From the Frontlines
Containing the Ebola epidemic in the face of armed conflict
November 14th, 2018 ‘I have been responding to different disease outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for 18 years, yet I have never seen anything as challenging as containing Ebola in an armed-conflict zone,’ writes Dr Eric Mukama of the aid...
Medical students experience 'considerably' higher rates of sexual harassment
October 31st, 2018 US medical students experience about double the sexual harassment faced by their peers in sciences and engineering, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine. A July 2018 report from the National Academies of Sciences,...
Giving the past a seat at the table: Saying 'no' to pointless treatment
October 17th, 2018 Medicine is not just about treating illnesses – it often involve understanding the necessity to say ‘no’ to further pointless treatment, writes Dr Lisa Caulley in the New England Journal of Medicine. The sheer speed with which...
Always make sure to get the name of the dog…
October 10th, 2018 It was 1 July, my first day of residency, and a queasy feeling lodged in my stomach as I donned my new white coat, writes Dr Taimur Safdur, at the Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas in the New England Journal of Medicine. Safdur writes:...
Rwanda: Where a sore throat can become a death sentence
September 26th, 2018 In poor countries, like Rwanda, strep throat often goes undiagnosed and can lead to rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, writes The New York Times. Since 2008, Team Heart has been annually flying in doctors to treat a fraction the...
SA psychiatrist's insomnia therapy hailed in the UK
September 19th, 2018 We are living through an epidemic of sleeplessness, but the medical establishment has largely ignored the problem, reports The Guardian. A radical new therapy developed by Hugh Selsick, a South African psychiatrist, has achieved remarkable...
Almost two decades later, 9/11 is still claiming victims
September 12th, 2018 Tens of thousands of people who lived or worked in the neighbourhood of New York's World Trade Centre after the 9/11 terror attack found themselves breathing in air thick with toxic fumes and particles. More than 43,000 have since been certified...
Medals returned to protest the treatment of immigrants in UK's NHS
August 29th, 2018 Around 20 aid workers honoured by the UK government for their work in West Africa during the 2014-15 outbreak of Ebola disease have returned their medals as a protest against the “hostile environment” of policies on migrants introduced in the...
Paramedic and doctor speak out over abuse of women in the line of duty
August 8th, 2018 As women marched against violence and femicide as part of the #NationalShutdown‚ a doctor and paramedic have spoken up about the appalling abuse they endure as women in the line of duty, reports The Times. Kim Williams‚ a paramedic with the...
Groote Schuur Trauma Centre: 'Overloaded with violence'
July 11th, 2018 Weekends are the busiest times at the Groote Schuur Trauma Centre in Cape Town. In the early hours of the morning doctors, nurses and support staff are on their feet for hours at a time during their 12-hour shifts and have very little time to...
The unique role of doctors in evaluating torture and persecution
July 11th, 2018 With applications for asylum in the US increasing sharply, a paper from a team of asylum medicine and law experts highlights the important role of doctors in evaluating refugees' claims of torture and persecution. To qualify for asylum in the US,...
World's highest ER now brings affordable medicine to the Sherpas
June 13th, 2018 Countless foreign climbers who have run into trouble on Mount Everest’s unforgiving slopes have been saved by the local ER services. Now these medics are providing affordable medical care for the Nepali Sherpas, the guides who are the backbone...
One psychiatrist's battle against institutionalised wrongdoing
June 6th, 2018 Dr Kiran Sukeri, formerly employed at the Tower Psychiatric Hospital in the Eastern Cape, has been smeared and harrassed for blowing the whistle on wrongdoing in the state mental health sector. Dr Kiran Sukeri, employed at the Tower...
When the time comes for a doctor to move on...
May 23rd, 2018 The health care system is not kind to the chronically ill and marginally insured, and it is not particularly kind to their doctors, either, writes Abigail Zuger, in a New England Journal of Medicine article. Zuger, of the Mount Sinai Health...
Mahikeng doctor defies strike violence to deliver babies
May 2nd, 2018 A Mahikeng doctor defied burning tyres and barricaded roads to deliver eight babies, four by Caesarean, when violent strike action virtually closed down the hospital, reports City Press. Amid the barricaded roads, burning tyres and black smoke...