Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Red Cross Flight

First off, I am safely on the ground (Mom). That said, Faye and I just returned from a Red Cross outreach to Vryheid, a small community in Northern South Africa located just below the border of Swaziland. Turns out that most rural-ish hospitals are run by house officers, who are physicians that have completed medical school, intern year, and community service - then they head to these community hospitals to work where they are THE doctor...pediatrics, general medicine, surgery, OB/GYN, you name it. So in order to improve care, the Red Cross in association with the government arranges for specialists (which includes internal medicine docs) to fly to these communities about once/month to work in the clinic and wards. This involves heading to the airport, jumping into a 9 seater (see pic), and taking off into the clouds with nothing more than a stethoscope, TB mask, and bottle of Purell. 1 hour and change later, we're deposited in a clinic and the steady flow of patients arrive for consults clutching their charts, CXRs, and prescription cards. Interestingly, since the house officers see so much AIDS and TB, they are relatively comfortable handling these cases, so the patients they have scheduled us to see were mostly cardiac (lots of heart failure, rheumatic heart disease, palpitations, uncontrolled hypertension), with a sprinkling of diabetes, hypothyroidism, and nephrotic syndrome. Often, the house officer had ordered some basic tests prior to our arrival, so quite frequently we were able to initiate lasix or titrate synthroid doses, but just as often, basic work up hadn't been done yet, and so we would have to send the patient away clutching a lab slip or ultrasound request with plans to follow up at next visit. Turns out there is quite a need for echos and basic cardiology education (atenolol for BP control, seriously?), which gives me a lot of interesting things to think about for future projects....

-N

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

St. Lucia + Hluhluwe-Umfolozi


This past weekend, we went on an excursion to the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve and St. Lucia Wetlands Conservation Parks. We saw lots of animals and beautiful scenery (which the pictures do not adequately give justice). The highlight of our trip definitely were our two Afrikaner guides -- both had previously worked as conservationists (one tracking rhino in the bush for 12-months, the other studying turtle and dolphin behavior in Mozambique). They told use many tales of their own experiences in the bush, and were filled with fun little factoids about the animals and plants around us.

My personal two favorites were about the weaver bird and dung beetles. Apparently, when a male weaver bird wishes to attract a female mate for breeding, he shows his best colors. If the female bird becomes interested, he will then make her a bird's nest which she then inspects carefully. If it is not up to her standards, she will kick the nest off the tree and the male must start over again until she is satisfied. It has been recorded that one male bird had to make up to 12 nests until he finally could get the approval of his future mate!

As for dung beetles, their sole mission in life is to create perfect spherical balls of dung in which to lay their eggs. They then painfully roll this dung into an area of little vegetation and bury it into the dirt. When the eggs hatch, the dung serves as their offsprings' nutrition and in the process, seeds from the dung are left to germinate and grow. Though a good example of mother nature's resourcefulness, I can't help but feel sorry for those little buggers as they have a never ending amount of work spent in animal dung....

-f






The Wards and the Brain Drain


As a reminder, Edendale hospital is a 900-bed hospital -- 200 of which are dedicated to internal medicine patients and equally divided into 5 wards. An example of a ward is shown in the picture above. Basically it is 40 beds, stacked next to each other within one room with no dividers in between. As you can expect, patient's don't get very much privacy during physical exams of procedures. Even more concerning, however, is given the lack of isolation, very sick and immunocompromised patients are cohorted with those with contagious infectious diseases. Thus, if a patient does not have Tb or meningitis when they come in, they have a high risk of acquiring it by the time they leave.

In terms of medical education and training in South Africa, like most other countries, medical school and college are combined into a a 6-year program. After medical school, they have two years of training as an intern whereby they work in various medical specialities like surgery, Ob-gyn, internal medicine, anesthesia, etc. Once they have completed these two years of training, they are given the title of a "medical officer" and given posts throughout South Africa where they are required to work for a minimum of two years. As a medical officer, they are not specialized into any particular medical field but basically are surgeons, OB's, pediatricians, and internists all rolled into one! Once their two years of service are completed, they then have the option of specializing into a particular medical field or continuing their work as a general medical officer.

Having worked with a fair number of interns at Edendale, I learned that the majority of those who complete their training and 2-year service commitment end up leaving South Africa to practice medicine in greener pastures. Known as the "brain drain" of "human capital flight," newly trained physicians in which the government has invested considerable resources and money, emigrate to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada with the promise of better resources and lifestyles. A long recognized problem, one statistic I read estimated about $1.41 billion loss of returns from investment for all doctors emigrating out of South Africa.

