Day 5!

Today we met at 11:30am and went to TMU. On the way, our taxi driver got lost and drove us by NTU before realizing that he was at the wrong hospital. In the end, we made it to TMU but our taxi fare was almost 30 NT more than usual! When we arrived, we ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria, which was buffet style. I got the 5 grain rice with wintermelon, mapo tofu, Taiwanese A vegetables, and a chicken drumstick. The food was very tasty and looked pretty healthy as well! During our break, before class, I went to WuXing Market and bought a UV umbrella from one of the everyday goods shop for 30 NT. For our class, we learned about a medical mission to Swaziland from Dr. Shih. He was a very humorous man who gave us a very interesting presentation on his trip to Swaziland. 


We then went for a tour of TMU! This was definitely a highlight of the day!!! First stop, we got to see the Traditional Medicine section of the hospital. There, we were introduced to Dr. Lin, who performed acupuncture on both Neema and James. It was extremely interesting to learn that Chinese medicine doctors had to learn Western biomedicine before pursuing Eastern, Chinese medicine. It was also interesting to learn about the various herbs that the hospital and pharmacy sold!! Personally, I have always been interested in learning more about Chinese herbal medication and being able to see all the different herbs was both intriguing and exciting! 

We then got to see the weight management department of the hospital. It was extremely shocking to learn that overweight and obesity are becoming major problems in Taiwan society. I have always thought that these problems were more exclusive to the U.S and China. However, we learned that many Taiwanese are getting more and more obese, causing hospitals to start weight management departments.   The weight management departments offered diet plans, exercise rooms, and also gave the patients opportunities to choose certain operations, such as the lap band!


Moving on, we got to see the VIP wards of the hospital. It was interesting to see that in a country with national health care, there were still some aspects of unequal care. In this case, if you had money, you could pay for more comfort and bigger rooms in the VIP ward. This experience showed me a whole different side of Taiwan health care in a sense that those with money could still pay for better care, while those without money had to settle for equal, lesser care. 


Overall, the hospital tour was very enlightening because not only did we get to see different parts of the hospital, we also learned about the different problems Taiwan healthcare and society have to deal with. For example, we learned that doctors are no longer specializing because of the high number of malpractice suits and the comparatively low salaries. Thus, hospitals are struggling to find doctors for their ob/gyn departments. However, Taiwan's fertility rate is extremely low; thus, not too many ob/gyn doctors are needed since not many babies are born!!  


After the hospital, a few of us hit up the Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe. Let's just say... I was in heaven! I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Hello Kitty Love!!