Finally had my “magical paeds moment”

The little girl had come in hurt and bleeding. No too bad, a small gash that was easily approximated and taped (gosh, I love steri strips). Next: the Tet tox. She doesn’t know about it yet. For a moment I consider not telling her at all, but she is old enough to feel betrayed. So

The Best GP Advice I’ve Received: Part 1

  The night before my first shift in general practice, I frantically messaged one of my doctor-heroes on Twitter (@sindivanzyl). I think I was hoping for a cheat sheet, something about hypertension and diabetes, but the one thing she emphasised was, “Please, please, always examine your patients.” For medical students that would probably sound absurd.

Doctor. Counsellor. Freedom Fighter.

She was a healthy young woman who came to see me for a “complete check-up” before a holiday overseas. Although I tend to think “complete” check-ups are somewhat overkill, they do present a good opportunity for health promotion and disease prevention. As one does, I asked about sexual history and family planning. She hesitated just

General Practice is not exciting, but it is fulfilling

The best thing I can do for an “exciting” patient is recognise their condition and keep them alive until transfer. Give me patients that don’t need hospital admission and I can make them feel better now, and try to affect at least one health-related decision about their future.

GP Work is Hard

One week of some GP locums and I am exhausted. I can spend 10 minutes per consultation if people have straight-forward tonsillitis or gastroenteritis. But what about the parents who are hesitant about vaccinating? I need more than ten minutes to make an impact. What about the woman whose pregnancy test was unexpectedly positive, and needs

The Nicest Interns: Part 2

I just recently finished a four-month Family Medicine rotation. Our after-hours duties on Family  Medicine are as casualty officers at the Accident and Emergency Departments of two different hospitals. Because A&E has high-intensity decision making, our shifts were not allowed to be longer than twelve hours (compare: 24 hour shifts in any other department).

On Poverty and Health: The Obesity-Conundrum

I want to address some pertinent falsehoods about health and fitness, and why the disenfranchised have such a hard time of it.

Open Letter to South African Private GPs*

Aren’t you ashamed? Destitute people pay exorbitant prices to see you, because they somehow think that they will get better service than in a state facility (can’t imagine where they got that idea).

On Call During A Riot

Last night while on call I treated rubber bullet injuries. I treated MANY rubber bullet injuries. If you thought rubber bullets only cause bruising – well, you’d be wrong. They can penetrate. During my fourth year forensic pathology rotation, we did an autopsy on a man who died due to a rubber bullet embolism. 

Something Only Family Physicians Experience

I had such a lovely experience last week. I was working Accident and Emergency overnight, as I have finally completed my surgical posting and moved on to Family Medicine. A mother brought her nine-month old baby in with a chronic cough. Now, it was probably the happiest baby I had seen all night and probably