-F


Friday, January 20, 2012

Algeria - 1000 Dinar 2005 Arab Leaugue Commemorative

One Thousand Dinar, Dated 22.3.2005 P143
60th Anniversary of the Arab League
Reverse

A Middle Income Country

As we enter the last week of our stay here in South Africa (!), I'm starting to reflect a great deal on our experience and the country we have called home. South Africa is such a contradiction in terms, and it's healthcare system is just as chaotic and inconsistent as the landscape. As we've mentioned earlier, Edendale, a government run hospital, suffers from many problems secondary to lack of resources....not nearly enough attendings or residents (when someone is sick or on leave, there is no one to replace them), 1 CT scan (and no MRI), and scanty support/ancillary staff (intern = phlebotomist, IV nurse, and scut monkey). Labs can be drawn and sent, but after spending the majority of my morning redrawing blood that had been sent days earlier, I've certainly come to realize that it often cannot be found. On the other end of the spectrum, as an Afrikaner said to me the other day, if you have money, you go to a private hospital and pay for your care. There they have the resources, technology, and staff to adequately evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients (shocking I know). While inequalities certainly exist in the states (and obviously Columbia, hello McKeen), the degree to which it is displayed here is shocking to outsiders, but simply the way of life for South Africans.

Similarly, the burden of disease is overwhelming and just as diverse. At Edendale we tend to see mostly patients with advanced AIDS, often complicated by TB (apparently 1 study done by an attending here demonstrated 19% of which is MDR!); however, it is not at all uncommon to care for diabetic/hypertensives admitted with CVA (stroke) in the next bed. And as we experience more and more of this country, let me tell you, obesity is just as common as in the states and fast food is everywhere (KFC seems to be the overwhelming favorite). Infectious disease (AIDS, TB, malaria) remain wildly uncontrolled, and chronic diseases typical of wealthier countries (stroke, heart attacks) have begun to emerge and threaten to overwhelm the system.

South Africa is a land of mountains and savannahs, BMWs and mud huts, cachectic AIDS patients and diabetics, rural townships (hours from the nearest hospital) and bustling metropolises. A land of have nothings and have way too much.

-N

Swazi Archdeacon in Ireland














USPG Ireland is pleased to welcome The Venerable Bhekindlela (Bheki) Magongo, Archdeacon of the Western Region of the Diocese of Swaziland.

Here to experience life in the Church of Ireland, Archdeacon Magongo will spend some time experiencing parish life here, and some time in Church of Ireland House in Rathmines, Dublin. He will also visit the Dioceses of Dublin & Glendalough, Limerick & Killaloe and Cashel & Ossory.

All are welcome to meet Bheki in Church House, Rathmines between 3pm and 5pm on Tuesday 24th January.

For more information contact Linda Chambers, 086 8586337, uspg@ireland.anglican.org. 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Filling in the gaps

On a more serious note, in terms of work, we are getting used to the hospital system and have been working throughout the hospital, including the wards and the admissions room (equivalent to the Emergency Department in the US). Due to the general attending staffing shortage and lack of systematic coverage for interns/residents who are sick or on leave, we have found that patients often are not seen by a physician on a daily basis.

For example, when a patient is decided to be admitted by the intern in the admissions room, they will often sit in the waiting area for 1-4 days before a bed becomes available for them in the wards. During this time, it is rare if they are seen again by another physician, let alone started on the appropriate medications or interventions. During this time, it is not uncommon for patients to die. What we have found to be the most helpful is to round on patients throughout the hospital who otherwise wouldn't be seen by an attending or intern. We have had minor successes... starting IVF on a man who initially presented with altered mental who has become so dehydrated due to lack of access to fluids that he was hypernatremic to 167(!), ordering blood and a PPI for a patient whose down-trending Hgb was left unnoticed by the scurrying interns and nurses around him, and repleting the potassium of 1.2 in a HIV+ male with cyclical vomiting and diarrhea....though all minor interventions, they are ones that hopefully prevented their demise.

One of the sadder cases we have seen this week, in which our interventions were too late pertained to a previously young and healthy man without HIV who presented with altered mental status. He underwent a lumbar puncture and results returned with +India ink stain suggestive of cryptococcal meningitis. He was treated empirically for crytococcal and bacterial meningitis for 3 hospital days. His mental status had worsened to a near comatose status, but despite lack of inprovement on antibiotics, his treatment plan did not change due to lack of physician follow-up over the weekend. (Here, only pre-determined "sick" patients are seen on the weekends.) By the time Nicole and I met the patient, we were extremely suspicious of this diagnosis as his CD4 count was in the 1000's and his negative HIV status was confirmed. Furthermore, his CSF cytology was fairly bland other than the India ink stain. We repeated the lumbar puncture which returned with no crytococcal organisms seen, and it was felt that his prior results were likely due to lab technician error. We ordered a head CT which took 3 days to obtain. It demonstrated a subdural bleed with overlying abscess. 1 hour after the correct diagnosis was made and while attempting to get a hold of the neurosurgeons, the patient expired with the family at the bedside.

