Just finished a rotation at Riggs Community Health Clinic. It’s the non-profit clinic for the indigent (“ain’t got no money”) population here in Lafayette. It’s big system set up of a paucity of staff trying to maintain a sorely-needed community utility. Overworked physicians/nurse practitioners treat the patients. Medicaid and government grants keep the lights on. Drug representatives provide free samples of medication. Eduardo keeps the floors clean.
It at first appears as a doctor’s office, except that they do their best even if you have zero insurance. There’s also a whole team including psychiatrist, social worker, and dietitian. There isn’t a RPh on staff, so I tailed a bunch of doctors around for 4 weeks and did various projects for the professor, the faculty preceptor.
I’m kind of an idiot when it comes to healthcare. Mostly because my own experiences when I became ill mostly took place while I was unconscious. (Mom usually didn’t see a need for professional intervention until my fevers had really progressed.) So I learned a lot of basics about doctor visits in general and all the bullshit nurses have to put up with (Apparently, a lot. Some of it from doctors.)
The patient population is… different than what I’m used to. They’s poor. They are all at Riggs because they either have Medicaid, Medicare or no insurance whatsoever. Riggs reaches out to the homeless and addicts and shelters in addition to making itself available to poor families and seniors. It’s a socioeconomic class I really didn’t (and continue not to) “get”, the culture being so… different.
I see a lot of Crocs.
And bilateral full arm tattoos.
And iPhones, oddly enough. (Well done, Apple. You’ve gotten people who can’t afford their childrens’ vaccinations to pony up for your newest device. Bravo.)
Yeah, so my informational brochure, “Twerk your way to a healthy BMI” didn’t go over so well with this patient population. Apparently, it has too many technical terms and jargon for them. I probably should go after smoking cessation moreso than obesity. (Both being big problems.) if only because it kind of is gut-wrenching to hear what some of the patients (especially the pregnant ones) admit to doing. But I don’t really understand firsthand how addictive smoking is so I don’t really feel like my advice is genuine.
Although come to think of it, I don’t really understand twerking either. Maybe that’s my problem.