When I arrived at the front doors of the General Hospital of Agios Nikolaos in Crete, it’s safe to say I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Here I was, a final year medical student on the other side of the world wondering if my 12 years of Greek school would be enough to get me through speaking to staff and patients? What could go wrong?
I was introduced to my tour guide who quickly gave me my first lessons for the morning. Από εδώ έχουμε τα επείγοντα… I nodded my head and realised from the waiting room and paramedics bringing in patients that he must have said the Emergency department. Στα δεξιά σου δουλεύουν οι ακτινολόγοι. Once again, I understood only through context of the large CT machine that he was pointing to the radiology department. We strolled past the Παθολόγους or the medical team as we continued to approach where I would be spending my next six weeks. Throughout the tour, what impressed me the most was just how similar the hospital was to home. If it wasn’t for the spattering of Εικονίσματα and the Dr’s pacing the floors with frapedes and fredocappucinos then I could’ve well been in a small Melbourne hospital.
Eventually I was introduced to my team, the Χειρουργούς General surgeons. I was enthusiastically greeted by my supervisor Dr Efthimios Koumendakis who after brief introductions, affectionately thought that καγκουρώ would be a more appropriate name than Stefanos for the new medical student on the team. We quickly began discussing the patients on the ward. Bed one has been bleeding and now has αναιμία (anaemia), bed 7 has χολοκυστίτιδα (cholecystitis-inflamed gallbladder) and would need surgery. Bed 9 has abnormal liver function; we should screen to see if they have ηπατίτιδα (hepatitis). It was then that I was remembered that I was now in the birthplace of Western medicine. These words all sounded so familiar because I, like every other doctor around the world, had been speaking Greek throughout my whole medical training.
Aside from being a great place to practise my suturing skills and discuss interesting patients, my time in Agios Nikolaos taught me so much about Greece and the Greek people. For one, I’ve never met more hospitable people. When we travel to the tourist hotspots in Greece it’s easy to be treated well as this “customer service” is what people’s businesses rely on. In this environment though, the true Φιλοξενία shone. People went above and beyond to teach me, accommodate me, and make me feel at home. I also saw firsthand just how hard some people in Greece must work. The junior doctors would often be expected to work 30-hour shifts without complaint.
Whilst there were some harsh realities of working in a hospital system on the brink of economic turmoil, I am so grateful to the staff in the hospital for allowing me to learn, develop and experience things I would never otherwise see. The trip may have only lasted 6 weeks, but the memories will last a lifetime.
Stefanos Hadzakis