-f

Drakensburg

Last weekend, Nicole and I went to Drakensburg which is the higest mountain range in South Africa. In Zulu, it is called uKhahlamba, which means "barrier of spears" and it surrounds Lesotho. We attempted to go to Mount-Aux-Orions which is one of the highest peaks in the area, but after driving on an unpaved rocky dirt road barely big enough to accommodate our little 2-wheel drive Hyundai, while surrounded by grey clouds and a moderate shower, we aborted near the peak and turned around. Though threated with rain and clouds, we were able to fit in two beautiful hikes, one of which was along the Tugela Falls and Gorge.

-f

What's wrong with this picture?

Despite all the sad and disheartening cases we've seen, we have also seen some great saves. Case in point -- we recently saw a 25 year old woman with AIDS who was admitted for PCP (a type of really bad pneumonia for you none medical types). She was initially given steroids and antibiotics with improvement, but this morning her breathing acutely worsened and she started becoming cyanotic before our eyes. The attending at the time diagnosed her clinically with a pneumothorax from a cyst rupture (later confirmed by CXR). 1 emergent needle decompression and bedside chest tube placement by the medicine intern later, she is now remarkably better and stable.

-f


Monday, January 16, 2012

Edendale

So now that we've been working for the past week, I'll attempt to begin to put into words what we've experienced here. A word of warning, none of what you are about to read is uplifting....

First the facts: we're working at Edendale Hospital, which is a 900 bed facility that caters to the surrounding regional community of about 1 million.... everything from trauma to medicine to ARV clinic. It was traditionally the "black hospital" pre-end of apartheid era, and so the facilities are not as robust as the nearby Grey's Hospital (the "white hospital"). If a patient needs an MRI or echocardiogram, they have to be transferred to Grey's for the study, usually weeks to months later (assuming they are still alive). 90% of the patients we see have HIV/AIDS, many of who are also co-infected with tuberculosis, and sometimes MDR-Tb (multi-drug resistant Tb) and XDR (extensively-drug resistance Tb). Tuberculosis and HIV are so common here that patients are assumed to have HIV or a complication of HIV until proven otherwise and N95 masks are required at all times. Even the hospital elevator is commonly referred to as the “XDR express.”



As expected, we've spent a good part of the week both frustrated and saddened - while we've encountered loads of wonderful, hardworking doctors who genuinely care, lack of resources is profound. 3 ICU beds. Only the recent introduction of a statin on formulary. Bloodwork that returns the next day...or never. Missing paperwork and incomplete histories. However, I think what we have been most struck by, is that the lack of resources also includes people. There simply aren’t enough of those hardworking doctors to go around, and so only some patients get seen by an attending each day. There are no handoffs and continuity of care is rare. And when someone dies overnight, it's difficult to find out why, because no one seems to know. We came in today to find that the majority of patients hadn't had their temperature taken over the weekend (I'm still not sure if it was because there weren't enough nurses or because the thermometer was broken).


Needless to say, we've already seen many deaths.... the 17 year old with HIV related cardiomyopathy who needs a milrinone drip but gets morphine, the 22 year-old with altered mental status and not so normal CT Brain who dies before the neurologist sees her the following day, the 55 year old with sepsis and DKA. Le sigh. Despite all this, we've also been struck by the incredible amount of dedication from the attendings here, who choose to work at Edendale everyday to manage the best they can with the resources given. More on this in the next posting...

-N



Sunday, January 8, 2012

Initiation

Six years after our trip to Uganda, we have finally made it back to the African continent. For the next 4 weeks, we will be calling South Africa our home. With our brief 3 day stay so far, we have discovered that some things never change. Nicole still has an extremely small bladder and I can still fall asleep pretty much anywhere. But unlike our experiences in Uganda, we are no longer navigating rolling blackouts, spotty plumbing, and camps filled with mud huts where everyone lives in absolute poverty -- now, we are dealing with a developing country for which the poor live in the same communities and in stark contrast from the wealthy. Probably because of this, South Africa has one of the highest crimes rates in the world and our first day here, we were imparted some helpful safety tips like “when you drive, leave some space between you and the car in front of you incase you need to make a quick getaway from an ambush” and “always leave your windows open a crack so that if someone tries to smash your window to steal something, there is less tension and less chance the window will break.”

