Industrial Accidents In Nigeria

You may recognise some of the images that are posted above. They are images from some of the most harrowing and disastrous industrial accidents in recent times.

The second picture depicts the severity of the deep water horizon disaster without me even having to put it into words. Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig which sank on April 22, 2010, causing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This was the result of an explosion two days earlier where eleven crewmen died. However, seven lives were saved and taken to hospital by air ambulance.

The first picture is of the Georgia sugar refinery explosion that occurred on February 7, 2008 in Port Wentworth, Georgia, United States. Thirteen people were killed and 42 injured when a dust explosion occurred at a sugar refinery owned by Imperial Sugar.

There were 112 employees on-site at the time and over 100 of them became casualties.

The air ambulance service and their staff were indispensable in finding, treating and transporting these patients to hospital.

Many victims were placed in artificial comas because they were on life support systems, many were in critical condition. There were eight deaths.



Whilst developing this product, we discovered that the problem was by no means confined to the multi-nationals that we were developing it for. As a matter of fact, the companies that were asking us to provide the industrial cover ironically already had some of the best health and safety records in Nigeria! They were simply seeking better, more cost-effective alternatives.

So it's obvious that many Nigerian companies value their staff immensely and acknowledge the ever present risk of industrial accidents. The risks are heightened by the lack of a fully-functional land ambulance service,the huge distances to properly equipped trauma centers and deficient major incident training. These factors make air ambulance services even more essential to industry here that they are in the States!

The Facts About Industrial Safety + Accidents In Nigeria.


Most of the industrial deaths in Nigeria occur due to lack of ambulance to take accident victims to hospital during emergency. (2009)

Reacting to the rising case of accidents in some companies, the General Secretary of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE) said, the companies valued production more than the lives of the producers. (2009)

Official statistics has show that no fewer than 3,000 industrial accidents take place in Nigeria annually. However, the unions put the number at closer to 7000 due to gross under-reporting and under-recording (2009)


The commonest accidents in their order of frequency were: falling from a height, explosion/fire, motor vehicle accidents and falling objects. Multiple injuries, head and neck trauma and drowning were the commonest cause of death at autopsy (2006)

Accidental deaths were commoner in the small-scale industries (81%) than in the large-scale industries (19%)(2006)

Almost on a daily basis, various degrees of industrial accidents are recorded, from minor to major injuries to employees (2009)

None of the 2, 913 patients admitted to the university hospital Ilorin; many victims of industrial accidents, received ANY pre-hospital care (2005)


The list of evidence that industry in Nigeria was in dire need of air ambulance cover/pre-hospital care solutions and safety training catered directly to industry was overwhelming. This is just a snap-shot. There was definitely demand and an unfilled market need at the time.

Since we launched, it has become our most successful product to date by providing cost-effective, efficient, air ambulance cover and industry-specific first aid and safety training to our clients.

We hope to see an increasing number of companies joining us to help reduce the morbidity and mortality from industrial accidents in Nigeria.

Specialist Training in The UK

My decision to move back to Africa, become the MD of the first Flying Doctors service in West Africa and set up my own line of clinics was influenced for the most part, by my determination to induce an improvement in healthcare across the region.

But also due the poor methods and standards of training I was offered in the UK. The dumbing down of medicine was getting ridiculous as pointed out continuously by the entire medical blogosphere. Unfortunately our comments fell and are still falling on deaf ears.

One of such bloggers that has been something of a pace setter for this issue is my beloved ferret, he has spoken about this time and time again.


I wonder how much highlighting an issue needs before someone takes note. It'll take as long as it takes I guess.

I think Bill Alexander outlines these problems quite eloquently in his letter to the Lancet.

Hospital consultants and GP's please take note! You still have the collective power to turn this around.


The Lancet, Volume 350, Issue 9094, Pages 1851 - 1852, 20 December
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)63668-9Cite or Link Using DOI
Specialist training in UK
Bill Alexander


Sir,

The commentary by Philip Barber reflects, I suspect, the views of the vast majority of clinicians in the UK. Why have we stood back and watched the high standard and enjoyment of clinical medicine disappearing under non-evidence-based edicts? I suppose because the silent majority of clinicans have been left beleaguered by more voluble ex-colleagues who now dictate to them from the bureaucracies that attracted them out of mainstream care delivery into the seductive political world. What a pity more of us have not taken as much time publicly as we have privately, to express our dismay at the implementation of systems we all loathe and for which we have never accepted the rationale.

There is a further, so far unmentioned, consequence of these harebrained new schemes that may be even more destructive than the schemes themselves. That is the appearance of a reduced threshold for doctors in training to take sick leave. This is likely to be due to reduced morale and commitment rather than increased disease.

I agree with Barber that the Royal Colleges need to be more supportive of their ordinary fellows and members and more aware of their concerns. I hope there will be a flood of letters in response to Barber's refreshing opening shot and that copies will be sent to the relevant bodies. I suspect, however, that it is far too late and we are now all too weary.

Flying Doctors For Industry

The number of industrial plants/off shore rigs and factories located in isolated or extremely congested areas where emergency evacuation by land would be difficult, in Nigeria are immense.

