My stay at KEMRI was a great privilege I learnt a lot. It was a great experience acquiring more knowledge, meeting with different people, visiting different places and given the opportunity to feel like one of the KEMRI community

WEEK 1&2: COMMUNITY LIAISON GROUP

This is one of the important departments at KEMRI. It deals with enhancing relationship between KEMRI and the community. It was established after finding that the society had little understanding about KEMRI and had a lot of rumors. Selected members are used to represent the community i.e the KEMRI Community Representatives (KCRs) and Community Health Volunteers (CHVs). They air out their complaints and suggestions which KEMRI responds to. I got to understand that the society still needs more awareness still, they still have strong beliefs which are against KEMRIs activities. The main challenge is making one understand since their beliefs are strong. We visited different places and for sure it was indeed a great experience.

WEEK 3&4: WARDS

In the wards I visited three places; the pediatric ward, High dependency unit (HDU) and the pharmacy. The pediatric ward deals with children. In there I saw how a patient is first received and the essential information is collected, and all measurements are noted. The patient’s parents are then informed about research which is voluntary and after that the patient is taken care of. Children in critical condition are taken to the HDU where they are closely monitored. I learnt how to dispense medicine in the pharmacy. I learnt how they keep track of what is in store and also compounding of medicine into the required quantities. It was indeed a great experience being a small doctor in the wards and I also had difficult moments seeing children in critical conditions and some losing their lives. This experience gave me more courage.

WEEK 5&6: LABORATORIES.

This is where all the questions and doubts about KEMRI research were answered. I got to see how the samples are stored and preserved. It has three sections.
1) IMMUNOLOGY; As the name suggest deals with all things to do with the immune system. It also deals with genetic composition disorders and parasitic culture. The parasite featured most here is the mosquito due to the frequent malaria outbreak in Kilifi county. I got to learn the three different types of mosquitoes.
2) MICROBIOLOGY; It deals with bacterial infections, there is also a desk that deals with HIV research. Here things are more practical, and I enjoyed every bit. They also do microbiology culture where organisms are multiplied by letting them reproduce. Thereafter they are subjected to different drug and the reaction suggest which drug is more effective and it’s administered to the patient. I also took part in preparation of the plates and subjecting drugs to the bacteria, it was really awesome.
3) CLINICAL TRIALS LAB; This is connected to the sickle cell clinic where they take samples and check their hemoglobin level and also malaria cases since sicklers are prone to Malaria. I learn of the different types of malaria parasites i.e the plasmodium, vivax and falciparum and also got the privilege to see them through a microscope. This lab does texts from another patient’s also and submit results to the respective departments for more interventions.
My stay at KEMRI was awesome since things were much more practical. It was fun, full of exposure. Thanks to KEMRI and congratulations because indeed you are doing a great job