I had never seen green cake until today. The tres leche (three milk) cake that we ate during clinica this morning was sweet and moist. And what was even greater than the beautiful pink flowers adorning the top of the cake was the purpose behind this cake, which was to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Clinica Martin Baro, a student-run clinic that offers free health care to underserved patient populations in San Francisco.Undergraduates from San Francisco State University run the clinic, making it possible for UCSF medical students to serve and learn from the patients. Most the patients visiting Clinica are Spanish-speaking, which makes for interesting patient interviews given my limited Spanish proficiency.
Today was not too busy. So, my classmate and I had an adequate amount of time to interview our patient and perform a directed physical exam. She masterfully lead the interview with impeccable Spanish, while I listened intently, occasionally picking up lines and words that were vaguely familiar from another lifetime (high school Spanish).
There is something about listening to your patient. I mean listening outside the medical box. We are programmed to identify pathology, cluster symptoms, make diagnosis and scrutinize over details. But sometimes we forget to really listen to the person sitting in front of us given our time limitation.
Mr. S was a painter by profession and his favorite color is "azul" (blue). During one part of the interview when I asked him about his "hija" (daughter), he asked me a favor: he wanted to stand up. For some reason, I was as tall as his daughter and resembled her. Interesting...
Our interview was not limited by the "15-minute" window that is prescribed in the real medical world. We had ample time to really get to know Mr. S outside his medical history. We actually learned his history.
We finished clinica early, which was an unexpected gift since I had planned for a long day in clinic.
The extra time was exactly what I needed to catch up on sleep and prepare for tonight's big event- The Medical School Prom (more details and pictures to come). I have been contracted as the unofficial photographer (well I've actually just kind of volunteered). We'll see how those pictures turn out...(Stay tuned)
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