We have had significant demand from these industries, particularly within the oil and gas sector, to design a product specifically to meet this unique set of needs.

It turns out that many of these companies recruit expats from Europe/America and Asia to provide their expertise. One of the main issues for recruiters is how to guarantee their safety at work.

The team and I have thought about these issues at length and come up with the 'FLYING DOCTORS FOR INDUSTRY' product. This does not require every single employee to take out an individual plan, rather it covers the company as a whole.

This means that The Flying Doctors now can guarantee, in the event of an emergency at work anywhere in Nigeria, the individual(s) will be in a state of the art facility within minutes.

The Flying Doctors Nigeria also takes responsibility for training staff in basic life support skills on a course designed specifically for industrial environments as part of our package.

All Flying Doctors medics are HUET trained and winch trained, we are therefore capable of retrieving patients from areas where it is difficult or impossible to land as well as covering offshore facilities.

Taking out Flying Doctors Cover For Industry is a cost-effective way for any company to provide a safer working environment for it's staff as well as attract additional talent to the company. It boosts staff morale and therefore increases productivity.


For further information on this or any of our other products please see our website or email Dr Ola directly at olao@doctors.org.uk

Thank You LadyBrille Nigeria

Dr Da Vinci is flattered to have been named LadyBrille Magazine's Personality Of The Month and is grateful to be part of the powerful revolution incited by young Nigerians which is turning the country's fortunes around.

The Ladybrille®Nigeria is Nigeria’s pioneer and first ever fashion industry magazine connecting Nigeria’s fashion professionals worldwide. They provide intelligent and brilliant coverage of fashion events, fashion shows, retail, business of fashion, trade laws, global fashion, financial news, profiles and interviews on Nigeria’s top fashion personalities and much more!

Thank you for your support!!!

You can read the full article here

Lady Dora Is Back!!!!

The world that Dr Da Vinci lives in a very, very strange world.

A world that is willing to pay her more to model for a day, than to work as a doctor for a month.

Dr Da Vinci knows therefore that none of the women that give her the most inspiration will feature on any of the 'Most Inspirational Women's' list's online.

Admittedly, at this very moment; Dr Da Vinci is in the lab, wearing Kate Moss jeans and there are several magazines with Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, Jennifer Anistion, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce, Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian splashed across thier covers outside her clinic. She appreciates the value of music, fashion and celebrity, afterall Andy Warhol is one of her favourite people of all time, so perhaps she too,contributes to this ridiculous celebrity-obsessed culture.

The definition of the term 'female role model' has changed so much over the past few decades that the women who metaphorically burnt their bra's to liberate us, I expect, would be aghast if they could travel through time and experience the so-called post-feminist era that many of them fought tirelessly to create.

That said some see this hollywood-tainted army of walking, talking plastic figurines as the future. The future of art, the future of music, the future elite......the world of science fiction, has taken it even further than that, you'll know what I mean if you've seen the movie Surrogates.

And of course I acknowledge the fact that we have now female surgeons, prominent female politicians, females on the boards of fortune 500 companies, female presidents/prime minister's and that women are allowed to be creative and appreciated for thier work. We only have to compare the experiences of George Eliot and JK Rowling to appreciate that we as females have come along way, even though it's a world that our bra-burning suffragettes may still find objectionable.

However, today I would like to talk about one of the many women that inspire me. She does not have her own line of lingerie or her own talk show, she has not, to my knowledge realeased any sexually explicit music videos, she has never made the GQ magazines list of sexiest women, she has not posed semi-nude for FHM and does not get paid millions of dollars to perform for terrorsist's.


Without further ado or pseudo-feminist commentary, allow me to introduce you to:


Dr Dora Nkem Akunyili


Dr Dora Akunyili is the current (since December 17, 2008) Nigerian Minister of Information and Communications. She is a pharmacist and governmental administrator who has gained international recognition and won hundreds of awards for her work in pharmacology, public health and human rights.

She entered the public eye in 2001 when she took over the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria after a World Health Organisation survey revealed that more than half the drugs on sale in Nigeria were counterfeit or sub-standard. Nigerian hospitals were using fake and contaminated drips, surgeons were using fake adrenalin to re-start the heart, anaesthetists were
giving sub-strength muscle relaxant to patients in their operating theatres; many
of her countrymen and women were fighting killer diseases like malaria and tuberculosis with fake drugs cynically packaged to look like the real thing. As a pharmacist she had always been aware of the problem, indeed, her own diabetic sister died from what Dora is convinced were fake insulin and fake antibiotics.

Her responsiblity was to root out these fakes, to defeat counterfeiters, to close down the importers and end bribery, in an effort to eliminate the large scale corruption that was ruining the health and taking the lives and the hopes of so many.

Within a mere six months of her appointment this remarkable lady had closed down the vast open-air medicines market in Kano for three months while her officers confiscated £140,000 worth of fake drugs. She built a new team of female inspectors and pharmacists. She began to prosecute importers of fake drugs. She upgraded premises and she upgraded laboratories. The public applauded, but the counterfeiters fought back. They fire bombed NAFDAC offices, trashed the NAFDAC laboratories and sent death threats to her and her family. They even shot at her and her family in their car – a bullet grazed her skull, but she survived.

