BLOCK 3 REFLECTION (EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE)

Using the Gibb’s Reflective Cycle to analyse my experience of Block 3 of Health System Sciences 3.

At the beginning of Block 3, as always, I thought that I was ready and mentally prepared. I thought that because I had endured block 2, it meant that block 3 would be a walk in the park, but it was war.

During the first few weeks of block 3 I remember thinking “wow Block 2 was my Cassie Era?” Because of the way block 3 made block 2 look like a Romcom. Block 3 was hell week after hell week- it was a war zone, and I was fighting for my life. At the time I felt tired, disgusting and as if nothing were going right because there was always a submission (whether it was HSS or Public Health). Every day we were working under pressure- I was sleeping late and waking up early just to meet group deadlines as well as personal ones.

Since then, I have felt like I have just come home from war- tired, feeling like I am on top of the world and losing at the same time.

The positive aspect of this block was that I kept to what I had set for that week, even if I couldn’t complete all the tasks, I had set out for myself to do in a day, by the end of the week all those tasks were complete. Unlike in the first two blocks, I made room for mistakes or laziness or a much-needed break.

Negative aspects as well as the not effective part during this block was when my focus shifted from my academic life to my personal life, which made me want to do a Bella Swan in Twilight: New Moon cry. There were a lot of days where I was extremely hurt and in need of a deep cry- more days than I would like to admit- but those days were not effective during this time. I had to compartmentalise my personal life and put it in the backseat and focus on my academics and studying for GEMP.

I chose to compartmentalise because this block was completely disgusting- it was so packed with assignments and organisational visits and attending lectures everyday where 3/5 were at 8am, it was due date after due date with submissions every week and I still needed to study for GEMP. This block was one of the most horrendous academic experiences to date.

My friend said that it was "inspiring" the way that I put my personal life and drama aside to focus on my academics and my future. I had never thought about it in that way... in my head it was "do or die".

Eventually it would have been healthier for me to feel my feelings when they surfaced. However, at this point I do realise that shifting my focus not only helped me academically but also helped me to not fall into this pit of despair that would have swallowed me whole.

During this block I developed skills such as creating on Miro, stock counting in a pharmacy, administrative work, organisational analysis and problem solving, working with people that I had never met or spoken to before it may have been war. Nevertheless, I will not neglect the fact that I did learn things about myself. Or rather, the things that I knew about myself became reality because I saw those skills get used. This block affirmed what I always say: I work well under-pressure. Although I can work well under pressure, it can get stressful which may lead to burnout and that is something that I have been trying to avoid. This means that in the future, I will continue to plan things in advance to avoid the pressure that comes with varsity at all costs- but if push comes to shove, I will be able to succeed with the task at hand. This will further benefit my professional life as resilience in medical doctors is needed because the field is extremely demanding both mentally and physically (McKinley, et al., 2019)

Topics explored during this block: Maternal and Child Health (MCH)

Block 3 has the most interesting illness out of the three. It was about maternity and child health in South Africa (but first we contextualised it from a global viewpoint). Before commencing with the topic, like in every block, there is a spark question that gets me thinking before beginning the sessions. I attempt to respond to the sparks because I have realised, they're helpful in my understanding of the triple load of sickness. According to my understanding, the spark asked about mother and child health, and the following is my response.

Maternal and child health are essential because they contribute to the Maternal Mortality Rate, which reveals a community's or country's socioeconomic position as well as the quality of healthcare given. Quality mother health ensures the infant's survival. Using maternal health as an indicator allows policymakers and health practitioners to learn what causes mothers to die and what methods/interventions could be implemented to prevent further deaths, thereby improving the healthcare available in the country, particularly in the public health sector. Antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), and vaccination birth dosages might all be interventions (Ouedraogo et al., 2019). According to Limwattananon, et al. (2010), achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) for MCH requires strong health systems, which, as of right now, South Africa lacks.

Childbirth has long been celebrated and seen as a lovely experience, which is true for some. However, following my initial visit to Mofolo CHC, my perspective on birthing shifted. Even though it is the same procedure, seeing someone in labour is very different than watching a birthing video.

Not only did we learn about mother and child, but we also learned about the country's health indicator, to which I commented in the conversation below. In many affluent nations, unless there are pathological occurrences beyond medical control, such as congenital malformations or exceptional unanticipated complications, extremely few women or infants die during the delivery process. However, progress has been slow in many underdeveloped nations. Many mothers and babies die during childbirth, often as a result of problems that might have been avoided or addressed. I understood that maternal health care and childcare may be accomplished while studying and learning new skills. To improve the health of mothers and children and to achieve improved reproductive health outcomes, one method to do this is to expand health services and provide simple access to appropriate, high-quality care.

In week 16, I defined antenatal care (ANC) as "Care that is received during the pregnancy." Its purpose is to safeguard the kid in the pregnancy and ensure that they are born healthy." However, according to Ali et al. (2018), antenatal care (ANC) is "the care offered to pregnant women to have a safe pregnancy and a healthy baby" and is one of the variables influencing maternal mortality rates. My perspective on ANC has shifted since I now understand that it is not only for high-risk pregnancies, but for all pregnancies in order to continually safeguard both mother and child.

Learning about prenatal care was crucial to me since South Africa's health system is so inadequate that I was astonished to learn about the services accessible to pregnant mothers. Antenatal care is important because it aims to detect any existing issues that could affect the mother or her unborn child, and my discussion forum entry on its importance, especially in our country, emphasises that the country really needs it because, when I did my research on the main cause of maternal deaths (discussion forum entry), it was clear that South Africa is aware of the main cause but lacks the adequate means to address the root of the problems.

HSS addressed the concepts of pregnancy and birth, as well as reproductive choice and negotiating contraception usage. Reproductive choices begin with starting a dialogue, and how one starts it matters since, while women have complete control over their bodies, engaging their partners in their decisions is extremely crucial. My preferred approach to the subject was explored.

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