Missing Hospital Case Study

When Marion arrives in Bronx he instantly feels culture shock from the speed and lack of noise of American cars, to the short tempered cab driver that threatens him with a gun (Verghese, 2009, p.464). Marion was familiar with the Missing Hospital in Africa, and nearly oblivious to the fact that Our Lady of Perpetual Succour was understaffed and poor compared to other hospitals (Verghese, 2009, p. 467). However, Marion seemed to truly enjoy the long hours of caring for patient’s that Missing wouldn’t have been able to treat despite the vast amount of crime and reputation of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (Verghese, 2009, p.478). When Marion has to tell Mr. Walters that he had cancer, he finally gets a chance to connect with a patient and even
Ghana is a developing country where practices of alternative and herbal medicine is preferred over going to a hospital or other medical facility, especially where people do not have access or can’t afford the costs (Essebegy, 2015). There are also cultural influences such as the rights as women and maternal health. Abortions are relatively inexpensive and safe, but are only available in few private clinics and are prohibited for women and members of their family (Drislane, Akpalu, & Wegdam, 2014). Throughout my job, I work in places where women become pregnant without a strong system of familial or medical support. It is significant for me to remember that women in Ghana often perform most of the chores at home, whereas more women in America are going to college and joining the workforce instead of staying home to bear children. In America, healthcare is mostly available to all citizens and there are Welfare and health discount programs to try to broaden medical opportunities to poorer citizens. While abortions are not prohibited for women in America, there are religious and personal beliefs that can negatively affect the stigma of women receiving abortions. In addition, there are more facilities for women to get safe abortions. Planned Parenthood has 80 percent of their abortion clinics in less privileged areas of America, and the two most common reasons for abortions are lack of finances and that the
My current duty is to bring medical care to individuals in Ghana who couldn’t regularly access health care facilities and also could not afford them, while also educating patients by removing stigma. Patients that have a different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds can still receive quality care by having a health care provider that does not form ethnic bias and educates them. As a professional, it is important to listen not only to what the patient says, but how they speak and their body language. An individual might not be educated enough to explain their symptoms in an intelligible sentence, or could fear the professional doesn’t believe them. In this instance, it is vital to wait until the patient is finished speaking about their symptoms to begin educating them on the possible causes and diagnoses of their condition. In addition, the professional must speak in a way that does not undermine the patient but is clear enough for them to understand. I would also employ the idea of asking patients about their day, or make some kind of encouraging small talk to make them feel comfortable before talking about a potentially serious medical