But since her appointment there has been a drop of at least 50% in the quantity of fake drugs on the market and many now owe their lives to her fearless campaign.

Dora Akunyili is revolutionary, she is fearless, she has intergrity, she is loyal, she is diplomatic, but is also ruthless operating with an almost messianic zeal.

Dr Da Vinci has been waiting and watching the results of Mr Jonathan's cabinet re-shuffle very carefully and is extremely, pleased to hear that Dr Dora is back in the new cabinet to continue our fight against the con-artists, fraudsters and swindlders that threaten Nigeria's stability daily.

Death to con-artists, fraudsters and swindlers. Long live Lady Dora!

All Eyes On Jonathan

Dr Da Vinci, is still optimistic about Goodluck, even more so since she spotted an article in today's independent.

It's just over a week since he dissolved the entire cabinet and investors are watching subsequent developments extremely closely to ascertain which direction Mr Jonathan is steering Nigeria.

As the names begin to leak, Dr Da Vinci becomes increasingly encouraged. The direction seems to be towards reform......

I'm focussing particulary on his choice of Mr Olusegun Aganga, a London-based managing director at Goldman Sachs. His inclusion appears to signal the acting president's intent to move ahead with critical banking reforms and bring in new-blood to what was seen as Yar'Adua's failing administration.

The nomination of Mr Agang – who heads up Goldman Sachs' hedge fund consulting services in London – comes as Nigeria is set to test its strength with foreign investors with a planned $500m debut global bond.

Dr Da Vinci thinks this is an excellent step in the right direction and believes that the Nigeria diaspora holds enormous potential,some of which Mr Jonathan is already tapping into.

In earlier posts,Dr Da Vinci has spoken at length about the various ways the diaspora can contribute to Nigeria's development and hopes that this is a trend that will continue.

Stem Cells And The Dawn Of A New Era

I have developed a somewhat romantic relationship with my stem cells.

The sharp contrast between the patient, contemplative, snail-paced world of research and the rapid, consummate, expeditious world of acute medicine; makes a lot of people think you are either a researcher or an acute medic, very rarely both.

There is no trial and error when you are diagnosing a pneumothorax next to a busy road or when a child is gradually turning blue before your eyes. Unlike in the laboratory, you can't throw the cells away and try it another way. You HAVE to keep the pressure on that wound in the back of the helicopter even though you are tired and your arms hurt, you can't try again the next day, there are no spare parts in the deep freezer.

But for me, this antithesis seemed to have helped me grow; both as a physician and as a person. I've had time to reflect, to study and to write. At first, the time spent waiting for the centrifuge to stop spinning, for my PCR to process or painstaking filling at 96 wells with 10 microliters of PBS+TRYSPIN was boring to me.

However, I have learned that things don't always have to be adrenaline-fuelled to be amazing.

When my christian and muslim friends/family learned that I was doing stem cell research they expressed a great deal of concern about the ethical implications of my work. There has been a lot of controversy about stem cells research, so in this blog posting I hope to clarify some of the presumptions about stem cells and stem cell research and explore some of the associated ethical issues more closely.

Firstly, let me explain what is so special about stem cells. Well, stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive.

When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell. Stem cells are distinguished from other cell types by two important characteristics. First, they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity. Second, under certain physiologic or experimental conditions.(Ref: http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp)

Perhaps the most important potential application of human stem cells is the generation of cells and tissues that could be used for cell-based therapies. Today, donated organs and tissues are often used to replace ailing or destroyed tissue, but the need for transplantable tissues and organs far outweighs the available supply. Stem cells, directed to differentiate into specific cell types, offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat diseases including Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Stem cells are largely divided into two categories: i) Embroyonic stem cells ii)Somatic/Adult stem cells

The term adult stem cell refers to any cell which is found in a developed organism that has two properties: the ability to divide and create another cell like itself and also divide and create a cell more differentiated than itself.They can be found in children, as well as adults.

Pluripotent adult stem cells are rare and generally small in number but can be found in a number of tissues including umbilical cord blood. A great deal of adult stem cell research has focused on clarifying their capacity to divide or self-renew indefinitely and their differentiation potential.

The use of adult stem cells in research and therapy is not as controversial as embryonic stem cells, because the production of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of an embryo.

The controversy, for the most part surrounds embryonic stem cells the central question comes at the intersection of two primary opposing viewpoints: the high esteem for human life and the right to it, on the one hand; and the desire to alleviate human suffering on the other. While these two ideas are not in themselves contradictory, in this particular case it is impossible to satisfy one without violating the other.

One evening , some time ago, I was working in the emergency room, when I heard news that a child had been badly burnt in a fire and the paramedics were bringing him to our hospital. Nothing prepared me for what I saw. In the UK, I think because junior doctors don't generally do as many nights/long hours we are shielded somewhat from these things.

I received my baptism of fire as the smell of burnt flesh filled my nostrils, screams from a hysterical mother pierced through my eardrums chilling me to my very soul, I helped assess the patient on ALTS autopilot as my trembling hands brushed against his hard, charred broken skin. He was only 4 years old. Children are fighters. He survived after over 5 months in hospital/burns unit. But the resultant deformity was devastating.

