The age-old difficulty with communicable disease is that question of culpability: how much should we blame ourselves for our infection? We’ve all been infected with --at the very least-- a common cold (+/- a healthy cleanse of profuse traveller's diarrhea.) Whenever I get sick, I tend to ... Read More about Infectious self-blame
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Dreaded Double D
The dreaded DD: diagnostic doubt. The intangible stress that earns doctors the big bucks. (Omit the fact that 1/2 of the doctors on our course earn a wage below the Canadian 'poverty line', either because of their country of origin, or long-term dedication to global health.) No matter what you're ... Read More about Dreaded Double D
Going Gorgas
The Gorgas course is an intensive clinical diploma program in tropical medicine. On a daily basis, we deliberate over cases, round on the wards, attend lectures, and get down-and-dirty with imaging and microscopes. The most wonderful part of the course so far has been the warmth and community of ... Read More about Going Gorgas
Physician-assisted Genocide
Could a physician be capable of promoting genocide? I'm sorry to write yet another piece associating Rwanda uni-dimensionally with the events of 1994. But after a month in the hospital here, I realize that avoidance of the topic is equivalent to writing a biography on an amputee, and pretending ... Read More about Physician-assisted Genocide
Kigali Marathon: Brave or Brazen?
There’s something important in life about doing something that was never on your radar, or, better yet -–frankly-– scares the shit out of you. For many rural Rwandan patients–- I think it scares the shit out of them to journey to a district hospital. The hospital is where people go to die. What ... Read More about Kigali Marathon: Brave or Brazen?