Today, I learned the true meaning of privilege. It was my first day at the hospital and I was super excited to be in the OB/GYN department and get some unique shadowing experience. However, my day did not go as planned. I got to the hospital and about 30 minutes in, I passed out. It wasn’t because I saw something gory or because I was overwhelmed by the environment. It was just simple dehydration. Before I go into what happened after I passed out, I want to talk a little bit about the hospital ward that I was in. I was in the recovery and newborn ward. The recovery ward was basically a series of rooms with multiple beds in them. Unlike in the States, where most patients have their own rooms, each section of the recovery ward had at least 6 beds in it. The room wasn’t over-crowded with patients or anything, but there were still many patients there who needed medical attention and a doctor to come and check up on their recovery.
When I woke up after passing out, there were literally five doctors crowded over me examining me. I remember being very confused as to where I was and why I was being examined. The doctors helped me up and I thought they were going to put me on one of the beds in the recovery ward, just so that I could gather my senses. Instead, they took me to a private room and had the nurses make up a fresh bed for me. In my still confused state, I remember being annoyed that they were taking me into a private room because I was almost completely fine and there were other patients in the recovery ward who could have probably benefited from a private room. The room also had 2 other beds, which could have been used to give some other patients a little bit more privacy. But because I am a student from the US, I was given this private room for a menial health problem. I am still very upset about this unintended privilege which I received.
After I had rested a little bit, one of the doctors came in and told me that they wanted to run some additional tests on me because I had suffered a small seizure when I passed out. Obviously, I got freaked out when I heard this, but I decided that some tests would be best. For the tests, I was taken to the casualty ward, which is kind of like the hospital emergency room. The casualty ward was extremely crowded and there were at least fifty people in the waiting room with various (and some very severe) injuries and illnesses. Probably 99% of the people in the waiting room were in greater need of immediate medical care than I was. However, due to my citizenship, I was expedited through the check-in process. I particularly remember one man I was put ahead of who had his bloody hand wrapped in a dirty towel. I just felt so guilty for receiving medical attention before he did. I was also escorted through all my tests by one of the doctors from the OB/GYN ward. It was really nice of him to come with me through all of the tests, but at the same time, I’m sure there were patients who could have used his knowledge and expertise in the hour that he was helping me. The casualty ward was extremely crowded and had five or six beds and maybe five doctors. Three of these doctors attended to me and ran my tests. I was so shocked and angry that I was receiving this much attention when there were so many other patients in desperate need of medical attention. Some of them looked like they had been waiting for hours. But I had three doctors running multiple tests on me like pregnancy, malaria, and blood glucose and asking me multiple questions about my medical history. Again, I felt so embarrassed and guilty that I was receiving all this attention when there were so many other people in need.
I always knew that US citizens have more privilege than other citizenships, but I never realized how drastic this effect was until I experienced it firsthand today. I do not enjoy this privilege because it disgusts and embarrasses me. Why should I be treated well because of where I was born? However, I am glad that I had this experience because I now have a renewed perspective on how medical practice differs around the world and why disparities in medical care exist. This experience inspires me to work towards my goal which is to alleviate some of the inequalities in healthcare that various populations around the globe face.
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