Interview: Med School as a Mature Student

I pretty much thought that my dreams were over. We lived on a farm outside the city without electricity, so it really was an impossible dream. But the yearning never went away. Whenever I took my son to the doctor it would just come up again and again. I studied some other things, worked a bit, and earned money; but the desire to be a doctor never went away.

A Young Doctor’s Oath

I had the desire to thank a whole lot of people and to impress how many people contributed to my success, and this was the closest I could get.

Day 1: Student Internship

It has teased us from a distance for some time, but the first day of Student Internship finally arrived. We did not have the White Coat Ceremony in first or third year like many other medical schools, but today we had our badge “ceremony”, loosely defined. For two and a half years of clinical rotations

Look how far we’ve come

Just under a year ago, I posted about my friends, then fifth years, who had had their last day of class. Today, it’s our turn. As fate would have it, I am in South Africa for this important celebration. From here on out, we shall have clinical rotations and exams, but no more theory classes

Med School Acceptance: The war before the war

By now, most school-leavers in South Africa have settled their plans for next year – that is to say, the majority of kids who will start their first year of MB.ChB. (Bachelor’s of Medicine and Bachelor’s of Surgery) next year, now know – and I’m sure they are very excited (and congrats to all of

Weekly Photo Challenge : A Foreigner in China

This week’s theme for The Daily Post’s Photo Challenge is “Foreign”. I’ve had two opportunities to travel beyond the borders of South Africa – once to Canada and Connecticut/NYC, and the other to China. For Canada I was in Montreal, and the French certainly made me feel relatively non-local. But China? In China I was

College, Dorms and Culture

It’s that time of the year… I refer to it as the month our campus has its period. Elections and competitions abound, while exams are around the corner (Southern hemisphere, remember). My favourite part of this month – perhaps my favourite of the entire year – is “Sêr”. Sêr comes from “serenade”, and is basically a

Rant: Security in South African Hospitals

So now that it’s reached the media, I can write about an unfortunate incident without the threat of being considered a traitor. One of our students was assaulted in the hospital on Saturday morning. A lot of “”big people” are trying to call it “attempted assault”. I say nonsense.

Running Update: Semester at Sea

In between studying like a crazy person and trying to organise Student Government matters, I managed to (finally) have a meeting with my faculty regarding attending Semester at Sea next year! There are still some smaller details to sort out, but I have the support of the admin department and of my course convener. I

Photo Friday: Skeletal Humour

In 2010 I shared this picture via Youth Journalism International of a skeleton in our faculty dressed up for the Fifa World Cup. (Click the link and scroll down to the middle-left.) Today we had a rather long clinical skills session for our anaesthesiology block. This little guy met us there. I laughed: