The Anti-Valentine #3

It’s STI/Condom awareness week in South Africa! I find it mildly amusing that this takes place during Valentine’s Week – whether that was intended as a buzz-kill is debatable.  Happy Valentine’s Day to you, if you support it. I remember many soppy and not-so-soppy Valentine’s Days in my past. There were the times I nervously

Lessons for Medical School

Today, hordes of brand new First Years arrive on our campus. Wild-eyed and bushy-tailed, I wonder if they hear the seniors murmuring, “Run now, while you still can.” It was not too long ago that I was there… three years ago, I was a scared little kid, stepping into a world where the maturing process

Peaceful

The Daily Post hosts a weekly photo challenge. Sometimes I take photos, although I’m hardly a genius. My camera fell and broke while in China, so this photo is from my archives.

TTT: …and the season of receiving?

In my family, Christmas is a cozy affair. We aim to buy well-thought through gifts, but they are not generally excessive or expensive. And I don’t mind at all. I love being loved and splashy gifts are not a necessity. However, if money was not an issue, these would be the top ten books on

I like scientists with a sense of humour

Here is a fun “did-you-know”: In 1928, scientist  Albert Szent-Györgyi, working at Cambridge University, discovered an unknown compound in some foods. He was sure it was a sugar, but not sure which sugar. Confessing his ignorance while sticking to the common nomenclature of sugar, he called it “ignose”. When he submitted his paper to the Biochemical

Book Review: Disease

My favourite part about short respites from med school is being able to go to the library and get awesome books to read. I get bored easily (my biggest problem while studying), so I don’t hesitate when I find a medical book that looks half interesting. Disease by Mary Dobson is one such book. It chronicles

My Fave Kiddie Reads

As mentioned before, my mom has largely been fuel to the fire of my passion for reading. She loves finding books that I will enjoy, and most often she is right. She was one of the people who contributed to me learning to read at such a young age; by teaching me to read the

Confession Sunday

I know it’s not Sunday. Sunday I was studying. Just like I should be studying now. But I can’t keep this to myself any longer.

Question to my readers: Piercings?

Simple question about piercings or tattoos on a doctor – not normal ear piercings though, think at least a nose piercing. If you are in the health care sector, do you think it is appropriate for a doctor to have a nose piercing? If you are part of the public – would you feel differently

Visit to the Optometrist

Holiday means catching up on appointments. Having grown up in East London, I feel I have pinpointed the best optometrist, orthodontist and hairdresser and I don’t feel the need to go through the torture of finding new ones in Cape Town. And anyway, the people here need the capital flow a lot more. Today was