Doctors are underpaid.

Doctors are underpaid. If a job is measured on skill required vs. ability to muck things up... we are getting the right ass-end of remuneration. People can die if we make mistakes.

Take this example. First, we study for SIX YEARS! Then work a compulsory term in government for 2 years (at a calm, relaxed 90 hours per week). That's 8 years we could have been earning tom.

A GP earns medical aid rates for a patient. That's R180 per consultation (if you get paid). 30 patients a day (fully booked). So that's an income of R108 000 per month. Whoah there big daddy - you think that sounds good?

Practice Overheads: Nurses, receptionist, premises, office costs, disposable items (gloves, swabs, needles etc.).

Practice Equipment: An ECG machine costs R35000. And we can't survive on just that.

Medical Licenses: HPCSA registration. R800 per year. Malpractice insurance. R7000 per year. Loss of income insurance. R12000 per year.

Actually giving a damn about your patients after paying all of this: Priceless.

And that's a practice that's positively rolling in patients. AND a practice that's managed to get reasonable payment terms out of Discovery.

Did I mention we have to study for 6 years? And we have to continue studying to keep up with health patterns, developments in the industry and refresher course on the 3 billion diseases that we could face alongside the snotty noses.

I'm bitching. And saving lives. Such a philanthropist.

Gary Larson has a flea named after him?

This is OLD news. But I didn't know. And with the plethora of tropical nasties that we've been talking about lately, somehow this came up. Fascinating! And richly deserved I suppose.

An extract from the letter send to Larson:

Obviously it is common practice for entomologists to name new species of insects after colleagues, relatives, friends, enemies and people in the public eye... With your permission, I would like to name a new species of insect after you. There is a catch, however. I do not work on cute insects. I am a specialist on the order Mallophaga, the "chewing lice"... Your species, Strigiphilus garylarsoni belongs to a genus only found on owls... - Dale H. Clayton (University of Chicago).

And a picture of the critter.


I wonder, if one day, when this blog has risen to conquer the world of humourous medicine, someone would name a flea after us. Or a rare tropical disease.

Rare Tropical Diseases - Dengue Fever

Number 2 on the Wikipedia Gross-Stuff-You-Catch list, although I'm starting to think it's not really in order of seriousness. TB?! T?! B!?

So, Dengue Fever. It's caused by a virus transmitted by a mosquito found in the tropics. This doozy begins with high fever, chills and aching bones, accompanied by sore throat and depression. That's a mixed bag if there ever was one. Could be malaria. Could be flu.

Then, you get a skin eruption (isn't it wonderful how medical books use such descriptive words!? - Andy) that starts on the hands and feet and spreads to the rest of the body. Maybe, if you're very unlucky, followed by desquamation (mmmm, skin peeling off).

If you're even unluckier and you catch the one variant you begin to bleed and bleed and bleed and bleed. And bleed. Luckily, most times it's not fatal because your doctor will top you up with a couple of pints (blood, that is) and the disease will heal over a period.

And if you weren't convinced about the popularity of this cretin. There's even a band!


They make music that's both familiar, yet eerily unique. Apparently. Visit their site here!

Why South African Doctors are hardcore (when it comes to rare tropical diseases)...

With much amusement, I noticed that TB (tuberculosis) was number 6 on that Wikipedia Watch-Out-For-This list we've been talking about.

In South Africa, TB (next to HIV) is the highest prevalent infectious disease. Even as a first year fledgling, we were taught it's TB, TB, TB until proven otherwise. I can diagnose it in my sleep. Even interns (especially interns because they deal with the crap) treat this shit for breakfast.

AND. We don't wear masks everytime we deal with patients. Our immune systems are THAT hardcore. American medicine might think that foolhardy. We just call each other Chuck and carry on with business.

Rare Tropical Diseases - Leishmaniasis

Now, this obtuse word even pops up in the Wikipedia Top 10 infectious nasties.

A kind lady posted a comment on our intro to rare tropical diseases about something her husband picked up while in Iraq, that seems to be under the radar of American doctors. It sounded interesting, and Andy asked me to look it up and post something.

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transferred by the bites of sand flies. There are many different forms of this parasite, depending on which part of the world you're in. Evidently, it also resides in the Iraqi desert. Specfically, the Middle Eastern version is L major. NOT to be confused with:

*L tropica (the vector could get you while lazing in the hammock)
*L braziliensis (never known to wear revealing swimsuits)
*L mexicana (can not be cured by excessive tequila consumption)

So, what happens? All leishmania cause slightly different physical symptoms but can be divided into visceral (body organs), cutaneous (skin), mucocutaneous (wet mucussy skin - inside mouth and nose).

Simply put, you get multiple ulcerating or nodular lumps on your body. The visceral one even causes enlarged liver and spleen, gum bleeding and wasting. Yummy.


Worst part of all, as suspected by our kind commentor, treatment remains inadequete because of drug toxicity, long courses required and frequent need for hospitalisation.

Best of luck to the American Military Doctors who have to differentiate it from leukaemia, lymphoma, tuberculosis, brucellosis and typhoid (that's just a few).