₦airaland Forum

Below the age of 5 the commonest cause of seizures is febrile convulsions, this type usually stops as the child goes older. About 70% of other seizures have no known cause but a few of them are accused by a serious underlying disease like brain abscess brain tumours, meningitis! encephalitis which can be fatal if not recognized early. That is why a neurologist should asses anybody with seizures, if no neurologist is available a paediatrician will be in a better position than a GPC to asses your brother.

I agree with that this child may have a learning disability, yes he has a poor background but many children whose parents don't have time for them still do well academically. I remember meeting a family with a son of about 10 whom they complained of incessantly, they said he was dull, stubborn and rascally. He only did things when the parents shouted and beat him. It turned out the boy was partially deaf and only heard when they shouted. He was actually intelligent and taught himself to lip read that's why it wasn't obvious when they talked facing him. The parents are now feeling so guilty but Thank God he was eventually diagnosed and is now wearing hearing aids and doing well in school. There are other problems like high functioning autism known as Aspergers or dyslexia that can affect a child and if the child is unfortunate enough to be in a society like ours he or she is doomed.

I know these are not Federal Universities but in Federal Universities we have veterinary surgeons, zoologist, microbiologist as VC's . Any Proffesor who has the requisite background can become a vice chancellor because the main function of the university is to teach. The teaching hospital likewise is also an educational institution where medical doctors are trained and as such in Nigeria. So if a professional from within the system is to head such an institution I would think it right that someone involved in the core function of the institution should head it. In the Federal Universities the CMD is also a staff of the College of Medicine ie a Professor. This is so that such a person understands the dual functions of a teaching hospital I.e. Training and service. State teaching hospitals differ because of politics where teaching hospital CMD are political appointees that generally are answerable to the powers that be and that is why you have many state teaching hospitals having problems with accreditation.

Actually Bauchi state University and Ajayi Crowther University already have pharmacists as their vice chancellors

My cover would not be airtight, I am female in a male dominated field and some smart students or colleagues of mine, if on nairaland would put two and two together and know whom I am. 007 unmasked

My cover would not be airtight, I am female in a male dominated field and some smart students or colleagues of mine, if on nairaland would put two and two together and know whom I am. 007 uunmasked

But come to think of it Universities in Nigeria must be daft, can you imagine at least five of them have the same inept Medical Doctors as their Vice Chancellors,UNN, UI, OAU, LASU and the university in Katsina. The same doctors that JOHESU members say don't have the wer withal to head hospitals are now heading Universities, ASUU must hear of this

Sister not brother

Yes I have heard of such stories but there was an explanation. Read
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2564741/Couple-desperate-baby-conned-believing-pregnant-thanks-miracle-herbs-given-birth-Nigeria-brought-baby-raise-Britain.html

http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/05/miracle-babies-in-nigeria-as-women-are-fooled-by-pricey-midwife/

Ok. Hope you are ahving as much fun as I am on nairaland. It's amazing to see the mindset of people we work with and being anonymous they can tell you what they really feel and you can do the same without the need to be dignified about it.

Asthma is not diagnosed by x-rays that's why an X-Ray May be normal and the patient still has signs of asthma. The proper investigation for asthma is something called a lung function test. benelan is a corticosteroid, a group of drugs that you cannot by over the counter in developed countries because of serious side effects that can occur with its usage, like cataracts, diabetes, hypertension and glaucoma to name a few.The proper doctor to manage Asthma is a respiratory physician and these are usually found in teaching hospitals. Good luck!

In the teaching hospitals the General out patient clinic acts as a screening point for patients without referrals who are then sent to the proper department eg Paediatrics, Opthalmology, Cardiology. If the case does not require specialist treatment they treat them and sometimes refer them back to a general hospital or their health centres. What many people don't realize is that almost every doctor in a teaching hospital is involved in medical education, either as residents or as lecturers in the medical college. The primary purpose for which the teaching hospital is set up is to train medical personnel. All doctors know this and so no Gp will apply to come and work GP in a teaching hospital. What you have in that department are residents in training under a consultant.

The GPC in UBTH is not manned by Gp's fresh out of medical school but by consultants and residents in family medicine.

