A Fullness of Uncertain Significance [Book Review]

If a medical doctor pens a memoir, I will read it. I don’t care if they are a surgeon (uneasy relationship), a physician (intimidatingly book smart), or an anaesthetist (well that’s pretty close to home). Even if nobody else reads your book, I will be your audience of one. But A Fullness of Uncertain Significance

“What Makes Anaesthetists So Special?”

It is a well-known fact that anaesthetic doctors in South African public hospitals have guaranteed pre-call and post-call. The medical officers that I know from other surgical departments, all appreciate the reasons we insist on safe working hours. I have never heard them suggest it be taken away. But management staff and senior consultants (of

Why I Paed

Whenever I talk about my love for child health, and my intention to pursue it as a career, I get this kind of response:

“Oh, I could never work with kids. It just breaks my heart to see them suffer!”

For an Organ Donor

The final stitch placed Surgical clamps released A kidney turns pink. *  *  * He was right. Nothing compares. Organ Donor Foundation of South Africa Love Life, Gift Life

Working in the Land of Milk and Honey

I recently realised that some of my posts have disappeared into thin air. I’m not sure how, but I’m reposting them courtesy of the web archive. By some kind of dumb luck, I am doing my Community Service posting at an incredible children’s hospital in Cape Town, rather than the archetypal middle-of-nowhere clinic post we all

Patients Don’t Want Exhausted Doctors

Before you read what I have to say, you should read Dr Nikki Stamp’s post: How tired is too tired? One day, I’d like to have a study to prove the post title. But for now, we’ll have to settle for another anecdote:

A New Year’s Day On Call

I did it. Exactly a year after I started working, I did one of probably the most difficult shifts an intern can get: New Year’s Day on the surgical service.

One Year On

Exactly one year ago, I started Internship. Hard to believe that the terrifying days just kept coming, until one day they weren’t so terrifying anymore. Today marks the beginning of my second year of Internship, as the new interns arrive. I am excited for them, mostly. I also have quite a few friends coming! I’ll

Working the Festive Season

Christmas and New Year’s is such a fun time in South Africa. It’s the middle of Summer. The weather is gorgeous, perfect for swimming and braaing, spending time with family, and reading. It’s my first festive season of working full-time.

Sometimes I Don’t Want To Know

I didn’t want to know that the man with the compound skull fracture had fallen into a sewer drain while being chased by the police because he was the man that had been scamming poor people out of their grant money for months. I didn’t want to know that the man with the gangrenous arm