So far, we have ventured into Durban along South Africa’s eastern coast (see pics) and haven’t run into any problems or uncomfortable situations. (Truth be told, as of right now, we have been more worried about our safety driving on the left side of the road than walking on the streets!) There, we relaxed on the beach, swam in the Indian Ocean, and had some delicious South African/Indian fusion while we re-cooperated from our jet-lag and prepared for what will be our first day of work tomorrow at Edendale Hospital in the province of Kwuzulu-Natal. We anticipate many challenges (as our mentor here says, “expect more deaths in your short time at Edendale than you have encountered in all of your residency thus far, and more than that, expect them to have been preventable deaths at that”), but we are excited to begin working. So stay tuned….

For those who haven’t seen it, check out the YouTube video and website to learn more about the organization we are working for (iTEACH) and about Edendale hospital.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/iTEACH-SA/98675643113

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAmM55TRW2I&feature=youtu.be

http://www.rainerfellows.org/?q=Fellows/Krista-Dong-and-Zinny-Thabethe

http://designmind.frogdesign.com/articles/health/iteach-taking-on-tb-and-hiv-in-south-africa.html

-f



























Monday, January 2, 2012

Kewarganegaraan Bayi yang Lahir di Finlandia


Apakah kewarganegaran bayi yang lahir di Finlandia, dari orang tua pemegang Permanent Residence di Finlandia? 
Apakah bayi tersebut dapat memiliki dwi kewarganegaraan/dual citizenship?

Contoh Kasus:
Bayi dari pasangan WNI - WN Estonia,pemegang PR di Finlandia, yang akan lahir di Finlandia
(pertanyaan dari Lutfi Shoviana Kesa)

Jawaban:


Is the child born of foreign parents in Finland granted Finnish citizenship?

If the child is not granted the citizenship of another state, and does not have the secondary right to acquire the citizenship of another state on the basis of its birth, for example, through the confirmation of paternity or through declaration procedure, the child is granted Finnish citizenship.

The child is also granted Finnish citizenship on the basis of place of birth, if the parents have refugee status or they are receiving protection against the authorities of the state of which they are citizens, and if the child would not be able to acquire the citizenship of either of its parents without the assistance of the authorities of that state.



Sumber: Arsip Diskusi KKC, Kewarganegaraan Bayi yang Lahir di Finlandia
Lutfi Shoviana Kesa, Julie Villa, Aya Abdat

Perpanjangan Greencard dan sworn affidafit untuk penduduk USA


Bagi yang hendak memperpanjang Greencard dan butuh panduan membuat sworn affidafit, berikut links yang bisa membantu:


Catatan: USCIS tidak  memberitahu dokumen apa yg mereka minta, jadi sepertinya semua tergantung dari petugas yang bersangkutan apakah diperlukan sworn affidafit atau tidak. Hanya saja berjaga-jaga tidak ada salahnya.

Sumber: Arthie B. (Arsip discussion board)

KEWARGANEGARAAN RI untuk Anak


Sumber: Forum Diskusi KKC



Anak yang dapat mendaftarkan diri untuk memperoleh kewarganegaraan RI adalah:
1. anak yang lahir dari perkawinan yang sah dari seorang ayah WNI dan ibu WNA;
2. anak yang lahir dari perkawinan yang sah dari seorang ayah WNA dan ibu WNI;
3. anak yang lahir di luar perkawinan yang sah dari seorang ibu WNA yang diakui oleh seorang ayah WNI sebagai anaknya dan pengakuan itu dilakukan sebelum anak tersebut berusia 18 tahun atau belum kawin;
4. anak yang dilahirkan di luar wilayah negara RI dari seorang ayah dan ibu WNI yang karena ketentuan dari negara tempat anak tersebut dilahirkan memberikan kewarganegaraan kepada anak yang bersangkutan;
5. anak WNI yang lahir di luar perkawinan yang sah, belum berusia 18 tahun dan belum menikah diakui secara sah oleh ayahnya yang berkewarganegaan asing;
6. anak WNI yang belum berusia 5 tahun diangkat secara sah sebagai anak oleh WNA berdasarkan penetapan pengadilan.

Berdasarkan Pasal 41 UU No. 12 tahun 2006 tentang Kewarganegaraan RI, anak-anak yang termasuk dalam kategori di atas yang lahir sebelum UU ini diundangkan (sebelum 1 Agustus 2006) dan belum berusia 18 tahun atau belum menikah dapat memperoleh kewarganegaraan RI dengan mendaftarkan diri kepada Menteri melalui pejabat atau Perwakilan RI paling lambat 4 (empat) tahun setelah UU ini berlaku (Juli 2010). Sedangkan, anak-anak yang lahir setelah UU ini diundangkan (setelah 1 Agustus 2006) dapat langsung mengajukan permohonan kewarganegaraan/pembuatan paspor RI ke Perwakilan RI.




