Hello to the handful of loyal readers, who continue to support me despite my paltry and irregular posting. Right now, I’m in the throes of studying for FCA Part 1 (which is more or less the same as FRCA Part 1, except South African). Obviously, my absolute need for focus means that my mind isContinue reading “A study break update”
Tag Archives: anaesthesia
“Don’t trust your colleagues”
“…thinking back, what makes me sad (and a little bit ashamed), is that the primary message was, ‘Don’t trust your colleagues.'”
Who Says You Can’t Become an Anaesthesiologist?
Whether intentional or not, the article reeks exclusivism, which is something I think medicine can do without. I don’t need a superhero complex.
Pain is not Prerequisite for Birth
Medicine continues to accept pain as a natural part of childbirth.
“What Makes Anaesthetists So Special?”
It is a well-known fact that anaesthetic doctors in South African public hospitals have guaranteed pre-call and post-call. The medical officers that I know from other surgical departments, all appreciate the reasons we insist on safe working hours. I have never heard them suggest it be taken away. But management staff and senior consultants (ofContinue reading ““What Makes Anaesthetists So Special?””
Train your trainees
Sometimes, I think clinicians forget that they were inexperienced and under-qualified juniors once, too. There is nothing admirable about learning to place an intercostal drain on YouTube, without senior supervision, as many of us like to brag.
Listen to me, Examine me, DIAGNOSE ME!
It seems that the in-thing is to want to be a hospitalist. I definitely feel that most doctors I know really enjoy ward-based consultations. It seems like clinics and pre-meds are just those annoying little things you have to do but that aren’t seen as being “important”.
Stories from the Paeds Slate
Anaesthesiology is hard, guys. And paediatric anaesthesia even more so. But I really like my days on the Paeds Slate because the theater is out-of-this-world amazing. Everything is in stock (well, mostly) and the nurses are out-of-this-world competent and everything is just nice. We gassed for a simple inguinal hernia repair and did a caudalContinue reading “Stories from the Paeds Slate”
Burns Patients
They come in all shapes and sizes. Little and bigger. Some are freshly burnt, the raw and sloughing flesh tender; for others it is just one more in a long line of surgeries to restore structure and function. The scarred flesh tells stories of multiple skin grafts. IV access is a nightmare. Some of themContinue reading “Burns Patients”
Surviving Anaesthesiology – Only Just!
I knew from the beginning that Anaesthesiology would be an incredibly difficult rotation for me. It is nothing like Medicine and nothing like Surgery, yet it encompasses both. I’ve given patients medicine before, but never had to use complex equations to do so. I’ve done lumbar punctures, but never had to inject something into theContinue reading “Surviving Anaesthesiology – Only Just!”
Whispers Unto the Aether 