GP's not gas

donwhizkid: @ Allycat.... D problem is dt u dnt undastand too well wat a primary Health care Means... Any Doctor dat has a first contact wit a patient is a Primary care giver... It means d first person a patinet should see is d primary health giver... Medical Doctors(GP) are also Primary health Givers...

Of course Gas are primary health care givers, that's why you don't see them running specialist clinics in tertiary health care centres like teaching hospitals. Why do you think most teaching hospitals do not see patients without a referral letter. The reason is that the patients should have been seen by a primary care practitioner and sometimes even at the secondary health care level and only when there is need for extra care should they now be referred to a tertiary health care facility. It is because people do not believe that will get adequate care at the primary health care centres they are all rushing to teaching and specialist centres even for malaria. And part of the reason is that people trained to work at primary health care level would prefer to work in tertiary centres and then complain that they are not being allowed to do their job.

Zeuss, are you really a fellow? Because if you are one I will fine you for trying to confuse me with submento bregmatic diameter and stuff? On a serious note did you finish from Uniport, because I did soooooo many years ago. I'm ancient

Of course Doctors of Optometry work at PHC's, they should if they are primary health care practitioners. What is strange is someone saying I am a primary health practitioner and complaining about the person who is a tertiary health practitioner not allowing him to work in a tertiary health centre.

If you say you are a primary health care worker or professional, then you should have nothing against working in the primary health care setting. It is because there is no manpower at that level that all the patients keep going to the secondary and tertiary health centres and hospitals ie general hospital, specialist hospitals and teaching hospitals.

I wondered oh. But you obviously don't like doctors at all and make no bones of the fact. But hey you don't have to like everybody and not everybody has to like you. That's life.

When did you become a Medical doctor, in previous posts you were a nurse who " paid the same school fees as those MBBS" graduates. You have constantly crtiscised and attacked doctors on this forum referring to them as those people . When did this metamorphosis occur from NP to Medical doctor.

