thank you, prof

As I wrote this few days back, as that was the last day Prof Y. Abrahams will be in SP.

He is a great teacher, and always will be.

Just last Thurs, going through a colposcopy session, my colleagues and I were exposed to the most descriptive and enjoyable colposcopy crash course.

He preached the correct method.

He preached the accurate method.

He preached the courteous method.

Conservatism is the way of the most experienced.

This was the word of wisdom I got from him.

This was in reference to a patient who got pregnant prior to the colposcopy.

The patient was a lady in her twenties. Had weeks of post coital bleed, inflammatory Pap smears twice, a repeated speculum examination revealed small erosion sites over the posterior lips of cervix.

Planned for colposcopy. But when she came, she was already pregnant 6 weeks.

What the next step?

According to Prof Abrahams,

1. Postpone the colposcopy until she’s 12-14weeker. Although colposcopy is as harmful as any Pap smear during pregnancy, 20% of abortion will happen in first trimester anyway. So, if you rush in and take a peek, and it so happen miscarriage follows, nobody going to believe that it wasn’t because of the colposcopy.
2. Colposcopy only, no biopsy. If normal, everything to be reassessed 3 months post delivery.
3. If abnormal, repeat colposcopy at 32 weeks, just to keep an eye on things.
4. Lastly, repeat colposcopy or further management at 3 months post delivery.

Who is this prof?

He is a senior gynae-oncologist from UK, MRCOG Part 2 examiner, FRCOG, MRCS and MRCP holder who came to this small town to be lecturer for the MIC-linked AIMST medical school. But, not for long.

Reason why he's leaving?

I'm not really sure myself. But according to his student, something about the Uni not being able to provide sufficient teaching staff to educate the students, and nothing about the money.

I guess money is not a problem for him, he just really enjoyed teaching.

Like I said, he was a great teacher.

Always full of enthusiasm to teach, even few days before he left, he was teaching - the students and us, the medical officers.

And his student, the enthusiastic ones, although going to face their first clinical end of year exam in 1 week time came during office hours to learn from him during his last OT and his last colposcopy session.

He should be back in UK by now.

I hope he will find a new better place for his passion of teaching.