Cheers for the heads up

This blog is another one relating to my experiences in Cambodia. I was at the CSC for 2 and a half weeks. For the last week that I was there, the one physio at the centre did not come to work for the first half of the day. He is in his 5th year of studying medicine and was on clinical placement at another facility during the mornings of that last week I was there.

I felt pretty confident by this point so I wasn’t too intimidated, although it was pretty hard work trying to treat patients for most of the day when they spoke a completely different language to you. Although it would have been nice for the physio to have mentioned to me on the Friday that he wouldn’t be there at all on the Monday. That was a bit intimidating at first not knowing that he wasn’t going to be there, but no big deal.

I did get a lot of help form some of the IT staff, who came and helped to translate when I needed it. One example is a young girl who I had removed her cast after having lengthening to her calf, who was going home and needed to be given an HEP of stretches and some general education. I don’t think I would have been able to do this successfully without the help from the IT staff who translated for me. As I mentioned in a previous post, we did learn several Khmer words and phrases (such as; where is the pain, copy this/do this, a little more, relax, sit, stand, contract/press against, slow down, have a rest) which were extremely helpful when I did not have anyone who could translate for me. Non-verbal communication was also a huge part of treating these patients due to the language barrier.

To be honest, it turned out very well for the CSC that a physio student was there for some of the time while their physio wasn’t there because if he wasn’t able to be at work, then the work simply would not have gotten done. Most of the patients would not have done any stretches or exercise without someone telling them to several times throughout the day. No one would have assessed patients pre-op, windows would not have been cut into casts, and casts would not have been removed. So while being under a bit of stress, it was still very rewarding to know that you are actually making a difference. I also learned a huge amount about non-verbal communication, treating patients who cannot speak English, improvising, and working independently in not necessarily the best of conditions. I feel these experiences have already made me a better clinician, and will help me in many clinical situations in the future.