prettyprettywow: I feel compelled to write on this subject because of its seriousness and the dearth of objective analyses in this forum. It is an emotive subject for both the NMA and JOHESU, and I can understand why punches fly around, but the parties must rise above petty and emotional considerations if we are to find a way forward.
The NMA has a list of 24 demands but I will limit myself to the most contentious ones. At this stage, it is probably best that I introduce myself. I am medical doctor of Nigerian heritage practising in the UK.[size=8pt][/size]
WHO SHOULD HEAD THE HOSPITAL
There is no contention – the medical doctor is the head of the clinical team. He/she leads the ward rounds, clinics, surgical operations, multidisciplinary meetings etc because the ultimate responsibility for patient care rests in his/her hands. The headship of the hospital is a different matter. This is an administrative role and needs not be occupied by a medical doctor. This job is better in the hands of people who have administrative or business management skills. This is the case in countries like the UK, Canada and the US, which heavily influence our health system. Therefore, it is difficult to reason with the NMA why this job should be the exclusive right of medical doctors.
NON-MEDICAL CONSULTANTS
The doctor-patient ratio in Nigeria is abysmally low and very unsafe. In my view, the role of non-medical professionals such as nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists etc needs to expand to cope with the demands on doctors. It is important that this is done in a safe way by providing the appropriate level of training for these individuals. This is the case in countries such as the UK, Canada and the US where consultant nurses, pharmacists etc have existed for a few decades now. I do not see any problem with non-medical consultants as long as these individuals are appropriately trained and can practise competently, safely and within an agreed framework. If this arrangement enhances patient care, then where is the problem with it? Pursuing this demand is tantamount to the NMA obstructing the professional development of JOHESU members, and I don’t think this is helpful to anybody.
HAZARD ALLOWANCE
The types of hazard and the level to which healthcare workers are exposed vary considerably and depend on the type of job they do. Psychiatrists are hardly exposed to body fluids and their risks for contracting diseases like HIV and hepatitis are much lesser than a theatre scrub nurse. The risk of physical assault by a patient is higher for a psychiatrist than for a surgeon. And because psychiatry nurses spend more time with the patients, their risk of assault is arguably higher than the consultant psychiatrists. The people who work in radiology departments e.g. radiologists, radiographers, nurses, porters and so on have greater exposure to radioactive materials than everyone else in the hospital.
The health hazard allowance is a pittance – it needs to increase. However, I think it is important to get an independent risk assessor for impartial advice.
MISCELLANEOUS
I have read far too many emotional arguments on the subject of this NMA strike and very little of an objective discourse. It is important that I draw your attention to a few of these.
What has become obvious is the lack of understanding of the concept of teamwork. There is a pervasive notion among doctors that the other healthcare workers are there to serve them. JOHESU members think that doctors have become too conceited for their own good and are determined to put them in their “places”. The most important person in the hospital is the patient – not the doctor, nurse, pharmacist or laboratory scientist. Every team member is important and must be respected, including the people who do the least clinical jobs like cleaning; I don’t imagine that any hospital will remain open for long if its cleaners went on strike and dirt was allowed to accumulate to the point where it constitutes a health risk.
I have heard so many anecdotal accounts of nurses not joining doctors on ward rounds or pharmacists altering prescriptions without first discussing these with the prescribing doctors or laboratory scientist slapping doctors; and these accounts are being given as reasons why doctors must continue to head hospitals. These are disciplinary matters, which should be managed according to existing procedures. These excuses are emotional and should not be used to block the professional development of others.
Another recurrent theme in these debates is the abuse of junior doctors by both medical and non-medical staff, which appears to be endemic. There is a consistent account of junior doctors being asked to do other people’s jobs such as collecting blood from blood banks, taking samples to laboratories etc. In extreme cases, these doctors are asked to undertake non-clinical tasks by more senior doctors. This is simply unacceptable! I think it is fair to place the blame for this at the hands of consultants who are responsible to the junior doctors. But this in itself is not a good argument for blocking JOHESU members from becoming consultants in their specialties or for stopping them from heading hospitals if they have the right qualifications.
I am concerned that the NMA is losing public sympathy. Increasingly, I hear people describe doctors as selfish and heartless. This is very sad and rather unfortunate. They say doctors do not have any motivation to end the strike because patients are forced to pay exorbitant fees to them in their private hospitals. Those who cannot afford these fees are left to suffer or die. If the NMA has made any efforts to carry the public along, these do not appear to have been effective (yet).
CONCLUSION
To conclude, the current strategy (i.e., recurrent strikes) is not working. Over the last decade or two, the NMA and JOHESU have taken turns to go on strikes. Perhaps, it is time to sit both parties and resolve these contentious issues once and for all. It’s pointless for the government to enter into agreements with one party knowing fully well that the other party will ask for a near-reversal of those agreements.
It has become imperative to incorporate Ethics, Teamwork and Communications into undergraduate curricula.
Disciplinary procedures are there for a reason. They must be followed when necessary.
Although I practise abroad, I should point out that this strike affects me too. My family and friends all live in Nigeria. And who says I am not planning to come home to practise?
Lastly, let us be mindful of our own mortality – most of us will be ill someday. When this happens the only thing that will matter to us is to be looked after by caring and competent health-workers regardless of their individual specialisation. We can create that environment if we forget our individual egos and work as a team.

The number of doctors in Lagos state employment was 788 at the time of the strike, this included house officers,medical officers, residents and consultants, so where did someone get the figure of 1500 consultants from

A patient comes into a pharmacy or to see a nurse and says I've got "pile" and is given drugs for "pile". He feels better but six months later the bleeding per rectum gets worse and he finally sees a doctor who does a rectal examination and feels a mass per rectum. Unfortunately by this stage it is advanced.
Or a 50year old man looses his voice so is given lozenges and antibiotics, no examination of the larynx, when he starts to feel breathless he is treated for asthma, till he sees a doctor, ENT specialist who looks into his voice box and sees an advanced tumour. At this stage it's too late for any curative treatment.
Or a mother brings a 1 year old with a fever and antimalarials are prescribed. It's not until the ears start discharging does anyone realize he actually had an ear infection, by this time the eardrum is ruptured and the child may be hearing impaired for life.
Or a patient with a leg ulcer that a nurse has been dressing in her home for months without ever checking her blood sugar or doing a biopsy. It may be diabetes or even cancerous.
It's only when the treatment has failed for months that they are sent to hospital and when such patients develop complications who blames the pharmacy or the nurse or the lab guy that initially managed after doing a test. All blame goes to the doctor.
These are just examples of the kind of things we see on a daily basis.

