ACADEMY News - UHSM

ACADEMY News
ERC diary
Manchester - Gulu News
15th - 17th June
British Medical Acupuncturists
Society 2 Day workshop
19th June
NHS Medical Education (England)
– Better Care Better Treatment
Launch
20th June
UHSM Academy & GP Half Day
Workshop
25th June
Obstetric Emergency Study Day
26th - 29th June
Privacy & Dignity Week
4th July
NW Regional Association of Hand
Therapists
4th & 5th July
Sage & Thyme Facilitator Training
6th July
Postgraduate Academic Showcase
11th July
Honour Based Abuse/Domestic
Violence Workshop
13th July
Joint Anaesthetic/
Obstetric Study Day
18th - 20th July
Medical Student Project Option
Presentations
1st August
Postgraduate Junior Doctor
Induction
15th August
Postgraduate Core Surgical Trainee
Induction
Postgraduate GP Trainee Induction
20th - 24th August
Year 4 Medical Student Induction
Cardiothoracic Basic Skills
Workshop (Wet Lab)
28th - 31st August
Year 2 Medical Student
Orientation Week
To book a room in the ERC,
please complete the form
on the intranet.
Have you ever been abducted?
No, I’m not trying to recruit you to a UFO chat room to share your experiences of
aliens. This is a standard question in taking a medical history in Gulu. It is one of the
starkest reminders of the threat which has only recently been lifted from the people
of Northern Uganda.
Even if the answer is “No”, listen on and you are very likely to hear of the siblings
who were abducted perhaps never to be heard of again. Or the children or parents
who did not survive to be abducted. Or see the disfigurements and scars left. The
legacy of Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army will survive many, many
years. Families were fractured and the fault lines will be there to undermine the
emotional lives, relationships and psychological development of many parents as
they strive for better lives for their children. The threats of malnutrition, inadequate
sanitation, malaria, maternal and neonatal mortality loom large but it is a time
when mental health has to be taken seriously alongside these.
In November 2011 we joined a parade through Gulu town centre marking Global
Mental Health Day. In the heat of the tropical sun, we walked behind people whose
tee-shirts bore the slogan “Mental Health Day 2011, the Great Push – investing in
Mental Health”. Many of the people marching were in pairs – a mother with her
tiny baby strapped to her back with a cloth; the baby’s head just visible, headlined
by this bold statement. Many of the marchers were current or ex-patients of the
Mental Health Unit at Gulu Referral Hospital. Their personal statements were
perhaps even bolder than the slogan: mental health still invokes many fears and
myths, stigmatising its sufferers. These were brave people.
Mental health and illness services are being developed but it will be a long march. It
is a major challenge simply to ensure support for those staff already working with
resources and in conditions which would produce outrage in the U.K.. Supporting
these staff to teach and train future clinicians is imperative. To begin to learn about
this and perhaps to contribute is humbling and enriching. It gets under your skin.
On your first day in Gulu, one trip with the Gulu-Man link can turn into two.
Beware. You may find yourself on a flight to Entebbe, abducted by Marian Surgenor
to serve the Gulu-Man Link.
8 May / June 2012