NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2023 10 WORLD FAMILY DOCTOR D Y 2023 THEN & NOW: OVER THE past 50 years, doctors have benefited from technology, but basic knowledge and clinical experience still stand strong. There is no doubt that FAMILY DOCTORS ARE THE HEART OF HEALTHCARE! Using the experience of our teachers, colleagues, and our clinical acumen, we play a leading role in healthcare. I refer to our classmates, supervisors – consultants, lecturers when I say colleagues. Since graduating in 1968, over 54 years ago, I have learnt a lot! I gained a lot of experience between 1968 and 1993 at public hospitals such as Georgetown, Guyana; Lucea Hospital, Hanover; Mandeville Public Hospital, & Hargreaves Memorial Hospital, Jamaica. I left Mandeville in 1990 and have maintained a general practice ever since. Duringmy internship - 1969-1970 (Then) - I saw a patient who was approximately 35 years old, having had her last child a year before. She started wheezing and sneezing. She had tried multiple antihistamines, bronchodilators, and antibiotics without any success. She was in STATUS ASTHMATICUS! We decided to admit her to the Mandeville Hospital to investigate her further. All tests were normal except her Eosinophil count, which was above 10 per cent. This meant that she had an allergy, tropical eosinophilia, , or worms. Since she had already been on a bronchodilator and antihistamine treatment and had negative stool tests for ova and parasites, experience suggested we proceed with a deworming. The morning after a dewormer was given, the patient passed out nearly 1,000 worms! The wheezing stopped. She truly appreciated the relief! During her pregnancy, she had followed friends by eating red dirt to increase her iron levels. Three types of worms are transmitted by the red dirt: intestinal roundworms, trichuris trichura and hookworm. Patients can develop anaemia, heart failure, and chronic bronchitis from worms! An interesting patient I have seen in recent times – since 1994 – (Now) was 56-year-old Lady Vannie. She had a bad fall in 1982 that affected her back, hips, knees, and ankles. She suffered with weakness, pains, stiffness, and depression, which kept her either bedridden or in a wheelchair following a diagnosis of fracture of the spine. When she saw us, 11 years after her fall, she was depressed and in a wheelchair. She could alsomove her legs back and forth at least 15 degrees. Clinical deduction told us that her central nerve was still intact! If her spinal nerve was transected, the muscles would have been wasted, and she would have been unable to move her legs. So our forthright comment was: “You will be able to walk again”. This was the first time that she had received a positive, hopeful comment. Her other complaints – overweight, cardiac failure, joint pains, menopausal syndrome, sleep problems and depression – were also addressed . She heard: “If all the doctors before said you cannot walk again, what makes your doctor so special that he thinks he can perform a miracle?”With sound clinical evidence we were not daunted. Within six weeks, she walked from her bedroom to the bathroom and called us, announcing for all to hear: “Doctor, I can walk again!” Our personal strategies of ‘heart of health care’ include not only what the patient presents with physically, but goes beyond to re-establishing hope, fostering religious convictions, and general good health. Mental, intellectual, social, financial, environmental, and spiritual health must be included! Diagnosis with the application of all the laws of healing – spiritual, mental, and physical – is a must! We hope that whatever strategies we used in the past or present (Then and Now), it is obvious that taking a good clinical history and performing a thorough examination with appropriate lab tests will always be necessary to obtain good healing and a happy patient. DR HAME PERSAUD Family Doctor FAMILY DOCTORS: HEART OF HEALTHCARE Scotland or Zaire, and chose Zaire because of its tropical climate. In Zaire, French was a prerequisite for entrance into university. After completing French language studies, she enrolled in a degree programme to pursue geology, mineralogy and chemistry. Shortly after, she transitioned to the medical faculty to pursue her lifelong dream, where she excelled in all the subjects but admits to having challenges with anatomy, which she overcame with hard work. She attended University of Lubumbashi and University of Lovanium. During her internship, she had planned to pursue specialisation in obstetrics and gynaecology. However, her husbandwas studying at The University of the West Indies (UWI) and she joined him in Jamaica. The UWI accepted her to pursue obstetrics and gynaecology, but her husband had secured a post for her with the Ministry of Health. After serving her internship, she was placed in various departments as a junior resident and gained a deep appreciation and respect for the different branches of medicine. Much of her medical life was spent at the National Chest Hospital, where she worked for 23 years as a senior resident and, at times, acted as the senior medical officer (SMO). She ultimately chose a discipline that would allowher tomaximise her knowledge, experience and skills to reach all patients and provide longterm care. Family medicine was her way to go, as this was the only discipline that merged the different branches ofmedicine, giving thedoctor a broad knowledge base towork in the office and in the community. One negative Dr Ononuju has found is that familymedicine doesn’t always receive the same respect granted to other specialties, and this view is held by some patients, also. The benefit of family medicine is that it equips one to handle and address the vast majority of medical problems in all age groups. Dr Ononuju is passionate about rendering service to her colleagues. She has served her medical colleagues by working towards improved conditions for physicians through organisational affiliations. She is a founding member of the Association of General Practitioners of Jamaica (AGPJ) and the Caribbean College of Family Physicians Jamaica Chapter (CCFP-Ja) and served as a past president of AGPJ, and is the current president of CCFP-Ja. She has held key positions in the Jamaica Association of Catholic Doctors, where she served as president and is also a member of: • The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association • Medical Association of Jamaica • Association of Consultant Physicians of Jamaica • Jamaica Midlife Health Society • Association of the Frenchspeaking Doctors • Past chairof the ImpairedPhysician subcommitteeof theMedical Council of Jamaica 2011-2019 • Member of theTobacco Coalition She received long service awards from the AGPJ and from the Government of Jamaica in 2018, and is a recipient of the Good Physician Award (2009) from the Medical Association of Jamaica. Dr. Ononuju is the mother of three sons. She is guided by the mottos: 1. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” 2. “The greatest thing in the world is to be loved, to be needed, and to be accepted just as we are.” DR SENI ONONUJU Chairperson of the Caribbean College of Family Physicians Jamaican Chapter JOURNEY CONTINUED FROM 7 ‘I gained a lot of experience between 1968 and 1993 at public hospitals such as Georgetown, Guyana; Lucea Hospital, Hanover; Mandeville Public Hospital, & Hargreaves Memorial Hospital, Jamaica’ VPC MEDICAL CENTRE 94M OLD HOPE ROAD, KINGSTON 6 Tele: (876) 630-5440-1 vpcmedicalcentre@gmail.com Victory Professional Centre (VPC) Medical Centre “Celebrating World Family Doctor Day” We Congratulate All Family Doctors For Their Hard Work In Difficult Times. Well Done! With appreciation Dr. Arna J. Brown Morgan Family Physician
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