Some of the demands surprised me. Did some of these people know the brief of the Commitee they were to face before they appeared. What does a Commitee on inter Professional relations have to do with HND/BSC dichotomy or making programmes degree programmes so that groups will now be respected. Or how do people who say they are primary eye care people demand to consult in tertiary centres. It appears the role of teaching hospitals and general hospital is unknown to these groups. Tertiary hospitals are not supposed to be primary health care centres they are not where people should go for uncomplicated cases like straight forward malaria or normal deliveries. It is because everyone wants the best healthcare and want to be seen by specialist that you have even the simplest cases running to a general or teaching hospital. The Primary eye care specialist should be fighting to be posted to primary health centres not fighting for seats with ophthalmologist who are by their designation providers of secondary and tertiary eye health. The teaching hospitals are set up to train medical personnel so that is where medical students and postgraduate students in gynecology learn to take deliveries.
Or is it people asking for internship and residency for their professional groups. Doctors fashioned out how they believed doctors could be trained hundreds of years ago. They decided the that after didactic lessons and clinical training a fresh doctor still needed to work under supervision for one year before getting a full license, likewise that medical postgraduate training could not be done in a classroom but as an apprenticeship. Thus residency and house job evolved. So now because people believe residents and house officers are "enjoying" they suddenly want Yayale to declare these programmes into existence.
It's obvious the beef is that doctors are enjoying too much so we to want what they have. I didn't see anything that they asked for that had to do with patient care rather it was all about what doctors were getting.sorry I am being unfair the health records group wanted electronic health records, how does that tie in with inter professional retaliations.

Let them see the paediatric specialist first if he is just slow and will catch up let everybody's mind will be at rest. If he has a more severe problem the earlier it is identified the better. I see patients aged 5 with problems that if they had been seen at age 1 or 2 when the parents noticed their issues could have gotten relief but the parents waited until it was too late and by the time they get to see a paediatrician it is too late to do anything. A stitch in time saves 9.

The best person to asses this child is a Consultant Paediatrician.

I read this letter on medical world Nigeria and I am amazed at the desperation of people. Which consultant is not aware that there already exists the West African Postgraduate Colleges of Pharmacy and Nursing which already give out Fellowships to their members. Whoever wrote this is obviously masquerading as a doctor to swing sympathy towards Medical Lab scientists. Even the groups the letter was purportedly sent to shows this was written by someone who has no knowledge of the various groups that exist. We have the Nigerian Orthopaedic Society and the Association of Psychiatrist in Nigeria, it is only a none doctor that would write a letter addressed to our brothers in Psychiatry or the Orthopaedic surgeons. Next time someone wants to forge a document please do your homework and research before going to the press. It just makes one look extremely desperate.

If the baby was premature, didn't cry immediately after birth, had jaundice or seizures or any serious fever, he should see a paediatricians to do a proper assesment. It may be cerebral palsy?

No a scientist slapped aN H/O, when he was on porter duty ferrying blood samples and results to and for from the lab.

Once the strike is over go to a teaching hospital and see an ENT Surgeon. It may be a simple infection but this is also the same way tumours in this area present in early stages. Insist on seeing an ENT specialist.

How many people here will agree if their father wills his house to their uncle instead of their mother, after all the uncle is the fathers blood. That is why nowadays many young women will not keep a joint account with their husband or contribute to building a house with a man. They have seen what happened to their mothers who did all these and ended up the losers when such men died and made their brothers next of kin, because they are their blood. I know of a former ministers wife, when he died his brother took even his matrimonial bed saying it was too grand for the wife. She had to set up a buka during NUGA games to feed her family. The children had to beg him for school fees. Yet the man left millions in his account and his brother was a medical doctor. In the end her own brothers and sisters took over the children's welfare.

pembisco: dnt mind d dullard. As if na in papa get d hospitals.

Intelligent man .

Then just stop patronizing doctors, abi if in the market there is no customer the trader has no choice but to close shop. So if People like you stop patronizing the greedy bastards we will have no choice but to take our nasty selves and go and hang. Isn't that so.

IGBOSON1: ^^^Nigerian medical doctors are greedy arrogant pretentious pricks!

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