As we come towards the end of 2024, the closing of the year marks the end of an important chapter in my fledgling medical career: the end of Community Service, and with it the end of my mandatory service in the public sector. It's also the end of a chapter for the Dr Coffee Podcast! Is this the end?? [You'll need to listen to the episode to find out!]

Links and resources referred to in today's episode:

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"Despicable human beings", "Experimenting on patients", "you don't deserve to live"....

These were the criticisms of a patient at Helen Joseph Hospital this week in a now-viral post detailing his experience of poor treatment at the hospital.

What are we to make of this video and its contents? Are their lessons for us to learn as young doctors?

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this episode are my own. And do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of sponsors of the podcast or organisations I am affiliated to.

This episode is available on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@drcoffeeza

Links:

Prof Jonathan Sackier & Dr Nigel Guest host the wildly funny podcast "Join the Docs", and invite audiences to delve into health-related topics served with a delightful side of humour. 

Along with a little help from Slim the skeleton, they welcome the audience into their conversation to share the intriguing, implausible, and marvellous medical stories that are sure to pique your interest whilst teaching you something new. From itching, bedbugs and bruises, to anaemia, anatomy and aortic aneurysms -‘the docs’ cover it all. 

Dr Shauntel Ambrose is a qualified dentist and dental practice owner with a special interest in Paediatric Dentistry. She’s a speaker, producer and host of the "Behind a Smile" podcast, a healthcare business podcast where healthcare leaders share their stories, tips and tricks around sustainable practice and maintaining balance. Dr Ambrose is a faculty member at Dental Protection and presents risk communication workshops on how to better meet patient expectations and avoid litigation. She’s also a medico-legal mediator who helps practitioners and patients seek resolution and mutually agreeable solutions before litigation.

Say hello to our new theme music! Artist: Stereo Club, Song: "Maybe". https://open.spotify.com/track/2Le5eAmLc4fb6t8q9NH4xd

Thank you to our sponsors Wave Medical Scrubs, SutureKits.co.za, V Professional Services, Money & Medicine, & IndemniMed for making this episode possible.

Check out our Linktree URL for all podcast episodes, links to our sponsors, and discount codes from SutureKits and WiZMed. https://linktr.ee/drcoffeeza

Send feedback or comments to [email protected]

In this week’s episode, we welcome back Dr Nox Mphambukeli, with the next in our fascinating Registrar Series, where we feature young registrars who have just begun their journey to specialisation.

Our guest on the podcast today is Dr Josef Breedt. Dr Breedt obtained his MBChB degree from the University of Pretoria in 2017, graduating cum laude and top of his class. He subsequently completed his medical internship in Gqeberha, from 2018-2019. He took up leadership roles and was elected Vice chairperson of the Intern Representative Council in 2019. Following internship, he went back to his hometown roots of Emalahleni in 2020 where he spent 6 months working in Psychiatry, the Emergency Department and following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, spent 6 months in the COVID critical care ward. He took up a Medical Officer position in Psychiatry at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and after 6 months in the department, started his Registrar time in Psychiatry, and is currently completing his third year. Dr Breedt is passionate about mentoring from student to Registrar level and has been involved in a pioneer programme for peer mentorship at the University of the Witwatersrand. Furthermore, his interest in research has produced 2 published articles during his Registrar time. 

Thank you to our fantastic sponsors on this episode:

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In this episode, it was my privilege and honour to interview Dr Nadia Karrim, a qualified ENT surgeon and director of the International Centre for Astronautical Development (ICAD), about space medicine and chasing her lifelong dream to become an astronaut.

Thank you to our Sponsors on this episode:

Important Links mentioned in this episode:

In this episode we speak with Dr Jonathan King, an Emergency medicine consultant currently the acting head of a busy Emergency Department that serves the needs of over 5500 patients each month. We discuss how ED doctors need to know how to identify and treat emergencies related to ALL of the relevant subspecialties in medicine, and how Emergency medicine physicians are as good, if not better, than specialists within these disciplines at managing the emergency patients. We also talk about arming yourself against stress, both clinical stress and the stresses you encounter in your personal life, plus EM doctors roles in clinical governance and health systems, how to approach career progression and ultimately get a registrar post in emergency medicine, as well as the important advocacy role that organisations like JUDASA and SAMA play on behalf of doctors in South Africa.

Dr Jonathan King on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanchanking/?originalSubdomain=za

SADocs: https://sadocs.co.za/

Thank you to our sponsors on this Episode!

In this episode we have the first in a new series exploring the experiences of registrars currently training towards their specialist qualifications. In the course of this series we hope to offer insights, wisdom and encouragement from young doctors who have begun the process of specialising so that you can learn from their triumphs and struggles and have a clearer picture in your mind what registrar training is like and how to set yourself up for success.

Thank you to our sponsors V Professional Services & IndemniMed for making this episode possible.

Check out our Linktree URL for all podcast episodes, links to our sponsors, and discount codes from SutureKits and WiZMed. https://linktr.ee/drcoffeeza

Send feedback or comments to [email protected]

After a run of topical episodes, it’s nice to come back to our more traditional “Coffee With Consultants” feature, which is where I sit down with Consultants and ask them about their journey in medicine, their specialty, and the perks, pitfalls and perils of practicing their profession in South Africa. Today’s episode features one of our more popularly-requested specialties, Dermatology. 

Thank you to our sponsors: V Professional Services, and IndemniMed from Money and Medicine.

Check out our ⁠⁠Linktree URL ⁠⁠for all podcast episodes, links to our sponsors, and discount codes from SutureKits and WiZMed. --> https://linktr.ee/drcoffeeza

Send feedback or comments to [email protected]

In this episode we discuss a hot issue right now, which is the rising number of unemployed medical officers in South Africa post-Community Service - literally hundreds of doctors who want to work in government healthcare facilities but cannot get jobs. Our interview takes the form of a conversation with our very own Dr Nox Mphambukeli & the Peoples Doctor, Dr Mumtaz Emeran-Thomas, both affected by the lack of funded posts in the Public healthcare service.

Thank you to our sponsors Money & Medicine for making this important episode possible

Check out our ⁠Linktree URL ⁠for all podcast episodes, links to our sponsors, and discount codes from SutureKits and WiZMed. --> https://linktr.ee/drcoffeeza

Send feedback or comments to [email protected]