FORM PENDAFTARAN


SILAHKAN DAFTAR DI SINI




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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Syarat Pembuatan Paspor RI untuk anak di perwakilan RI


Paspor RI baru untuk anak hasil perkawinan campuran yang lahir setelah 1 Agustus 2006 berdasarkan ketentuan Pasal 4 UU No, 12 tahun 2006.

Di KBRI PARIS, PERANCIS

1.Mengisi dua formulir, formulir pendaftaran dan formulir bikin paspor
2. Akta lahir asli (salinan dari catatan sipil di Mairie)
3. Fotokopi paspor kedua orang tua
4. Fotokopi carte d'identité suami dan carte de séjour ibu
5. 5 lembar pas foto ukuran 3,5 x 4,5 cm
6. Surat pernyataan Bapak (tulis tangan) menyatakan setuju kalau anaknya punya pasor RI sampai dengan umur 18. (dalam bahasa Perancis juga boleh)

Di KBRI BERN, SWISS

Catatan: Anak hanya diijinkan memiliki paspor Indonesia sampai usia 18 tahun. Setelah umur 18 tahun, yang bersangkutan dipersilakan untuk memilih kewarganegaraannya.

1.    Mengisi formulir Perdim 14 secara lengkap dan jelas dengan huruf cetak  (Formulir dapat diperoleh di KBRI Bern).  
2.    Mengisi formulir Pendaftaran Diri  
3.    Pas foto pemohon 2 (dua) lembar berwarna dengan ukuran paspor (3x4 cm) dan latar belakang warna putih.
4.    Salinan salah satu dari dokumen berikut ini:
  • Kartu Identitas (Card de LégitimationAuslander Ausweis/ Permit Swiss)
  • Surat Bukti Domisili (Control d’habitant / Anwohnerkontrolle).
  • Surat Keterangan (Letter of Attestation), yang berisi keterangan domisili dari sekolah (bagi pelajar yang tinggal di asrama/dormitory)
 5.   Salinan Akte Kelahiran. 
 6.    Salinan paspor ayah dan ibu yang masih berlaku. 
 7.    Salinan Akte Nikah orangtua. 
 8.    Biaya: CHF 30


Catatan:
Untuk keterangan lebih lanjut mengenai persyaratan pembuatan Paspor RI untuk anak-anak hasil perkawinan campuran di Perwakilan RI, mohon untuk menelpon atau mengunjungi website Perwakilan RI terdekat :)


Contoh form surat permohonan KITAS sponsor istri/suami


*Surat Permohonan kitas

Yogyakarta, 2 Februari 2011
Kepada Yth.
Direktur Dokumen Perjalanan, Visa dan Fasilitas Keimigrasian
Up. Kasubdit Visa
Di
Jakarta


Perihal: Permohonan Visa Ijin Tinggal Terbatas


Dengan hormat,

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini:
Nama                              : 
Tempat/Tanggal Lahir    : 
No. KTP                          : 
Alamat                            : 

Dengan ini mengajukan permohonan Visa Ijin Tinggal terbatas untuk suami saya dengan data-data sebagai berikut:

Nama                              : 
Tempat/Tanggal Lahir    : 
Kebangsaan                   : 
No. Passport                  : 
Masa Berlaku Passport  : 

Demikian surat permohonan ini dibuat, atas terkabulnya permohonan ini, saya ucapkan terima kasih.


            Hormat saya,




(Andi Nur Hafsah M)

==========================================================
*Contoh Surat Sponsor dari Istri

Yogyakarta, 04 Maret 2010
Kepada Yth:
KBRI DILI
Di
Timor Leste


Perihal: Permohonan Visa Ijin Tinggal Terbatas


Dengan hormat,

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini:
Nama                              : 
Tempat/Tanggal Lahir    : 
No. KTP                          : 
Alamat                            :

Dengan ini mengajukan permohonan Visa Ijin Tinggal terbatas untuk suami saya dengan data-data sebagai berikut:

Nama                              : 
Tempat/Tanggal Lahir    : 
Kebangsaan                   : 
No. Passport                  : 
Masa Berlaku Passport  : 

Demikian surat permohonan ini dibuat, atas terkabulnya permohonan ini, saya ucapkan terima kasih.
Hormat saya,




( Source : Andi Nur Hafsah M)