Details about the Urban Health Care Center:
-The care provided at the clinic is free. They get free consultation and free medicines, which is uncommon. Most other clinics provided cheap services but not free. The downside of this is that people come and receive free drugs to sell it elsewhere. Kids even learn from their parents what they’re supposed to say to get certain drugs.
-Patients come and call the doctor “uncle,” but refers to the pharmacy worker as “doctor.” This frustrates that doctor because the people at the pharmacy are simply trying to sell drugs, regardless of what will be best for the patient, yet they get more respect. On the other hand, the doctor needs a separate helper just to give out the medicines to make clear that his jobs isn’t just to write prescriptions and give medication indiscriminately, since patients sometimes come in without symptoms but just asking for free drugs.
-Patients get upset when the doctor just gives them paracetamol (like Tylenol) for pain or fever because they’re used to getting antibiotics at the pharmacy and feel like they’re not getting enough care. But in actuality they usually get antibiotics unnecessarily and only need the basic pain killer/fever reducers.
-Scabies and rashes are among the most common illnesses seen, primarily because of the living conditions in the slums.
-There are no facilities in the clinic to do blood tests, rectal screenings (which would be helpful for diarrhea/dysentery cases), etc. There are just the bare minimum tools and the doctor doesn’t have enough time to give all of the patients physical exams. Most times he just listens to their complaints and provides medicines, especially since they don’t have the capacity to do full screenings.
Also, I have never heard not to use soap from an American doctor, but the doctor here insists that soap is unnecessary. He explained to me that soap just removed the body’s protective layer faster than it normally sheds which makes us more susceptible to infection. He says we should only just water to bathe, but should use shampoo daily. I still have to look into this further, but I was surprised to hear it. I wonder if its just because of the kind of soap they used in BD?
The most memorable patient who came in while I was working was one who complained of pain in his body after having an accident of some sort. The way he remedied his pain when he wanted to sleep was by rubbing kerosene on his body. He acted like this was a common remedy that was used for pain and insisted that he couldn’t sleep unless he did it. The doctor was extremely shocked (as was I) about this and provided the man with normal medication for pain instead.
