A study break update

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 is

Intro for Anaesthetic Undergraduate Students

The student was standing on their tip-toes, peering over the drapes. They had barely looked at the ventilator, so engrossed were they in the surgery.  “So, are you here for anaesthesia, or for surgery?” our registrar asked.  The student turned. “Well… I am on my anaesthesia rotation, technically… but I’m actually interested in surgery.” Ten

The Last Weekend Of Mental Health Awareness Month: Watch This

Or: Guess who’s back. A little over two years ago, I heard of an old classmate working on a documentary project about bullying and discrimination in medicine. Longtime readers of this blog will know that I have written about bullying and discrimination before. The director and brains behind the project, Adil Khan, interviewed a few

Questions on Blogging for Readers Past/Present/Future

I’m not really sure what my place is, these days. And whether it still is with this blog. I will forever be Barefootmeds, but will I continue to tread my footprints here? 

Anatomy: my big mistake

It almost scares me a little that I managed to find my way through med school in this fashion.

Mental Health Begins With Medical Students

I really believe that a medical student who is comfortable with therapy, becomes a physician who is comfortable with therapy; one who is comfortable with addressing the mental health of their colleagues, and one who can identify when their own mental health is spiralling out of control – and then do something about it.

FAQ: Will I Get Into Med School?

My fist response: don’t let me stand in your way.

My second response: be realistic.

[Guest Post] From Nursing to Medicine

While the best-known route to medical school in South Africa is the “conventional”: finish high school and enter med school the next January, it is by far not the only route followed by medical students here. The journeys are numerous, like Tash’s journey of an older medical student, which she graciously shared here. Today, Roxanne

Dear Medical Student: Med School Is Not Worth Your Self-Harm

Dear Medical Student: medical school is worth a lot of things. I can tell you that because I went from hating medical school to loving being a doctor (well, on most days).

But it’s not worth that.

Overview: A New Study About Selection Criteria at South African Medical Schools

These figures show how black students in South Africa make up the majority of medical students in South Africa in numbers – HOWEVER, relative to national demographics, these students are under-represented.