Joy, chit-chat, travel and indefatigable dancing

Brief updates on the week that has just passed:

I spent the mornings at the Centre for National Rehabilitation (CNR) in Becora. It's a beautifully neat and well-run day rehab centre (with dormitory, no inpatient wards) entirely staffed by Timorese physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, orthotists and social workers. I met the Rehab lead, a cheerful senior physio who had trained in Indonesia. His love for the work is infectious. I was assigned to supervise Dr O and Dr P from the Family Medicine (FM) training programme- one lean and sinewy, the other burly and squarish, like characters in a 相声. They have a lot of ground to cover in this four-week posting (the first and fourth weeks are on rehab, the middle two on Nutrition and Interventions in Domestic Abuse). I am proud of them for fighting through a great deal of condensed Adult + Paediatric Neurology this week. My first moment of joy – when Dr P grinned from ear to ear as he successfully performed the manoevre to screen for hearing impairment in a baby.  My second moment, even better- when Dr P picked up a very subtle intention tremor in a patient's leg because he had displayed excellent technique in the examination. My third moment- when Dr O, usually diffident, tapped Dr P mid-exam and reminded him that you need to hold the toe joint at the sides, not pressing the nail bed, when you test for proprioception.

 

Language lessons are now on Monday afternoons. I have a backlog of Tetun phrases to churn into flashcards, and I fear I am in the plateau phase- not a particularly fun plateau, as I still struggle to compose sentences and need to "warm up" my brain before chatting.

I find chit-chat (koalia halimar, speaking-fun) harder than talking about work or clinical matters. I think this is because I am quite sure what I want to say when discussing the approach to dyspnoea; I am less clear about universally acceptable and interesting topics of discussion during lunch. Reader, is this your experience too?

 

The rest of the afternoons went fast. I finished work on a module for an upcoming pilot workshop for PSFs (Promotors Saude Familiar— community-based healthcare workers with no medical or nursing background). The Women's Health team, which piloted a similar successful programme on maternal health, is anchoring this project. The end product? We hope: a series of training workshops and a manual in Tetun- sort of a "Where there is no doctor" in Tetun- to equip PSFs to serve their communities better.

Happily, I am not delivering the actual training- the able Nuncia, a Timorese social worker, is doing that. I look forward to watching her at work and documenting the proceedings over on Atauro Island in end-Oct.

 

Before that, a couple (maybe more than a couple) of events coming up this couple of weeks:

1. Four Dermatology lectures! This topic is particularly tricky, more so than others because of the abundance of domain-specific jargon that matters (it makes a difference whether you call something a papule or a pustule). For most FM trainees, English is their 5^th or 6^th language, so this is a tall order. We shall see how we get on.
2. A visit to Bobonaro- A group of enthusiastic doctors organises regular weekend training sessions over in Bobonaro, 4 hours south-west of Dili. We plan to teach Burns and Wound Care with Medical English this weekend.

 

Maluk Timor celebrated its third anniversary on Friday. I am still quite incredulous at how much has been done in three years. Also, at how much and how long people can dance without stopping. A and I ruefully commented that we need to rewrite the exercise module for the PSF manual.

My birthday wish for MT- to be stable, to thrive and to guard its culture. Parabens halo tinan, congratulations on making another year.