The stem cell research done in our lab, has helped to Japanese pharmaceutical company JTEC develop a novel cultured epidermis that can be used to save the lives of patients with severe burns and reduce the resultant deformity.

When 1 in 3 embryo's are lost due to chance anyway, is it is justifiable to use cells derived from an embryo with a 30% percent chance of developing into a baby to safe the life of this beautiful child, the victim of a catastrophic accident?


I have a 7 year old on the ward that needs a heart. She has a rare form of cardiomyopathy. She is native Japanese and therefore according to some research genetically superior to me. I'm in my 20's therefore by some standards have lived a good life. She hasn't had a chance yet. We are a tissue match. If her parents used these justifications to ambush me on my way home from work and steal my heart (of course this is an extreme factious example to demonstrate a point) for their daughter, everyone would say it was a crime.

Is this really tantamount to what we are doing when we kill embryo's for embryonic stem cell research?

Food For Thought.


For the record, my research is with adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. I have never used embryonic stems cells, but I do believe they have a role to play in medical research.

The Orthopaedic Surgeon Paradox

On the ward round today, I have a re-realisation about orthopaedic surgeons.

We were looking at the CXR of a child who had been treated under orthopaedics 11 months ago for a broken humerus (arm bone). The professor of paediatrics pointed out that at the time this child had his surgery there was a very obvious coin lesion in the upper zone of his chest. If this had been spotted then, the child could have been investigated thoroughly.We would have found out that the coin lesion visible on the CXR was cancer; as most coin lesions tend to be in this part of the world and he would have been treated according.

But instead the child was brought into the outpatients clinic nearly a year after this CXR was taken. He had, had an unexplained fit.

Today, he is dying. He has metastases in his brain and bone, his management is palliative.

Our professor pointed out to the team how typical this was for orthopaedics. 'They can't see beyond the bone they are fixing' he stated angrily shaking the CXR in the air. Same in the UK, I nodded knowingly, recalling the difficultly I had managing patients with medical problems on orthopaedic wards.

Most specialists have some kind of stereotype associated with them, perhaps none more so than orthopedic surgeons. One of the predominant stereotypes about them is that they’re into power tools and carpentry and things like that, and are less intelligent than other doctors.

The mistake described above I must say is extremely, extremely rare. Orthopaedic surgery is a competitive speciality that continues to attract the brightest young doctors and the coin lesion was small and poorly defined. It is very easy to crtisize other doctors when you have a retroscope. Hind sight is always 20/20. The orthopaedic surgeon was agast when he found out what had happened despite, reassurance from the radiologists about how difficult a call it was.

In the coffee room after the ward round I re-counted some of my favourites jokes about orthopaedic surgeons-in haphazard Japanese. Listed below:


3 orthopaedic surgeons took 55 days to do a jigsaw and were proud of their achievement.When asked why they were so proud they said because it said 2-3 years on the box.



At an orthopaedic meeting how can you spot the academic orthopaedic surgeon? He's the one who can just get his knuckles off the floor!


What's the difference between a carpenter and an orthopaedic surgeon?A carpenter knows more than one antibiotic!

How do you hide a twenty pound note from an orthopaedic surgeon? Put it in a text book!

How do you spot the orthopaedic surgeon's car in the car park? It's the Porsche with a comic on the back shelf!

What's the difference between a rhinoceros and an orthopaedic surgeon? One's thick-skinned, small-brained and charges a lot for no very good reason....the other's a rhinoceros.

What do you call two orthopaedic surgeons looking at a chest X-ray? A double blind study.


The definition of shifting dullness - an orthopaedic ward round.


Why do anaesthetists take an instant dislike to orthopaedic surgeons? Because it saves time

How do you get an Orthopaedic Surgeon to refer you to some one else? Ask him the time.

How many orthopaedic surgeons does it take to change a light bulb? Just one to write the ref feral to the medics saying 'darkness ?cause'

An elderly lady and an orthopaedic surgeon were travelling in an elevator together. The doors started to shut as the lady was trying to get out of the doors. The surgeon kindly put his head in between the doors so the lady could get out. 'Thank you very much' said the lady, 'but why did you use your head?'. 'I used my head because I need my hands for work' said the orthopod grinning proudly.

The list goes on...................................................


But despite the stereotype we owe some of the greatest scientific discoveries this decade to our orthopods. Have a look!


Sir Alexander Flemming

Trained in orthopaedics,named one of Time Magazines 100 Most Important People this Century for his discovery of penicillin, and stated; "It was a discovery that would change the course of history.


Sir Frederick Grant Banting, KBE, MC, FRSC

Orthopaedic surgeon and Nobel laureate noted as one of the co-discoverers of insulin.

In 1923, Banting and John James Rickard Macleod received the Nobel Prize in Medicine.


James K Styner, MD, FACS

An orthopaedic surgeon, practicing in Lawndale, California. He was instrumental in the development of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) program which has consequentially changed the face of trauma care worldwide.


