LOTS (Block 2): Life on the - wait, this is the title of a block?!

Life on the Street (LOTS). The content of the block is pretty much as random as the title. There is no real flow to the block, like there is in the Cardiovascular block; however, the content is super important. I'd advise you know each week before entering the next. Seeing as science has yet again failed us and we still don't have a machine that can stop time, that means working from day one.

LOTS consists of five weeks after which you'll write a couple of exams. I'll chat about exams in another post. PBL's will now be the order of the day. The first week starts with Little Anna. What a depressing topic to kick off with - Protein energy malnutrition (previously known as kwashiorkor and marasmus). This is such an important topic - it's basically what most of your Paediatrics block in GEMP III will be about. Wish someone had told me that... The lectures were very useful, so were the theme sessions.

Week two deals with genes. Levi's, Polo and Guess. (Okay, wow, that was lame even by my unusually low standards...) So the topic of the week is genetics. Although the PBL of the week is on Albinism, that's not the focus. The lectures will cover other genetic disorders, too. And for those who wanted to know: the opposite (so to speak) of Albinism is Melanism.

Week three is perhaps the most important week of LOTS, for our setting at least. The great imitator of our times - HIV. HIV can change the presentation of any disease, it can mimic many diseases and affects every single organ in the body, either directly by virological damage or indirectly via autoimmune manifestations. There simply is no way of getting around it - we all must know HIV. Although not a huge part of the week, treatment guidelines can be accessed readily and should be known. (Just Google the SA guidelines)

Week four... a difficult one. Perhaps not in terms of content, but certainly emotionally. Rape and sexual assault. This week is the only opportunity, most likely until Internship, that you will have to learn how to fill in a J88 form. This is the form we as doctors fill in when patients present after assault. I clearly remember the lecture on abnormal genito-anal findings. It's difficult to look at, but this is the reality of what happens in our world. Remember to treat every patient that has been assaulted, sexually or otherwise, with the utmost sensitivity and respect!

Ahhh... week five. For those who have not yet had the privilege to meet Prof Duse, will do so here. What a legend. This week is about infections - and a little on old folks. The PBL is about an Afrikaans farmer who hurts his hand on a gate. I got excited here, because I am Afrikaans. I don't sound it when I speak English (apparently) so don't read the posts in an accent from now on.

Apart from the above, you will get to learn some basic clinical skills this block. If you see me in the wards (just look for the really tall guy, I'm just under two meters tall) you can ask me to help you out with any skills you might be struggling with. Also make use of friends and parents to practise skills on. Not all skills though - avoid prostate exams, people don't like them...