Never Lose Sight of Your Dreams

Hi to all,
I mentionned my dream in a previous blog entry but don't worry, I haven't lost sight of it already.
It's just that I met a doctor yesterday with a very interesting proposition.
Obviously far more realistic than I, he suggested that future conferences could start to have one session / poster/ symposium etc in English to start with, which had escaped me despite it being a very sensible and logical idea!
So.......today I start my quest to find willing volunteers who may like to present in English at the conference of their choice. I can then help them to organise their slides and give presentation skills classes before approaching the organisers with an abstract.
If you feel you'd like to give this a go, let me know and we'll do all we can to make it a reality.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

How Much Should A Patient Be Told?

On Thursday, we had the second full day of teaching Medical English at Hopeland Institute. It gave me great pleasure to be involved in engaging discussions about ethical decisions we, as healthcare workers, make every day and learn more about how the resources and culture in Algeria affect the decisions made.



We debated how much, when and even if a patient should be told about their condition, irrespective of the condition, and whether it was ethically acceptable to tell the relatives of the patient before the patient themselves. Views exchanged by the Algerian doctors in the class included comments such as:

• Patients are only told what is hapening to them depending on their educational level, some patients don't need to know


• It depends on the situation as I wouldn't tell a person with cardiac failure that he could suffer from sudden death at any time as it would be too stressful for him


• People in the Western world are independent and need to look after themselves so it is different for them, but Algerians are cared for by their families and therefore their families may be told things that the patient is not


• Doctors in Algeria haven't had the training to talk to patients honestly about end stage disease


• There isn't the support for the patient in the community once they have been told


• We wouldn't talk to a patient about their prognosis as they may live longer or less time than we have told them


• What about a patient who has a secret wish to do something before they die such as go to Mecca or get their affairs in order? Surely they have a right to know their prognosis as early as possible so they can fulfill their dreams before they are too sick to do so?


• When families are told about someone's condition, it is usually the males in the family who are told as it can be too emotional for the women.

This discussion opened my eyes to a new perspective, one which I look forward to discovering more about.

If you would like to send comments on the discussion above or anything else, please send them to me. I will post them on the blog unless you tell me that you wish them not to be.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Algerian Medical Websites

Well I've had quite a productive week this week! I found out that despite not finding a great deal of information on 'health issues' in Algeria when performing a Google search, there is, in fact, a wealth of information and things going on if you know where to look!

I had the good fortune to meet Professor Abid at Bainem Hospital on Wednesday and he introduced me to a number of very informative websites which he is involved in, giving me endless hours of fun, not least for having to read everything in French, a real challenge for me I can tell you! I'm sure that you already know these sites but will include them here for those who may not: www.santemaghreb.com and www.sante-dz.com

Welcome!!

Hi to all you English speaking medical people here in Algeria!
Let me introduce myself. My name is Louise and I'm an English teacher based in Algeria.
I have 17 years experience in the Health Service in the United Kingdom as a Gastrointestinal Nurse Specialist, trained to perform endoscopies independently and responsible for the training of doctors and nurses within my field.

Following a course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, I am now living in Algeria with my Algerian husband, where I have been teaching Business English and English Conversation.
Then, Alhamdullah, I met Laura and Bachir Dib, an inspirational couple, who, through their American English school in Cheraga, gave me the opportunity to use my experience to design a Medical English course. As medicine has been my lifelong passion, I took the challenge, designed a course, and this week started teaching the first group of doctors.

It is my dream that over time, we can help medical personnel in Algeria develop the necessary English skills to access all the latest research and to benefit from the many International Conferences held in English throughout the world. My ultimate goal would be to organise a Medical Conference in English, here in Algeria, but I keep being reminded 'bshweeya bshweeya!!!'

I would love to hear your experiences, thoughts and hopes for the future and insh'Allah we can use this blog as a think tank where we can share ideas and support each other. I look forward to hearing from you.