It's SteeTime!

Sometimes I come across a blog which touches me deeply. I went to school briefly with Dr Bashir Ahmed in Uganda. He is a Somali national and now a powerful activist for better health systems his war-torn country. His blog  SomaliHealthWatch has many true and personal stories; stories of survival, sufferings and heroism. True heroes who have been forced to endure hunger, killings, rape and insecurity on a daily basis for more than 20 years. One in particular was about his account of getting through medical school despite all the hardships and about his triumph against all odds to realize his dream of becoming a doctor. A Trip To Ishaka Our plane touched Ugandan soil at 6.00pm local time. Immigration formalities were uneventful. Officers behind a high desk asked why we were entering Uganda. We showed them our admission letters. That was satisfactory. They stamped our passports with student visas and wished us good luck in our studies. The taxi driver guessed right w...

Weekend Call: a duty created to push every doctor to the limit. In my hospital the doctor on weekend call is supposed to cover every department and is the first on call for every emergency, review, referral and basically anything the nurses may 'feel you need to do'. Even if a patient 'looks' depressed (never mind that you are already depressed from the last 6 emergency Caesarian Sections) Nonetheless I'm on it this weekend so you will forgive me for lack of smiley faces. I guess I am just hoping that by posting a blog the universe may deem me too busy to be called to the ward again (even though I have absolutely nothing to say). They don't teach many things in Medical School. Like on the first day they should have a sign at the door written 'DON'T DO IT'. It would save the world from a whole lot of disgruntled doctors. Don't get me wrong, I love the major parts of my job...but the not-sleeping, forever-smiling and superwoman criteria may b...

One of my most memorable Valentine’s was Simba Nyashanu.  I was in Grade 7 and he left an expensive heart shaped gift package in my desk during break-time.  I was the talk of that day and even got invited to sit with the cool girls at lunch.   It has generally been downhill from there.  Even with the occasionally disappointing Valentine Day's I've had over the years I'm still slightly obsessed with the concept! Keep your expectations realistic Jokes aside, there are some serious downfalls to this frenzy of February Fourteen. Dr Bill Cloke of PsychologyToday believes that although Valentine's Day is an opportunity to show appreciation to your loved one it can also ruin your relationship. "The commercialization of Valentine’s Day has given rise to great expectations and just as often great disappointments if the gift giving is not enough to meet our romantic fantasy." In other words, people often prioritize the gifts more than the giver ...

Health is defined as a state of physical, mental and social well-being (WHO 1946). Did you notice the SOCIAL part? Many doctors overlook this integral part of their patients needs. I have decided to tackle this issue of long-distance relationships because countless friends and family in couples are separated due to job obligations, school or other circumstances. So the question is: do long distance relationships actually work? Who are you dating? Joe Tracy, publisher of Online Dating Magazine believes that long distance relationships require very strong trust, commitment, guidelines and communication. " Studies show that a majority of people involved in long distance relationships eventually break up. That's why you see so many "experts" proclaiming that long distance relationships are a bad idea and don't work. Yet if you learn to master communication and set the parameters of your relationship, it can work. It's an uphill battle, but it is possible ...

This weekend I installed a chat application on my phone called WhatsApp. Many of my friends had urged me to get it, citing its wonderful connectivity of free phone-to-phone messenger services. I was truly amazed at how easy it was to communicate with everyone whose phone number I had across the world and the sharing of multimedia was simple awesome. That was in the first hour. After that I realized that: 1. You cannot turn it off, so basically EVERYONE on your phone who also has Whatsapp can message you ALL the time FOR FREE about, let's face it, nothing. 2. People you don't normally talk to start talking to you...just because it's available and 3. You don't get any sleep or work done just from the excitement of getting firsthand news-worthy events (read gossip). How smart really is a smartphone?  It just comes to show that technology has come a long way. The internet and communication have made our generation one that seeks instant gratification. Most q...

Hip-hop power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z welcomed a baby girl, reportedly named Blue Ivy Carter, Saturday night at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital. Beyoncé gave birth via scheduled C-section, though many sources noted that Bey’s baby came more than a month before her expected February due date. The New York Daily News notes that Jay-Z and Beyoncé tried to tightly control their babeyoncé’s arrival, renting out an entire floor of Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, taping over security cameras and forcing employees to turn in their cell phones. Beyonce and Jay Z welcomed their baby on 7 January 2012  Not everyone's baby-welcome is so highly publicized (not everyone can be royalty) but it is a huge step for every parent nonetheless. Here are a few tips for those first-time parents who need to know the do's and don'ts of taking care of a newborn baby: Do   1.It is essential to make your new baby sleep on their back so that you can avoid the ri...

The death of Gary Speed left the football world baffled and devastated yesterday. The 42-year-old Welsh national manager was found hanged by his wife Louise, according to the Times, just after 7am in the garage of their £1.5million mansion. The couple have two teenage sons. Only hours earlier, he had appeared happy and optimistic on BBC1’s Football Focus programme. He talked enthusiastically about his team’s improving fortunes and his hopes for success in World Cup qualifying matches next year. Speed began his career at Leeds United and was part of the side that won the old First Division title in 1992.     I had a poster of Gary Speed as a child. How does a man who seemingly has everything reach the point of giving up on life and how come no one saw the signs?   Baffled and Devastated. Those words describe the emotions which go through relatives and friends of victims of suicide.   It is hard to know if a person is thinking about com...