeing a couple more patients, we were near to the end. They were talking about putting a central line in a patient when my vision suddenly blurred and I blacked out. (This is my thank you shout out to the doctor who caught me) I was out for about five minutes and they put me out of duty for that day to rest. I felt freshened up enough in the evening to go out and do some work.
Wednesday was spent with myself, simply doing some more research. I stopped by Konkuk University to get some tea in Mouse Rabbit Cafe (Which I highly recommend). Afterwards, I made my way back home to go and have dinner with Dr. Hong and her residents. It was a very interesting evening and I got a taste of Korean culture,. I watched as the youngest resident in both tables turned the meat, the residents turn their heads away to drink, the cheers in the middle of the meal, etc. It was very fun and it gave me a different look. They were all very relaxed and social.
Thursday began with morning rounds and a quick meeting with Dr,. Hong. The topic of going to Busan was brought up and I talked it over with my parents.
Friday also started off with morning rounds and a meeting with Dr. Hong. We discussed about going to Busan, which my parents said no to. However, she informed me that a doctor from Busan's hospital would be coming this Thursday to give a talk. Afterwards, I decided to stop by Hongdae and see what all the fuss was about. It was a very wide area, which I could easily get lost in. There were a lot of shopping areas as well as cafes. However, for me, it was nothing too exciting and I concluded that I liked Myeongdong more.
Over the weekend, I stopped by Myeondong as well as Apgujeong. I'll talk more about that on my weekend blog. (I will probably post all of my weekend things when I get back so all the pictures go along with it)
Differences
So, I was comparing again.
One of my major differences in healthcare systems are pre-hospital care. First off, the price. Let's just say that ambulances here cost about $100 whereas it's a much larger sum in America, In addition to that, it's about $300 for a helicopter whereas it's about $1000 in America. Also, when you're getting sent to a hospital, you get to choose whichever one to go to depending on what kind of hospital you can afford. In America, they send you either to the closest one or to the one that can most properly treat you (depending on your situation). Now, you can't take this in a good or bad way. The price is most likely because of the larger population in Korea and its high demand for transportation. If you look at it from an economics point of view, it makes sense that their transportation service are cheaper. As for the hospital choices, this is actually a big issue, especially if we're dealing with trauma. One of the biggest problems with trauma care is transportation. Because you're choosing a hospital based on what you can afford, it might not always be the correct type of hospital and you can get transferred multiple times. This isn't good because time is of the essence when it comes to trauma.
As I've only been in the Surgical ICU, I can only talk about this specific room. However, based on what the doctor mentioned, I can assume that all the places in the hospital are pretty similar. Korea is a much more supportive of the collectivism society. So, all the patients are put in a large room, with curtains if need be. In America, SICU patients are typically put in separate rooms. In addition to that, doctors and nurses all wear the same type of scrubs. It's color coded depending on the unit you're in, in America. Personally, I think that this makes people view that everybody is equal and I think that's pretty amazing. It has a sense of everybody is important in this job and everybody has to work together.
Interesting Fact of the Day
A Korean favorite is a simple chicken and beer combo.
*What I've noticed
*This was written up on Monday, but I waited to post as I was waiting for data. However, I have not yet obtained the data and will post again when I receive it.