Yunnan Research Trip

I've been so busy with India blogging that I haven't been able to write about my research trip back to Yunnan Province, to the same city that I visited with Adam and Dr. Qiao earlier this year.  Since I was there last, I have helped design the protocol and study report forms for a study of cervical neoplasia among HIV-infected women.  It will be a study with a year-long follow-up to try to determine the effects of antiretroviral therapy on CIN in HIV+ women.  This was our first data gathering trip, and we managed to screen 164 women whose cervixes had never seen the light of day! (By comparison, our western cervixes are quite sunburned I suppose ;) )  We will need to return at a later date and screen at least 136 more to reach our goal of 300 women.

The first night as soon as we arrived, we were confronted with proof we had changed climes: palm trees instead of snow!

We were taken to a restaurant to eat Yunnan-ese food, which is really different from food in northern China.  They have more fish and soups.  All of the soups have lots of things floating in them, but you are only supposed to drink the broth, the floaty things were to create flavor.  Most things taste good (like that fish in stage center) or at least interesting, but there is some sort of seasoning that smells and tastes RANCID to my nose and tongue.  Everyone else ate it merrily, so it must not taste like rotten carrion to them, but man, its one of the few things I've encountered that I can't swallow even for politeness' sake.  And the worst thing is that its a seasoning, not a specific dish, so I still don't know what it is!

In China, many low to medium price-range restaurants will have raw food in display cases, and customers select what they would like cooked.  

Sometimes the things on display are definitely different than what I would consider eating - at least in that form!

In Yunnan, the kitchens were very open, not hiding behind doors or anything.  Here is a kitchen in a restaurant, complete with cook picking his nose ;)

The next morning, we went straight to the Luxi County Women and Children's Hospital where we would be doing the screening. This is me with Dr. Zhang, the ob/gyn from Yunnan who had the idea for the study and has been the major force behind it all coming together.  We are in the courtyard of the hospital.

She brought a medical student, Xiao Fei with her to Mangshi.  It was great to have another student to talk to, and we had fun comparing Chinese and American medical education systems.  She also made 2 people that I could talk to for the 4 days I was there instead of one, since she also spoke english, unlike any of the students or personnel in Mangshi.

For 3 days, we did nothing but cervical exams on women all day long.  In China, many of the ideas about privacy we have in America don't exist, so its possible to screen 50 women in one morning, 2 in a room on the exam table with 2 waiting 'on deck' with their clothes already removed.  It was a bit strange at first, but it did facilitate rapid screening.  At first I served as the 'scrub tech' to Dr. Zhang, sitting behind her at the instrument table and handing her things that she needed during the exam.  By the end of the first day, I knew exactly what she would want before she asked for it, and I would have it waiting for her.  (Btw, my respect for real scrub techs in operating rooms has gone up, I could not deal with the peculiar mix of attention and boredom it involved).  On the second day, Dr. Zhang let me try a few of the simple procedures in the exam, and by the last day I could do the whole exam by myself!

We always took a break for lunch; here is me with Xiao Fei and Dr. Jiang, the Vice Director of the hospital, eating dumplings.  These are actually something I will miss about China when I leave, sooo good!

Finally, we were in Mangshi just at the tail end of the spring festival, which is not only celebrated by the Han majority (the people we normally think of as 'Chinese') but also by many minority peoples who live in China.  One night we went to a square and learned some traditional dances of the JingBo people.  It was fun, but I don't think we were dressed properly!

Overall it was a very successful trip and I really enjoy working with Dr. Zhang.  I wish I had her as my attending physician in the US!