From Observation to Action: My First Weeks of Learning and Care at Bwiam General Hospital
By: Hans Bode, CAS ’28
GRIP: Power Up Gambia
The first two weeks of my internship have been an incredible journey, and I have learned so much in just the past few days. Between hands-on learning and navigating a completely new place, it’s been a very exciting time. On my first few days working at Bwiam General Hospital, I felt nervous. I knew I wanted to learn more about the hospital procedures here but wasn’t sure where to start. On my first day, after orientation and meeting the hospital staff, I jumped right into patient care by heading back to the RMNCAH (Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child, and Adolescent Health) ward for children between the ages of 2 months and 5 years. I asked the nurse working there, Kaddy, if it would be possible for me to help, as I’ve always been drawn to pediatrics, and I couldn’t have imagined a better experience.
Kaddy enthusiastically told me that any help would be wonderful and quickly taught me how to scribe. She then started walking me through the procedures for different cases. I learned the procedure for fevers, coughs, head trauma, convulsions, and more, working alongside her. I asked so many questions and was able to absorb so much from many different cases. Her patience in teaching me really shaped my first week, and I soon realized that it wasn’t just Kaddy, everyone at the hospital was eager to help me learn.
At the end of the week, I went to the HIV clinic at Bwiam General Hospital to see how else I could help, and what more I could learn. One woman, Fatou, walked me through the prescription process for patients, and throughout my time with her she would quiz me to make sure I was understanding. Again, I learned so much. I gained insight into the different drugs used to help patients here and the steps taken to prevent transmission from HIV-positive mothers to their newborn children.
I’ve also been working on several long-term projects to help Bwiam General Hospital with the other interns Dom and Madison. On our first day, the hospital’s CEO, Kebba Maneh, showed us some of the major areas needing support. Our two main projects so far involve creating a grant proposal for safer oxygen piping, currently, the oxygen tanks are freestanding, posing serious fire hazards, and developing a proposal for adding refrigeration to the mortuary, which currently has none. We’ve also been brainstorming additional areas where we might help.
Unexpectedly, I’ve been able to develop skills to help improve the hospital’s website and create a new logo, all with the long-term goal of improving the hospital’s online prescence to attract more funding.
The work here has been so exciting. I feel that if we can create successful proposals, we could make a real difference for the hospital’s future. Between learning about medicine and better understanding how the hospital works, I’m excited to see where the next few months take me. I came to this internship unsure if I wanted to pursue a career in medicine, and every day here, my career path is becoming clearer and clearer.
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