Back again

I'm back finally from the short hiatus. The lazy bug bit me as well as the network problem blog. Over the past week i've been able to attend a conference hosted in Abuja by the association of Nigerian physicians in the Americas. It was quite an interesting and enlightening conference. I met so many Nigerian doctors, specialists in their fields from all over the world. What delighted me the more was meeting several medical students like myself. Overall it was encouraging to find that a large number of people are interested in the well being of Nigerians and are indeed taking active steps to improve the standard of health care delivery. Some government officials attended the conference and as usual were full of talk about health sector reforms, it remains to be see if all the talks and plans will result in improvement of the health indices of Nigeria.

... and the strike continued

Drove into hospital today alongside some crazy drivers, Yes that's what most of the drivers in this city are, crazy. Dodging and weaving through traffic was the norm, cutting in and out of lanes a regular occurrence. Had to avoid several people so many times. I got to the hospital finally only to learn that the strike was still on . Today no nurses were in and those that came only did so to insist that all patients be discharged. I went to the seminar room to join the team in their morning presentations. The seminar room was small and jam packed with people. No air conditioning was available so it was sweltering. Finally the meeting came to an end with me drenched in my sweat.

Dr UE called me aside and advised me to go somewhere else for the duration of the strike as the hospital was slowly grinding to a halt. We proceeded on a ward round around 4 patients whom were all advised to make arrangements to transfer themselves to another hospital. I conducted a general examination on the Aids patient with really bad bed sores that began to ooze a greenish, foul smelling liquid. His tongue had a black discolouration on it and he had sores all over his mouth. In summary he was really ill! it never ceases to be a sorry sight every time i go in to see him. AIDS is now a real sight to me as evidenced by this patient and no longer a thing in the books. Rounds didn't last long and i soon left for home. Now to look for somewhere else to continue my hospital attachment