Today was a packed day full with a lot of fun at different stops. We started off the day with a lecture from the Director of Health Innovation from the company Medífe, Dra. Florencia Ledesma. In this lecture, we learned about both the Obras Sociales of ASE which is for different executives, as well as the insurance company known as Medífe. It was very interesting to hear about how this system worked, as Medífe only owns one actual hospital in Argentina. Although they have different primary care centers as well, the company is not as important or useful for people who are far away from the hospital and would need to travel. One thing that was interesting about this was that those who are a part of ASE can speak with the union and change where their money goes to be able to access a healthcare network more accessible to their location. This lecture cleared up a good amount of confusion that I had about the social security area of the Argentine healthcare system, and allowed me to learn how the unions make their contracts more accessible for different members.
After visiting Medífe, we went to a beautiful private hospital called Instituto Cardiovascular de Buenos Aires, or ICBA in short. This hospital specializes in cardiovascular care, and has six different focus areas. This was a very interesting hospital visit as they work to have their patients discharged three to four hours after their procedure. This was shocking to me as most cardiac surgery or operation patients in the United States have to stay in the hospital for multiple days to ensure all went well. In talking with one of the doctors, she explained how they perform a lot of confirmatory checks like ultrasounds of the area to ensure that there were no mistakes made and the patient will be safe to go home. This was such an interesting concept to me and made me question why things like this do not occur in our healthcare system. Patients go into very modern waiting rooms where they have comfortable chairs and snacks provided while they prepare for their procedure, then return afterwards, and get discharged soon after. I really enjoyed walking around this hospital and learning about a specialized care center as well.
Finally, we went to the Malba Museum to finish out the day. This was a stunning museum featuring a private collection from the owner Eduardo Costantini, along with a rotating exhibit floor of different Latin American artists. We got to see a beautiful collection by a Brazilian artist Rosana Paulino. The first half of her exhibit was curated to represent the lost history of slavery violence in Brazil. Her work featured a lot of stitching to represent the bits and pieces that go into the history we are taught, while also missing the complete picture of the realities of slavery. The second portion had more of a brighter feel to it, and was focused more on social expansion and appreciation of life. This museum also features some works of Frida Kahlo, who is a very famous artist. On the bottom floor, they featured the work of three artists who created their pieces while spending 50 years in a mental hospital. The pieces focused on the violence and maltreatment of residents in the hospital, and the most prominent were the six blankets that were embroidered with different images representing the artist’s experiences and beliefs. Overall I thought this was an incredible museum and greatly enjoyed my time there. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings, and am very sad that we are already wrapping up our time in Buenos Aires.
