Mini-Reviews: Medical Non-Fiction

I like to read medical non-fiction. Not textbooks, but the kind of book a layperson with an interest can read, and someone in a medical profession may also enjoy, and learn from. There are three important things I look for in these books: Contributes to the non-medical reader’s understanding/interest of their health and/or bodies in

Why I left private practice for the public sector

Some of the greatest psychological stressors are said to include breakups, death, moving house, and starting a new job. Sometimes we choose one or more of these willingly, and hope to hell that the payoff will be worth it. For two years, I worked in private general practice in Cape Town. The benefits of this kind

General Practice and Emergency Med: A Bad Combination

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been working semi-permanently for a private family practice. More recently, I’ve also started doing shifts in the emergency centres of both private and public hospitals. While doing each of these separately comes with their own challenges, doing them together has proven to be a demoralising combination, because they highlight

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.

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