20 April 2017

Today we divided and conquered with our work at MKMC.  The students and Dr. Manning went on Ward Rounds with the Clinical Officer, Vincent, and Dr. Pauling and I helped Janine, the Health Education Missionary, complete a Pharmacy Audit required by the Ministry of Health.  And while the Wilkes-Binghamton Crew was at the MKMC, Dr. Crowe and Dr. Flores headed off to see OneWorld Health’s newest clinic in Uganda in Bulima with the Administrators, Patrick and Baluku.  When we got back together at lunchtime, it was clear that everyone had a fantastic day!  Dr. Manning raved about how well the students have able to learn about the Ugandan diseases and independently work-up patients and present them to the Clinicians.  I wasn’t surprised at her comments. Tristram, Becky and Jess have been wonderful! I’ve seen much growth in knowledge of culture and tropical illnesses as well as growth in their confidence while working in this very different environment and I’ve been very pleased.  The group has gotten along so well together! Tomorrow is their last day of clinical rotation, ever! They will be done with Pharmacy School as of tomorrow and shortly after they return to the USA, they will be graduating and on to their futures- which I’m sure will be immensely successful!  We also had a guest visitor on Rounds today; John, the Makerere Pharmacy student who showed us around Masindi District Hospital yesterday, was able to join them for rounds.  There aren’t many pharmacists in Masindi and when I found out that John was from Masindi and had a job at Masindi District Hospital, I made sure to invite him to MKMC to see the fine work they are doing.  John was able to join us in Masindi last fall as well.  Today I got to introduce him to Daniel, the Regional Director of MKMC, as well as the on-site Administrator, Baluku.  Perhaps in the future when John is a full pharmacist, he may be able to consult with MKMC to help them with their Medication Use.  

Dr. Pauling and I got a chance to learn more about the Pharmacy Dispensing and Drug Storage processes today as we helped Janine with the Pharmacy Audit.  Joyce, the head of the Pharmacy Store (pharmacy drug and laboratory supplies stock) was a great help! We had to keep asking her to pull stock cards so we could double check the supplies on the shelf.  Basically, whenever we found positive results, we listed 1 point on the data collection form. If the procedure wasn’t followed, we had to list “0” points.  Joyce was so happy every time we could give her a “1”!  Although there can still be some improvement, I was impressed with their overall performance and when talking with Janine, I learned the results were extra good because they had definitely improved from the last audit.  

Tomorrow is our last day at MKMC and we will start the morning by providing a CME for the staff.  More about that tomorrow.