Today started off with getting all my bags together to head to London. We dropped our suitcases in the lobby area and then grabbed our last breakfast… I will miss that buffet. Then, we headed to BCU for two more lessons. When we got there, I got an iced hazelnut latte from Costa then headed upstairs for our first lesson on Adult Critical Care & Cardiology in Developing Countries. We mainly focused on comparing Nigeria, the UK, and the US. When looking at the main causes of deaths in these countries, cardiovascular disease stands out as a leading cause.
In Nigeria, I was surprised that cardiovascular disease is a main reason for death because we actually started the lecture talking about diseases commonly associated with Africa. Some of these included malaria and Ebola. Despite these having a presence in Africa, cardiovascular disease is still more prevalent. Not only is it very common, but it tends to show up in the population about 10 years earlier than in the UK and US. A reason behind this could be that Nigeria has no national health care coverage. This makes it harder for individuals to receive treatment earlier on in life that would help as preventative care.
While cardiovascular health complications do tend to show up later in life, we learned that these numbers are getting lower. Although smoking is not quite as common these days, vaping is extremely common amongst young people. Our professor mentioned how many people are drawn to this because it seems more harmless when it smells like strawberries, for example. Numbers, though, show that people are certainly affected by these actions, which was backed up by a personal experience for her because she once had a very young patient come in with cardiovascular problems. Smoking, while dangerous, is not the only reason for disease or complications. Diets and exercise also matter, especially in the US where we are served bigger portions and are surrounded by processed foods. These kinds of environmental factors can undoubtedly be harmful to our hearts. A lot of the time, people are unaware of the dangers in the food and drinks they consume. That is why our speaker warned us to be aware of hidden sugars. With this being said, if people do create better habits for themselves, cardiovascular health can be promoted.
Our next lesson was from Adekola Ogundare and it was on electrocardiograms (ECG). He engaged with us by asking us questions throughout his lecture, to see what we knew from already learning some of this information in Anatomy and Physiology. I learned that some reasons why an ECG would be performed is due to chest pain, for a pre or post operative assessment, and upper abdominal pain. This lesson also helped to reiterate some key facts about the heart that I had started to forget. I was reminded of the electrical signal pathway of the heart, which starts at the SA node (the pacemaker of the heart), then moves to the AV node, through the bundle of his and bundle branches, to purkinje fibers, which help to contract the heart. Adekola also reminded us some more information about the AV node and why it works on a delay of .12-.2 seconds. This happens because it allows the atria to finish contracting before the ventricles contract. If this did not occur, the ventricles would contract too early and not enough blood would be pumped to the lungs and the rest of the body. I also learned about electrodes and leads and the difference between them. Electrodes are sticky sensors placed on a patient’s skin that detect the heart’s electrical activity. Leads are the recordings of the heart’s electrical activity, more specifically, from one part of the body to another.
After our lessons, we had to say our goodbyes to BCU, which meant saying bye to Chinenye :(. This was emotional for everyone because she has truly been a ray of sunshine this entire trip. Her passion as a nurse radiates in every room she is in and it is so admirable. It felt so weird having this goodbye because it reminded us all that our trip is coming to an end. After months of waiting for this trip to come, I cannot believe that it will be over in just two days. Despite feeling bittersweet, I am more than grateful for the opportunities it has provided me with and I will always treasure my time in Birmingham.
Once we got to London, I and some others in the group went with Dr. Marks to Paddington Station. We checked out the Paddington store, which was so cute! To end the night, we had our alumni dinner. I had salmon and matcha cheesecake and was very pleased. It was lovely speaking to an alumni who sat at our table. She has now lived in London for 18 years and gave us some ideas for places to go to for dinner tomorrow. I am excited to explore London tomorrow and will be back for an update at the end of the day!
