In this conversation between Dr Will Duffin and Dr Lizzie Thorne we learn about some of Lizzie’s highlights of working out in Fiji with Bear Grylls and examples of some of the medical care she’s delivered in extreme environments.

Lizzie and Will also discuss what the key attributes are of a good expedition medic?, how and why lizzie escaped the London medical career treadmill and her top tips for other medics who want to follow the same path and how lizzie has juggled her overseas trips with her hospital rota.

Lizzie is a Junior Doctor, she graduated from St George’s medical school in London in 2017 and is now in her F4 year and has just applied for core surgical training. She has been able to build expedition medicine into her career including an interest in sports, exercise and expedition medicine. She has taken part in many different overseas projects and expeditions including:

• Ultra Marathon: Sri Lanka - race medic 

She was also a member of the WEM medical team for filming of The Worlds Toughest Race with Bear Grylls out in Fiji.

You can find her on instagram as @theadventuredoctor

Lizzie is currently working in the Emergency Department in George in the Western Cape of South Africa

Links

https://medicfootprints.org/expedition-medicine-the-exciting-adventure-of-keeping-ultrarunners-alive/

https://www.instagram.com/theadventuredoctor/?hl=en

An interview 35 years in the making 

WEM Founder, Mark Hannaford was destined for a life based on the expeditions, but he stumbled across the remarkable book by newly minted photojournalist Nick Danziger; 'Danziger's Travels'. 

It was a book that influenced his and many others' lives, and it has taken him 35 years to track Nick down and convince him to be interviewed, his perseverance wasn't wasted. 

#thelongesttalk #expeditionmedicine #nickdanziger #photojournalism #humanitarian #conflict #extreme #extrememedicine 

In this podcast, Dr Emma Figures is joined by Dr Flora Burns and Dr Rose Brennan, who discuss their experiences as medical volunteers in Moria Refugee camp last year.  

Every day, more refugees are fleeing Afghanistan, Syria, the DRC, Somalia, Iraq and other countries, escaping awful situations and hoping for a better, safer life for themselves and their families in Europe. Sadly, many end up stuck in overcrowded camps, waiting for months, even years, on asylum paperwork. In September 2020, Moria, the largest refugee camp in Europe, on the Greek island of Lesvos burnt to the ground. While some refugees were re-located to mainland Europe, many still remain in dire and desperate situations in what has been called “Moria 2.0”, living in tents on Lesvos, with limited healthcare, sanitation, education, opportunities or hope.

Flora and Rose share some of their insights, reflections, challenges, rewards and advice, from their perspective as junior doctors working in this context. They discuss working with translators, common clinical presentations, difficult cases and coping strategies. If you would like to read more about their experiences, contact [email protected] for a copy of their article.

Flora graduated from Peninsula Medical School in 2017 and completed her foundation years in Scotland which included a rural rotation in Fort William. Since then, she has worked as an ED clinical fellow with 80% in ED and 20% of time for Expedition medicine in Bristol. Her interest in humanitarian work began when she undertook a medical elective in Malawi. Like many other junior doctors, Flora wanted a break in the traditional career ladder after my foundation years and was keen to broaden her horizons in expedition medicine and humanitarian work.

Rose studied medicine and an intercalated year of pre-hospital medicine at Barts and The London Graduating in 2017. Following this she took foundation years in Brighton and Hastings before moving to Bristol at F3 to work as an ED clinical fellow working 80% in ED and 20% of time for Expedition medicine. During this year she went on an altitude medicine course, ski medicine course and then following the initial wave of Covid headed out to Lesvos to work in Camp Moria. Since then, she has worked as ship medic for Adventure Under Sail going across the Bay of Biscay and has now moved out to New Zealand and is working as a junior registrar in Hawkes Bay ED. 