Shinya Yamanaka

A Japanese orthopaedic surgeon and stem cell researcher. He was recently awarded the Lasker award and was also named one of time magazines most influential scientists and well as my own personal demi-god when he changed the face of stem cell research forever by developing induced pluripotent stem cells.

Orthopaedic surgeons are probably the most influential and innovative specialists we have, just I guess it's still fun to have a giggle at their expense!

The Wonderful World Of The Worried Well

For many doctors, including Dr Da Vinci, the line between patients and friends is very blurred. People in her neighbourhood i.e her neighbours attend their local hospital therefore become her patients, sometimes patients become friends and all of her friends ask for her medical advice before going to see their doctors, so most of her friends are patients.

Dr Da Vinci has diagnosed her housemate with diabetic nephropathy when she saw his urine, after he forgot to flush the toilet one day. She also diagnosed him with sleep apnoea when she crept into his room whilst he was asleep to steal a razor to shave her legs.

Many members of Dr Da Vinci's family prefer to have their cosmetic surgical treatments done by her as well.

However, 99.9% of the people who ask Dr Da Vinci for ad hoc medical advice have nothing wrong with them. They are the worried well.

For example; take her beloved friend and valued mentor the Tech Guy (TG). TG is a tech entrepreneur approaching his 40's he has run several highly successful Tech enterprises and is continually brain-storming new ideas. His take on life, skills set, cultural awareness, openness and intellect make him a pleasure to be around.

However, he suffers from back pain. There are no red or yellow flags, he is in his forties and has spent a large part of his life in front of computers. Any doctor could tell him after examining him that it is highly likely this is mechanical back pain. Any doctor could tell him that most back pain is not due to any serious disease.

Mechanical back pain is pain originating from muscles, ligaments and small facet joints when they are strained. This can follow injury, poor posture or inactivity.Sometimes aches and pains can last for a long time, but that doesn’t mean it’s serious. It does usually settle eventually – even though it is frustrating that no one can predict exactly when.

Most people can get going quite quickly even when they still have some pain. Your back is designed for movement: it needs movement – a lot of movement. The sooner you get moving and doing your ordinary activities as normally as possible, the sooner you will feel better.The people who cope best with back pain are those who stay active and get on with life despite the pain.

Every doctor knows this. But because TG is in the top tax bracket it is lucrative to offer him unnecessary tests, for diagnoses that can be almost completely ruled out by a thorough history and clinical examination.

You see the actual cost of an ECG(Heart Trace) is about £1, but many private clinics charge over £100 for this test. So it makes doing tests profitable.

Therefore, because my friend TG was able to pay for his X-ray, CT and MRI, he got them. The doctor knew they were going to be normal, but he got them anyway, because it makes the practice money to do these tests.If you have pots of money and you demand a scan somebody somewhere in the world will do it for you. They really should weigh up the risks and the benefits on your behalf before embarking on loads of tests, but money talks.

Big Business has never succeeded in making a profit from the medical care of poor, sickly folk. If you are looking for profitability in health care you need to contrive to make the wealthy worried well even more worried and in the process milk as much money as you can out of them.

Mr TG's kitchen is lined with an array of various snake oil's to promote 'physical and mental well-being' you can find everything from the extract of Antartican polar bears liver to the exlir derived from the bill of a platypus, all promising 'increased concentration', 'improved circulation' or 'enhanced lymphatic drainage'.

Dr Da Vinci thinks that making her company a social enterprise: applying market-based strategies to achieve a social purpose, is an ideal model for providing healthcare solutions as it ensures that any profits gained are funnelled back into healthcare that benefits those i.e the elderly,the poor, the dying, that need it, the most as well as creating initiatives to improve the quality of medical education in the country.

So Mr TG dear, the doctors prescription is keep your back moving, 2 weeks of ibuprofen, perhaps some massage therapy, less desk work and NO more radiation!

Major Trauma Care In England 'not good enough'

According to last weeks article in Headway which you can read it here

I've worked in trauma/ITU both in the UK , in Singapore and in Japan now, all developed countries and one of the comments particularly interests me.

care should be led by consultants experienced in major trauma, but major trauma is most likely to occur at night-time or at weekends when consultants are not present in emergency departments

The main reason why there are so many trainees not experienced in major trauma in the UK is because there frankly isn't that much of it about. I see more trauma in a week working in Lagos/J-Burg that most trainees see a decade. But yet the training systems seem so against letting UK doctors take a year/rotation out and seem all too intensely focused on the bureaucratic, form-filling, box-ticking operation that medical training in the UK has become.

I think there maybe many advantages to actually encouraging trainees especially in departments such as A+E, T+O and infectious disease to take a gap year or do a 4-month rotation in another country.

In my opinion, spending a few months exposed to, living and working immersed in another culture is worth more than 100 of those communication workshops they put us through. In addition to this, these countries are usually developing/3rd world countries who could benefit immensely from the expertise of a doctor from a more developed country.

The options for taking time out are currently fraught with bureaucracy. I don't really understand why since this is something that could improve the technical skill and level of experience for UK doctors especially in Trauma.

The Knowledge Fountain Magazine

On the subject of Black Entrepeneurship, I've just been asked by to an interview for the largest and fastest growing Black Business Magazine in the UK.

Going to trot along there and will post the transcript when I'm done.

