Today was all about health because we were able to visit a hospital! The hospital was located in Baños, and it was a level one hospital meaning they do not have the capability to do major surgeries. For example, they cannot do a caesarean section surgery on a mother giving birth, but they can do one for a hernia. I really enjoyed this tour of the hospital because it revealed a lot about healthcare in Ecuador. First off, everything was free of cost in this hospital including all services and all medications/prescriptions meaning it is public healthcare. You would never find this in the United States! It was also interesting to see the wide variety of doctors like the gynecologist, dentist, psychologist, and pediatrician very close to each other. For example, the office of the dentist was right next to the office of the gynecologist. This is different from American hospitals where the different doctors have their own distinct area of the hospital.
Another major thing I noticed was that the majority of the patients I saw waiting to be seen by the doctor were with part of their family! I saw maybe one or two people in that hospital by themselves. This was a perfect display of the familism cultural health belief. As we discussed in class, familism is the influence of family values on health decisions. It is closely related to individualism and collectivism, and it was obvious that Ecuadorians tend to have an individualism familism cultural health belief since their families were along at the appointments. Another thing I realized during our visit at the hospital is that I was doing a lot of comparing and contrasting to our hospitals in the U.S. For example, I compared the technology and how they do not have as advanced technology as we do. I also compared the cleanliness and how this hospital did not appear nearly as sanitary as ours. While I was comparing, I also noticed I began to make judgments and think their hospitals are not as good as ours. But is that really a logical conclusion? Who am I to say that their hospitals and their way of doing healthcare is wrong or lesser than the Western way? This all relates back to when we discussed schemas because I have a schema about hospitals and clinics since I attend them in Minnesota. Since what I saw in the hospital today did not fit/match my schema, I judged it. But I now created a new schema and look at their hospitals not as right or wrong, but as simply theirs.
Healthcare around the world is so interesting to learn about because it is always different, so I am so grateful we were able to experience that visit. On my walk home from school after the hospital visit, I experienced something that I was not so grateful to experience. I have experienced this before on this trip, but it is now starting to get old. I stopped in at the chocolate shop to buy just one little piece to eat on my walk home; but right when I walked into the shop, the lady behind the counter began showing me all the gift boxes that would be perfect to bring home for my family members. Don’t get me wrong, the lady was very nice and was doing her job of selling as many chocolates as she could, but I sense she does not do that to the local customers. The lady did not say anything rude or negative to me, but I knew she had a perceived stereotype of me that since I am an American, I will want to buy a lot of chocolate to bring home as gifts. Although the stereotype was not life threatening, I still felt annoyed by it. It is interesting to think about all the perceived stereotypes people have of all of us students when we walk through Cuenca, but then it is important to be mindful that we have perceived stereotypes of them too because it is natural for us as humans to form those stereotypes. This is all a part of the experience of traveling abroad, and I love it all!
