A Physician Assistant in Africa Describes Her Unique Experience

“Hi, I am your Physician Assistant and I will be working in this medical mission with Dr. Green and nurse Holtz. My name is Wanda and we will be helping to meet your medical needs until the end of this month.” I introduced myself to a small village in South Africa. My team was assigned here for our medical mission. As a physician assistant, I provide care just like the doctor does.

A few hours after this quick introduction, my team and I started working. Dr. Green was soon occupied by doing head surgery on a boy who fell off a rock. I was then left alone examining patients. Most of the kids were malnourished and sickly. As I was getting almost done with the first half of the queue, a panting man was running toward me. He was bloody all over and worried about him. “Sir, are you alright?” I asked. “I’m ok but my wife isn’t. She is under a tree right now.” Thoughts run through my head.

“Is she injured?”

“No, she is not. She is not feeling well.” He replied.

“What’s going on with her?” I asked again.

“Please come with me now.” He panicked.

I stuffed my bag with all the surgical tools I had. Looking at this man, I thought that his wife might have a very serious injury. I looked up and looked around searching for the tree. I saw no tree anywhere. “I do not see a tree nearby.”

“Maam, it was too heavy to carry her. I left her under the tree around three kilometers away from her.” My mouth felt open at this statement.

I wanted to get there fast, so I took the ATV and he sat behind me. I drove as fast as I could until we reached the tree. The woman was shouting, “It’s coming. It’s coming.”

The woman was having a baby. I didn’t even consider this possibility. The man never mentioned anything about this. I didn’t even have an extra blanket for the baby. Nonetheless, I started working for the woman already 10cm dilated and the baby was crowning. I guided her as she pushed and gave her a medio-lateral episiotomy. After several minutes, under the heat of the sun and the shade of this tree with very big leaves, a baby boy was born. I cut his umbilical cord, cleared his nose from mucus, wiped him and wrapped him with his mother’s turban. After that, I delivered the placenta and stitched up the mother. The couple thanked me endlessly. It was their first child.

“Please wait here. I will be back with clean sheets for your baby,” I told them Viagra Professional and rode the ATV. As I drove back to the village I mused. This is one of the most interesting incidents in my career as a PA. It was not only my first time to deliver a baby alone but also it was my first time to deliver a baby under a tree.

I love being a Physician’s Assistant, because my work can vary so much from day to day and I am able to help others in their time of need.

Author Bio: MedicalJobs.ORG (http://www.medicaljobs.org) explores many different healthcare careers and medical jobs. A detailed Physician Assistant job description is available on the site. Learn more about Physician Assistants at http://www.medicaljobs.org/careers/Physician-Assistants.php

Category: Career
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