Say tuned for the next part of my BBC radio interview with Lesley Dolphin in the next few weeks also will be putting the podcast and the transcript on this blog also.

I used to DJ for the hospital radio in London before I started medical school. Still getting used to being on the other side!

http://www.knowledgefountain.co.uk/

The Rise And Rise Of Black British Entrepeneurs

The black business community forms a vital part of London's economy. Today there are more than 10,000 black-owned private sector businesses in London. Black businesses no longer simply specialise in a few industries, serving niche markets, but cover many mainstream market sectors. Their combined annual turnover exceeds £4.5 billion, and they provide over 70,000 jobs to London's economy.

However, there are unique challenges facing black businesses such getting access to finance, both private and public, finding suitable and affordable business premises, and finding the right kind of business support.


This is why I was delighted to be contacted by Dr Victor Thompson editor of the Knowledge Fountain: http://www.knowledgefountain.co.uk/index.htm, the UK's largest and fastest growing black business magazine for an interview, due for publication next month.

The current issue is availible for free and back issues are availible for purchase on their website. Do take the time out to have a look an the amazing heights that ethnic owned businesses are reaching in the UK .

Virgin Unite

Dr Da Vinci has just received a lovely email from Christie Constantine at Virgin
Unite. It read:

What inspiring work you are doing.

We would love to feature your organisation in our newsletter. Are you
happy for us to do so and if so can you please provide us with a caption
for the photo below so we know who is who.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Christie

Virgin Unite (VU) is the non-profit foundation of the Virgin Group. It believes that business can be a force for good and because Sir Richard picks up all their overhead costs, they can ensure 100% of all donations go to the front line, where it matters most.


Dr Da Vinci has been a member of virgin unite for over a year and enjoys the fact that like the Flying Doctors, the group believes in the use of market mechanisms to achieve social good.

VU has already identified the problems associated with providing fast, cost effective healthcare within Africa in it's support of the life-saving Heaven's Angels initiative in sub-saharan Africa. Read more about this here: http://www.virginunite.com/News/Getting-healthcare-moving-in-rural-Africa/?nid=e3cebc02-558b-4264-a645-24dc8ca8d890&cid=b2cc3b54-5e68-49a0-b662-9611ee4ef7d5

Dr Da Vinci and the FD team are looking forward to working further with the VU team both on the Flying Doctors Nigeria project and other projects that look into sustainable ways to provide good quality, timely, cost-effective care in developing countries.

Our feature will be published and on the blog shortly.

Thanks again to Christie and the VU team. Keep up the incredible work!!


If you would like to get involved with virgin unite (I know a lot of doctors read this blog!) have a look at their website for more info it's:

http://www.virginunite.com/Default.aspx?nid=e3cebc02-558b-4264-a645-24dc8ca8d890

Interview With PRIDE Magazine

Doctor Da Vinci has been contacted by the largest black magazine in the UK. The interview has just been completed and I've posted the transcript here, enjoy!

Age: 23

Occupation: Doctor/ Author/Entrepreneur/Trainee Pilot

Salary: Only my accountant knows that and he’s getting his chest waxed right now so unavailable for comment


Tell me about growing up in England and family background?

I have a white mum! I grew up in a small town on the East coast called Lowestoft (although I was born in London) with my foster parents and about six other children.
I had a wonderful childhood, even though my foster parents working class and money was sometimes tight, we had a beach holiday every year and smart clothes to wear to school.
Neither of my foster parents went to university, but they gave me time, love and an encyclopaedia to look up all the answers to my many questions. A winning formula, if any.
Funnily enough, I never questioned why I had to walk half a mile to school every day, while most children got dropped off in cars or why I never had all the fashionable clothing and gadgets they seemed to.

What were your early ambitions and why? What were you passionate about?

My sister suffered from an inherited disease called sickle cell anaemia. I became fixated on the idea of finding a cure because I saw her suffer a lot with the pain.

We spent a lot of times in hospitals and around doctors and nurses which led me to develop an immense amount of respect for healthcare professionals.

I wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember.

I also loved the arts. I listened to a lot of my parents old music on our record player and was an avid reader. Some of my happiest childhood memories are when I was sat in our garden in the sun, reading Enid Blyton, Ronald Dahl or Beatrix Potter.


Tell me about becoming the youngest medical doctor in the whole of England. How did you feel?

I progressed through the academic system so quickly, but I believe intelligence, particularly as it is traditionally defined, does not sufficiently encompass the wide variety of abilities humans display.

I have a great amount of respect for individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live. But remain thankful that I was able to excel in one form of intelligence. A form which perhaps, considering my background, is something of a rarity.

Everyone I meet comments on how young I am, especially since I took a gap year. But when it comes to being successful, I know it’s clichéd, but age is really just a number.
It was the age of 52; Ray Kroc began a new age in franchising when partnered with the McDonald brothers to expand their burger and milkshake business. That is how the little restaurants with the bright yellow arches began.

It’s never to late to become what you might have been

-George Eliot



Tell me what/who inspired you to return to Nigeria and set up Flying Doctors?

