Here's a few words from PCS Summer Intern Taylor Leet-Otley:
Having
concluded the May 2013 surgical mission, most of the work at the center will
now focus on tabulating the extensive data collected from patients during this
mission and previous ones. PCS uses an electronic database called redcap to
manage its data, so much of my time at the center consists of putting patient
records into that software, from where they can be easily searched and
formatted. In the future, this sort of database will hopefully be useful in
spotting demographic trends amongst Palestinian families with birth defects,
helping to isolate which environmental and behavioral factors lead to the
development of conditions like cleft lip and palate. The goal for this data
collection is eventually to have an electronic record of every birth defect in
the Palestinian territories, but for now a lot of work goes into managing the
abundance of patients in the West Bank. While that goal is currently a long way
from being achieved, the database is growing every day, and I have high hopes
that this will be a positive asset for Palestine’s medical infrastructure.
As of last
week, I’ve finished working at the Center in Al-Bireh, and concluded most of my
work for this summer’s PCS Internship. Overall it was a wonderful experience
and I feel as though I learned a lot in my time there. The staff at both PCS
and the Palestine Medical Complex Hospital were both inviting and helpful, and
it was a pleasure to get to work with them all. Overall I’d say the experience
gave me a better appreciation of Palestinian culture and showed me a lot about
the difficulties of managing a healthcare system. I’ll be returning to the
center to work with the other intern, Marina, over the next few weeks, but for
now I’m happy to say that I’m very satisfied with my experience working with
PCS.
