As I reflect during my final days in Kijabe, I realize that this experience has both solidified my confidence in what I know and also highlighted areas that I am continuing to learn.
On my first day in clinic, between 5 clinic rooms, we saw 150 patients. The variation in pathology extended the entire breadth of general surgery, most of which I had seen before.
However, there was also some urology mixed in as well as some disease processes that are relatively rare at home but seem to be common here, such as gastric and esophageal malignancies. Similarly, in the operating room, I have been given more guided independence than I am used to. With a more active role and heightened sense of responsibility I feel more comfortable now than when I arrived with many general surgical cases.
Nevertheless, I have also had the opportunity to scrub into some more unusual cases, such as a superficial parotidectomy for a pleomorphic adenoma. As I finish off my last week and think back on all the patients and cases that I have seen, I appreciate both the knowledge that I have and the knowledge I have yet to gain.