I couldn’t agree more with Oscar Wilde when he says,

It often happens that the real tragedies of life occur in such an inartistic manner that they hurt us by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd want of meaning, their entire lack of style.

I refer to the death of my 12 year old sister due to the absence of critical care facilities in Nigeria.

It was a horrible way to find out that the nearest air ambulance service was in South Africa, over eight hours away. That the mortality for head injuries in states outside Lagos and Abuja was 100% because there are hardly any neurosurgeons working outside those areas. And that the first time an air ambulance in Nigeria was proposed was in 1960 by the British, then again in the 1980’s, but no one had taken this idea forward. My sister was one of the thousands of sisters, brothers, mothers and grand-parents that died ever day because they couldn’t get to the hospital quick enough.

This was a rude awakening which I took as a personal call to action.

Finally, I read then amazing story of my friends in Mumbai at the 1298 ambulance, who left their jobs in London to start a land ambulance in Mumbai. They have supported me through a lot of the process.


Why was this important to you? What sacrifices did you make?

I felt it was my way of honouring my sister’s memory. She was an extraordinary young girl, full of life and she cared so much about everyone around her. I loved her more than words can express.

At the forefront, on my mind was the theme of one of the CMF (Christian Medical Fellowship conferences) I attended. ‘Live Simply, So Others May Simply Live’

So I did just that.

I saved most of my monthly income after putting my rent and food money aside and worked extra shifts most weekends. I spent money on managerial and medical courses as well as attending various networking meetings in my spare time.

I spent hours in the public library introducing myself to the world of business. I found out about people such as Steve Jobs and Richard Branson who excelled in the world of business and studied every aspect of their lives.

After a year of courses, extra shifts, intense study of finance, promotion, sales, management and leadership.

I brought my first ticket to Nigeria armed with my newly acquired knowledge, my business plan and my dream.


How did you go about this and put your plan into action?

I’ve realised that anything is possible with the right amount of nerve.

It took nerve to stand up in front of governors, company CEO’s and celebrities. I had never had to sell myself in the past. All of my tutors/bosses had heard of me long before I started to work in their departments. They had read my articles in the medical journals, heard about one of my audits or gotten an email from me regarding my role on the board for junior doctor’s education. They knew I was an excellent doctor and my CV spoke for itself.

In the world of business, I was a nobody. I had to speak for myself and sell myself in a completely new way. That took nerve.


It took nerve to step completely out of my comfort zone. From the British Medical Journal to the financial times, from my scrubs to my business suits, from being petrified of heights to flying a helicopter, from consenting to negotiating.

I t was hard work as I didn’t know anyone in Nigeria.

I spent hours sitting outside different offices, obtaining letters of introduction and tracking people down.

I am now a firm believer in the six degrees of separation, they certainly helped me!

What does your role entail? Describe your duties/responsibilities

I am the managing director of West Africa’s first air ambulance service, quoted as the ‘single most influential innovation in the Nigerian Healthcare sector this decade’.

My responsibilities include: providing managerial oversight for the company, expansion, recruitment, designing protocols, developing relationships, liaising with governments and I am also actively involved in the medical care offered.

I worked throughout University and my A-levels. I particularly enjoyed working in a Spa/Hair Salon. I maintained this interest throughout medical school, studying various forms of massage and in-depth dermatology modules with some of the most respected dermatologists in the country.
I presently maintain a specialist interest in aesthetic medicine, certified by the American Academy Of Aesthetic Medicine; working and consulting for various spas/medispa across the world.
I concentrate particularly on burn management and am actively involved in stem cell research looking at the role induced pluripotent stem cells can play in burn healing in children.
What do you most enjoy about your role?
I enjoy the daily challenges I face and the fact that no day is the same. I love acquiring new skills and having the opportunity to meet so many difference people from such diverse walks of life.
I love American history and look up to people like Barack Obama, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcom X and Andy Warhol. People who have changed the course of history, through their beliefs, politics or art.
In like manner, I am thankful for the opportunity to be revolutionary in my own way, doing what I am passionate about- Gold Standard Health Care For All!

How has Flying Doctors changed your life?

It’s drastically changed my life. It was a difficult decision to leave my comfortable, above-average salary, my stipulated training, my friends, both sets of parents and move to a country that I barely knew anything about, to start something that no one thought was possible.


But, I haven’t regretted my decision for a moment. I hope my story inspires more young people to realise their potential, to see what is possible rather than what is not, and to take the plunge and follow their dreams.


What is your long-term, career vision?
I want to revolutionise healthcare in Africa as a doctor, an entrepreneur and an innovator.
I envisage myself working with a great number of non-profit organisations over the next few years.
I also see myself with an Angelina Jolie -esq brood of adopted children, wishing my husband looked like Brad Pitt.

Give 5 tips for success?

As capitalism continues to boom, I feel that many people assume that success is directly proportional to how much money you make. However, I have learned that the true definition of success is about the different innovative ways you manage to influence people’s lives for the better. I’ve already given away most of my tips during the course of this interview, but here’s a synopsis.

1) You need nerve! Step out of your comfort zone; if you are not feeling uncomfortable, then you are not trying hard enough.

2) Be passionate. About something......anything. Passion is the source of our finest moments. Passion drives us to succeed.

