Appendicitis is one of the most common conditions we see in the surgical world. This is also one of the most common surgical emergencies encountered in the developing world. In fact, many of the deaths related to appendicitis in the third world are preventable. All we need is better awareness, better resources and knowledge when…
You often hear about certain parts in the body that you can literally live without. There is the appendix, some random tendons and the occasional muscle. Science is looking for the answer for their existence and we have made progress in many areas. The gallbladder is one such example. If you’re wondering what this green…
I’m sitting and thinking about how I should start this. The thoughts emerge on the moment when I understood the concept of the unwell doctor, the impaired doctor. No one prefers to talk about this. It is not a topic you’ll hear on the radio, or on TV or even in the some hospital boardrooms.…
We live in the lucky country. Australia. The land of opportunities and state of the art medical and surgical facilities. We, as patients and consumers, expect and demand a well-resourced system and highly competent healthcare practitioners who deliver the best possible care. Poor countries do too. What separates us is the lack of investment and…
“Increased awareness of the place for surgery within global health will not only benefit the surgical community, but will improve health outcomes, strengthen health systems, and reduce health inequities and local and global scale.” – The Lancet (2014) Global health addresses the needs of a community by evaluating the social, economic, political and environmental factors…
I recently came across a group of surgeons at a local hospital and spent a day with them observing bariatric surgery which included Lap Band insertion and Gastric Bypasses. This made me realise something important about the stigma attached to obesity, willpower and people’s perceptions. Obesity is all around us and it is on the…
Mental Health Week raises community awareness about mental health issues and is held every October each year to coincide with World Mental Health Day that is held on 10 October. The aim of Mental Health Week is to promote social and emotional wellbeing to the community, encouraging people to maximise their health potential, enhancing the…
Current health systems are not set up to meet the needs of the poor; the part of the world that needs it the most. Here is a brief review of some of the challenges that prevent the sophisticated treatment methods from being introduced into the developing world. Socioeconomic determinants of health Access to health services…
A scalpel cuts through flesh like a knife through butter. There are no second guesses, no hesitations. Just a cut. It’s a world of focus, in depth analysis and rational thinking. There is no room for imagination, artistic creation and intuitive passion. Or is there? I have long viewed surgery as a creative art form,…
Every man needs to know that breast cancer is not a woman specific condition. Men can get it too. The aim of this article is to highlight the stigma attached to this cancer and the devastating psychosexual effects it has on the men. Just as much support as we provide to the women, we need…