If you would like to contact Flora or Rose, they can be reached at:

Flora > [email protected]

Rose > [email protected]

In this podcast, clinician Dr Jen Sherman, is joined by Stu Skinner, expedition leader and founder of charity Changing Horizons. Having survived a previous suicide attempt, Stu has made it his personal mission to reduce the stigma associated with mental health. He is passionate about raising awareness of suicide prevention and normalising conversations about mental health. Stu discusses the vital role adventurous challenge has played in the recovery of his own mental health and the importance of purpose to our mental wellbeing. He shares how his own journey has inspired him to set up his charity, which is the leading provider of Mental Health First Aid training in the outdoor and adventure industry.

The session is available both on WEMCast and the WEM Academy

WEMCast >>> https://wemcast.podbean.com/

WEM Academy >>> https://www.wem.academy/

If you would like to connect with Stu, here are his contact details

Website:  https://www.changinghorizons.org/

Email: [email protected]

If you are interested in attending a Mental Health First Aid course, here is a link for further information https://mhfaengland.org/.

If you or someone you know are affected by any of the issues discussed in this podcast please reach out to someone in your network, speak to your GP or access confidential mental health support through the following two charities SHOUT https://giveusashout.org/ and the Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org.

In this special January episode Dr Hinemoa Elder, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist based in New Zealand and WEM Host Dr Will Duffin explore 10 Māori proverbs (whakataukī) from her recent book Aroha and reflect on how this ancient wisdom can be applied to our daily lives during the pandemic. This episode is about personal growth and wellbeing.

In the session they explore the following:

- How you can write your OWN proverbs and start to write your own legacy as an ancestor of the future. 

About the book:

Aroha is an ancient Māori word and way of thinking that means love, compassion, respect and empathy. It is one of the central pillars of Māori wisdom that enables and facilitates a more contented life.

Aroha is also the title of a collection of the timeless wisdom of Māori proverbs. 52 whakatauki - traditional Māori sayings compiled and explained by respected Māori psychiatrist Dr Hinemoa Elder, showing us how we can live better lives, in harmony with the planet.

These simple and powerful life lessons (one for every week in the year) aim to guide us in living a less stressful daily life. Chapters in the book cover manaakitanga (love for each other), kaitiakitanga (respect for our planet), whanaungatanga (community and connection) and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination).

Aroha is a feast of Māori wisdom that remains strikingly relevant today. It serves as a wakeup call. An invitation to love yourself and engage with a more deeply connected experience of life. Hinemoa shows how she has used the whakatauki in her own life and encourages you to see the world differently, through some of the wisest of human eyes. Find out how the power of aroha can help you each day, and through its many meanings make a happier world for everyone.

Ki te kotahi te kākaho ka whati, ki te kāpuia, e kore e whati

When we stand alone, we are vulnerable, but together we are unbreakable.

With the emergence of highly infectious strains of COVID-19 in the UK and South Africa, the race is on to get vaccines out to the general public across the globe, but how do we improve confidence in the general public? In the UK we’ve already started rolling out doses of the Pfizer and Astra Zeneca vaccine and it really feels like there’s light at the end of this tunnel.

However, one big question remains – how many of our patients are actually going to accept the vaccine?  How, as clinicians do we approach and make sense of the issue of vaccine hesitancy in the post-truth era of disinformation, conspiracy theories and distrust of medical science?

Dr Will Duffin, a jobbing frontline GP is joined by Dr Pauline Paterson and Professor Beata Kampmann, who are senior researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Directors of the vaccine confidence project.

In this video, Dr Paterson and Professor Kampmann share their expertise and the latest research on this pivotal issue that could define whether humankind will overcome this terrible pandemic.

A copy of Dr Paterson’s slides are available HERE.

More information about the vaccine confidence project can be found at https://www.vaccineconfidence.org/covid-19

The Vaccine Confidence Project is conducting a global study to track public sentiment and emotions around current and potential measures to contain and treat COVID-19. Through a mix of population surveys and social media monitoring and analysis over time and place, this year-long global study will investigate perception and sentiment of COVID-19 social distancing measures and potential medical tools globally.

