Fluid calculations in neonates – the basics

Due to the large surface area that new born babies have, they are quick to be victims of dehydration. It is vital the healthcare practitioners are on the look out for signs of dehydration in babies (dry skin, reduced urine output and lethargy especially) and also correct any feeding difficulties/prescribe adequate maintenance fluid. In the …

So many appendices, so little time.

Appendicitis. A general surgeon's bread and butter. It occurs so commonly that if a patient comes in with abdominal pain, appendicitis must pop into your head (of course the first thing you would need to rule out if it was a female is an ectopic pregnancy). Weekly there would be 2 to 3 appendicectomies of …

The baby with no skull.

Bit about the background As the paediatric house officer we work in the post-natal ward for 5 weeks 24/7 and part of the job is responding to emergencies in both the labour room and OT. I was informed that a mother with a child diagnosed with anencephaly via antenatal scans had gone into labour. On …

Bye-Bye foot.

Warning: graphic content, not for the faint hearted. I don't know why, but for some reason I was the only one who got traumatic amputations on my on call nights. During my 6 month rotation in surgery, there were only two patients who came in with traumatic amputations of a limb and they both came …

Survival skills 101: Internship Part 2

A year of hell some describe it as. And I won't deny that. A year you'll face challenge after challenge, hurdle after hurdle, but remember you only need to last 1 year. 12 months. 365 days. Theres no time for self pity. Trust me, I was in tears of just pure shock for the first …

24 hrs a day, 365 days a year: Internship Part 1

So you think getting through the ERPM exams was stressful? Think again. Doing your medical internship in Sri Lanka will be one of the most challenging and stressful years of your life, but the pay off is definitely worth it. This post will be about my experience with internship and I'll be posting my internship …

Living la VIVA loca!

I came. I saw. I conquered. That is the attitude you have to walk in with and go out with. Vivas are personal, because its just you in there. So if you move with confidence (no matter how nervous you are on the inside), then you'll succeed. I've passed the theory exams. Now what? Once …

The day of doom – Theory exams

Day of the dreaded exams. Sweet relief in my opinion. How do I apply for exams? 3 weeks to a month prior to the exam the SLMC releases a press article to the local newspapers as well as displays it on their website calling for applicants. The application forms can be downloaded online or a …

Life? What life? – ERPM classes

So you think you have a while to prep for these exams (I had a good 6 months) and so you may have some sort of a social life. But wait, you gots to go for these classes. And I don't mean the one hour, two hour kind of classes. No these classes are about …