Before we came across to the Orkney Islands, I was really intrigued to find out who the doctors and nurses were on the isles and why they were there. What kind of people were they? Where were they at in their careers? And why were they in Orkney? I’ve since answered that final question for myself – it’s FANTASTIC.
Archive for 'Blog'
Orkney is great for many reasons. Another one of these I have come across this week is the participation of Orcadians in the ORCADES study (ORCADES standing for the Orkney Complex Disease Study). This is a genetic epidemiological study based out of Edinburgh that is looking to identify genes and variants of Orcadians that are associated with common diseases that are seen here on the Orkney Isles. There are over 2000 Orcadians who participate in this study, with eligibility criteria being that subjects must be descendants of two Orcadian grandparents. › Continue reading…
One of the many people I admire is a fiercely intelligent woman whose business is in running a large NGO (like an absolute boss). I asked her one day what she would do if she could have her time again. She replied that she would get to know all of her neighbours and maybe throw a street party. That she would start from there within her own community. › Continue reading…
I have spent a couple of weeks floating between the medical team and emergency room here at Balfour hospital. Being a small hospital, there are no sub-specialties. So the general medicine is very general. There are two full time physicians at the Balfour and technically they each work on call once every four weeks with the other weeks covered by locum physicians. But the reality is that the full-time physicians here take on much more than the one week in four they are on call. Given the transient nature of locum placements, all outpatient clinics and follow ups on tests, biopsies etc are left up to the doctors based here in Orkney. They do a spectacular job. › Continue reading…
“Don’t let medicine eat you up, make medicine work for you”
It’s a fine balance in medicine, between dedicating your life to medicine and keeping yourself happy and well. I’ve held on to these words that were shared with me as a medical student, coming back to them particularly when I have become overwhelmed by medicine.
We have ended up on North Ronaldsay this week to spend time with the nurse practitioner in charge of the islands health care. The northernmost isle of the Orkney Isles, it is home to about 50 full time residents and a variety of sheep endemic to the island, aptly named North Ronaldsay sheep. › Continue reading…
We are coming to the end of our first week in the Orkney Isles and whilst a lot of things have stood out as great, the one thing has been surprisingly outstanding has been the food served to both staff and patients.
“The sky is just big, I can’t explain it, you’ll see when you get there” – Orkadian farmer
I found out how true this was a few days ago as we arrived here in the Orkney Islands. The people are magnificent, the community is inspiring and the sky is certainly big.
I feel like I have been a bit of a jack-in-the-box since my last blog. Taking the advice of one of the doctors, I have been moving about the hospital following the action so to speak. This has included spending quite a lot of time on the General Medicine ward and Pediatric ward to give myself a wide range of exposure to different patients and presentations before my time is up. Again, I have seen so many cases for which all I can think for the first few minutes is ‘wow!’ I takes a moment to absorb it all before the questions start falling out of my mouth. › Continue reading…
To start with this week, I have some excellent news on the man from my last blog who had the lower leg amputation. He is doing well, and looks a lot happier with life now that the pain is at a level where he is able to sleep. The stump is still oozing but it is hoped it will dry up over time. Fingers crossed. › Continue reading…