Trends in public sentiment will be tracked around the globe to identify changing perceptions, behaviours, and concerns towards the pandemic. Data will be collected on attitudes towards potential treatments and vaccines, including a possible new COVID-19 vaccine. This will support public engagement strategies and help build preparedness for vaccine introduction.

In this *NEW* #WEMCast episode we’re joined by Dr Patricia Gatbonton. Alongside Dr Will Duffin, Patricia discusses the day she met boxer, Manny Pacquiao, what lockdown has been like in the Philippines, and what dual impact of a major natural disaster such as large typhoon or earthquake combined with the pandemic might have on health systems.

Give this session a listen to also learn about the valuable role that Filipino nurses play within the UK’s NHS and the Philippine’s plans for a vaccine roll out.

Dr Patricia Gatbonton, internist and endocrinologist and former Editor-in-chief of the Manila Times Publication, HealthNews and former president of the Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. private practice running out of a small, 300 bedded private hospital for the last 25 years. 

“We imagine that people are out skiing and climbing, when actually the majority of people that get caught out in these really could environments is simply because they’re vehicle breaks down, or they have another concurrent illness, or they’re drunk” – Sean Hudson

In this *NEW* podcast episode, we’re joined by ENP Ben Cooper and Dr Sean Hudson. Alongside WEM Trauma Lead Eoin Walker, Ben and Sean discuss all things #hypothermia.

The trio discuss environmental pre-disposing factors and ‘red flag’ medical pre-disposing factors such as endocrine dysfunctions, neuropathy and psychiatric diseases. Ben and Sean also examine how to best manage these factors on expeditions where hypothermia is a significant threat.  

Sean and Ben also talk about cold water immersion, frost nip/bite and how to manage it. They account for what they have learnt through their personal experiences from a self-care perspective.

Give this session a listen for some great insight and a couple of laughs!

In this episode, WEM Trauma Lead Eoin Walker is joined by Khalil Sayyad Hilario, a security risk management consultant and SAHCO Consulting General Director. 

In the last six years as SAHCO Consulting, Khalil has supported NGOs and aid agencies in South Sudan, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and the Balkans, providing strategic and operational support on risk and crisis management, humanitarian logistics and emergency programs. 

N.B - apologies for the sound quality on this episode, both Eoin and Khalil were recording from internet poor environments, but we thought the quality of the content was important to share. 

Everyday People Living Inspirational Lives is a podcast that shares the inspirational stories of some amazing people who live in the communities that we are all part of. We were super lucky to be approached by host Ian Pitchford, who sat down (remotely, of course!) with WEM Founder Mark Hannaford to discuss the who, what and why of WEM. 

**

The abstract below is taken from the Everyday People Living Inspirational Lives podcast: 

Mark is world’s first honorary associate professor awarded for his work in Extreme Medicine by the University of Exeter Medical School and is the founding director of World Extreme Medicine and Across the Divide Expeditions and a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Arts.  

A former special forces reserve soldier, a professional photographer, dogsled guide, remote boat handler and peripatetic explorer, Mark has been involved with expeditions for over 30 years and has led and organised expeditions to all of the world’s continents, in the desert and marine environments but also in polar regions, at altitude and has been involved in adventurous pursuits on all of the worlds five continents. Mark is also an award-winning photographer with images published in the Sunday Times, Telegraph, Rough Guides and National Geographic. He is also honorary aquanaut, an International Fellow of the famous Explorers Club of New York, a faculty member of the Space and Aviation Medicine course at the University of Texas Medical Board and Pacific University, Oregon.

At A Mind 4 Adventure, we are very proud to be associated with Mark. Listen what inspires him as he is so key in the inspiration of others within the community he serves.

**

Hear from more Everyday People Living Inspirational Lives via Ian's podcast, available here.

Mark will open this years Virtual World Extreme Medicine Conference, 17th and 18th October, as well as chairing sessions with a host of other incredible people living inspirational lives.

Grab your tickets today > http://bit.ly/BookWEM20