3) Be lucky. Remember Luck= preparation + opportunity. Make sure that you have done your background research, through reading, attending conferences and speaking to your mentors ,so you are prepared to recognise and take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.

4) Work hard. If there’s anything I have learned there is no substitute for hard work. Every single person in the world has the innate ability to excel at one thing. Some have the ability to excel at many things. But in my opinion, it takes true diligence to make the most of one’s ability...........I sound like I’m on Heroes, lol

5) Live, love and be loved. I’ve always had an amazing set of friends and family around me. Their lives motivate me and challenge me for the better. Thanks guys for reminding me to take time out to relax.....also very important. You inspire me and I continue to look up to you.


Describe a typical day in your week. Please fill in the time slots or alter where necessary.

There is no such thing as a typical day for me. I’ll do yesterday.


6am: Flight into Tokyo from Singapore after attending a meeting of the American Academy Of Aesthetic Doctors as well as various business meetings with experts with a view to developing the emergency services in Ondo State.

7am-9am: En route to research hospital, vigorously checking emails on the bus and discussing with staff in Nigeria about the coming week.


9am-11am Arrive in research lab in Tokyo, thank my lab assistant for kindly taking care of my growing stem cells for me.

I subculture my cells and change the growth medium of some of my others.

Then my phone rings. It’s an American journalist wanting to schedule an interview with me before I go off back to Nigeria at a Medicine and Art exhibition that I’ll be speaking at, cells in hand I flick through my diary and give him a date.

Phone rings again, it’s my PA phoning about an email from one of my old bosses in Birmingham. He wants a copy of a clinical paper I wrote on HIV......since the tragic death of my one and only external hard drive (RIP) under a high speed train in Prague, these requests have become increasingly difficult to deal with. I tell him , I’ll get back to him.

Lunch: Business lunch with the Nigerian ambassador to Japan telling him all about our progress so far and looking at ways we can work together.
I’m freezing as I leave the restaurant as I left my coat in Singapore, the hotel say they’ll post it to me, hopefully I’ll get it before I leave to Nigeria, especially since I have the keys to my flat in Nigeria in the pocket of that coat!

2pm-4pm: Back to the lab, brief trip to the animal room
More looking at cell, reading papers, answering emails.
I note I’m supposed to be speaking to Tim Campbell (Apprentice Winner) tomorrow. Singaporean phone: check, Japanese phone : Check. Nigerian phone: Check. But where is my UK phone? But he’s calling me on my UK phone!

4pm-6pm: I join the professor’s ward round on the intensive care unit. I since my first trip to Japan nearly five years ago. There are some students from the UK on the round, I translate the various presentations from Japanese to English, briefly explaining what’s going on.

6pm: Back to the lab, I clean up my work desk, write up my experiments, steal some Pringles from the staff room due for dinner with investor at 8pm

8pm: Meet lovely Nigerian-Japanese gentleman, who is a senior executive at his company and one of my finest mentors. Our conversation carries on till about 11pm, the waiter complements us both on our excellent Japanese.
‘mada, mada chotto’(it’s not all that) I reply, bowing in the typical, modest Japanese manner.

1130pm: Home at last!

Flying Doctors On The BBC

After my BBC interview with Lesley Dolphin in January, I have been invited back onto the show as a sofa guest to discuss my work with the amazing Flying Doctors Team in more depth. Lesley is amazing and it's great to be invited back onto the show, I've been assured it's a comfy sofa!

Medicine And The Arts Arrive In Tokyo (Mori Museum, Roppongi)

Those of you that know me, will know about my long-standing obsession with the relationship between medicine and the arts. It's based on my belief that medicine is both a science and an art. My training in aesthetic surgery accentuated this realtionship for me.

I am so inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci because he demonstrated this relationship time and time again in his fascinating career as an anatomist, politician, sculptor, painter, athlete and architect. He holds a special place in my heart and that is why this blog is named after him.

I also enjoy art by Damien Hirst, Dr Von Hagen, Klimt, Tracey Emin and Andy Warhol. Most people have an almost oxymoronic relationship with their bodies in that they are the thing they know the best AND the least at the same time. These artists tackle this relationship.

Both Leonadro Da Vinci and Damien Hirst (What a genius!) feature highly in this exhibition. And I will be giving a lecture in English titled 'Medicine And The Art's: a doctors perspective'one of countless talks and seminars I have given on the subject.

The Flying Doctors office in Lagos, Nigeria doubles as a spa/aesthetic surgery clinic, designed completely by me to illustrate how important I think art is in medicine.

The Flying Doctors as you know runs as a social enterprise and are very involved in the worldwide social enterprise movement, particulary in the UK and India. I was on the social enterprise UK website today when I can across a gentleman called Sam Everington. He is a very sucessful friend and ambassador of social enterprise UK, he has been instrumental in the improvement of the standard of care received in East London through the Bromley By Bow centre.It serves thousands of people in East London with more than 100 community projects, a GP practice and social enterprises providing everything from landscape gardening to leadership classes.

Rather interestingly, he is a pilot, a doctor and a social entrepeneur who's waiting room doubles as an art gallery. Remind you of anybody???