Medicine: We are back at INTERNSHIP

I’ve waited five years to write this post. Well, not to write it, but to live the moment.

It’s been a while since I wrote anything about Medicine, so it was time to change that.

Today I’m back, and this week I started my Internship :)

I don’t know how it is in other countries, but in Cuba, during the last year of the degree, you rotate through the five “most comprehensive” specialties. In one year, you rotate through Family Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Pediatrics, and Internal Medicine . It’s all more focused on medical practice. You are already a doctor (but without the salary of one)

As a medical student, getting here is an achievement. Although, more than one prescribes antibiotics to treat viral colds. This is the moment when you gain the most independence and knowledge.

This week began a rather demanding year.

My rotation starts with Family Medicine. There’s not much to say about it that you don’t already know.

_{My office these days}

I’m one of those who believes that the family doctor plays an important role in the health of every human being, because they are the doctor we are closest to and the one we see the most. The problem is that in Cuba, this specialty has been greatly distorted. Adding to the country’s reality, today family doctors prefer to sell any product rather than attend to a consultation.

In this difficult reality, I begin my rotation in Family Medicine (MGI).

We were assigned to one of the most important medical settings in my city, located on one of the main avenues, Calle 23 in Vedado.

We’ve been here for a week, and I couldn’t feel more useless in my life.

The routine here is simple. The day starts at 9 in the morning or later, whenever the nurse decides to arrive (she lives above the clinic).

Then the doctor arrives, after complaining ten times about the country’s situation, and begins to see patients.

Mostly, they are patients who come to have their BP checked or to get a prescription because the medications have arrived at the pharmacy (which happens once a week)

This week, the neighbors were happy because a donation arrived in the province (due to the hurricane), and for the first time this year, antibiotics came to the pharmacy. Cuba being Cuba.

Around noon, the doctor goes out for lunch, and it’s supposed that in the afternoon, consultations resume, but the reality is that the clinic closes, and we all leave. Some days we go out to visit patients and have some coffee (don’t blame me, the patients spoil the doctor).

The night shift was more of the same. Five patients all night, three of them asthmatics in crisis (the weather change doing its thing) and two hypertensives to check their pressure. The first because he was drinking with friends and the second because he ate too much.

That’s how the week has gone. But we were already warned about this reality.

What has worried me the most in these two days is how Cubans have acquired so much medical knowledge that it’s frightening. It’s frightening because medical knowledge is a double-edged sword.

In these days, no one has come with an ailment or to ask about a medication dosage. The doctor knows that patients self-medicate, which means that many of those treatments are incorrect.

Although Google and AI have advanced, they still can’t replace six years of medical education, and many times they don’t even come close to a valid diagnosis.

This situation is more concerning because my city has the highest longevity in the entire country.

(If you’re reading this, health can be costly and tedious, but if you don’t know the medication, DO NOT self-medicate; you can do more harm to yourself.)

It doesn’t matter who recommended it to you; in medicine, 2+2 is not always 4. Each body is a world; what worked for your crush might harm you. Always consult your trusted doctor and be patient with us; we just want you to get better.

_{My colleagues}

Back to my rotation: Family Medicine, we’ll be there until December, just before the year ends.

It’s going to be seven long weeks, but we’ll take some lessons or curiosities from here; dealing with the public in primary care is always a challenge. This is just the beginning.

If you want to leave a question, you know where to leave it (in the comments).

I would like to ask you, how is family medicine in your country? I would love to read your thoughts.

Remember not to self-medicate

If you want to know more about medical life in Cuba, check out my blog and read whatever interests you.

If I didn’t bore you, consider following me so we can discover Cuba and medicine together, but above all, to connect a bit more.

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