The other side of CMC

Up until yesterday, we had been exposed to only one side of CMC. We were part of the Staff, Physicians, and Students, but yesterday Jami and I learned was it was like to be a patient. Jami needed a checkup, and luckily the friend that I ran into from Baylor knew some people at CMC that could help us out. First we had to find the Physician, his name is Dr. Mathai. It took us quie some time and multiple buildings to do that. Once we found him, we spent less than 5 minutes with him, but he gave us our next mission... to make a chart for Jami. Now in the states, staff takes care of that, but here the patient must. We were absolutely lost! We had no idea what to do or where to go or who to talk to. At one point, Jami tried asking a security gaurd where we needed to go, he had no idea what we were saying, but someone who did overheard us. His name is Joseph, and he was so very, very helpful. In fact, he did everything for us! Even then it was a difficult and time consuming process. There were so many long lines with multiple payments and so many forms to fill out. Finally, we got what we needed to proceed, her chart number. From there we had to find Dr. Mathai once again, but this time in clinic so that he could give us a lab slip. Then, we had to wait in line again. One thing that is quite interesting here is that people as a whole do not stand in line. There is not waiting for your turn. People see an opening and take it, even if you have been waiting. This happened multiplte times throughout our day's adventure. We learned, though. We started to make sure there was no way someone could cut in front, and when someone was hovering as if waiting for that opportunity, we were ready! In the end, we got everything done that we needed, but it was quite and adventure finding out the other side even though we were helped so much. It makes me so thankful for our system back home even with all of its own flaws.