Pain is not Prerequisite for Birth

Medicine continues to accept pain as a natural part of childbirth.

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.

Global Day for Safe and Legal Abortions

These days, we are not meant to see women die from septic abortions. But that night, we did.

Abortion Care: Did I Provide My Best?

This single thought has me wishing I could go back, and do those four months again.

What If Everything You Knew About Breastfeeding Was Wrong?

How does one react to seeing a book cover that claims breast feeding is “big business and bad policy”? If you’re me, you request a review copy of that book, fully intending to expose how wrong it is. As a medical student, one of the important things I was taught again and again is this:

Ownership of Medical Data: A South African Anecdote

I want my patients to read my notes about them. I want them to be fascinated by their own health and disease, and I want them to ask me if they don’t understand what I wrote. I want their interest to hold me accountable.

Implanon in the Bible. Apparently.

ME: I’m sorry to tell you that you’ve had a complete miscarriage. HER: Oh. Okay. ME: Was this a planned pregnancy? HER: No! It was an accident. ME: Are you planning a pregnancy in the near future? HER: Not really. I have one already. I can’t afford another baby. ME: Then I think we should discuss family

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”.

Two beautiful stories from OBGYN

OBGYN is considered one of our “big” internship rotations. The hours are long, the calls are busy, the responsibility is huge. I love when a baby is born. For the sake of honesty I’ll tell you that it’s not always a happy occasion. There are many, many babies born into seriously less-than-ideal situations. But in

Medicine: Keep Up!

I love how fast this field moves, and grows. It is refreshing, and it keeps me on my toes, and it demands: if you’re not ready for change, you’re not ready for MEDICINE! Three years ago, during a Family Medicine rotation, a young Zimbabwean girl came to us for removal of a stick-like thing in