Essay - Corpus

“Life in day-tight compartments”: Osler on doctor wellbeing

13 November 2017 1 Comment

Sue Wootton

Doctor wellbeing has been in the news lately, with the recent ratification by the World Medical Association of a new clause to the Declaration of Geneva (the modern Hippocratic Oath). The change was proposed and promoted by Queentown’s Dr Sam Hazledine, following concern at the very high level of burnout experienced by doctors. The old clause read, “The health of my patient will be my first consideration.” The new clause reads:

I will attend to my own health, wellbeing and abilities in order to provide care of the highest standard.”

18 Days in the Axis of Elegance

13 November 2017 Leave a Comment

Annette Rose

Recently my husband and I visited Iran (pronounced ‘Ear-on’) for an 18 day immersion tour in the ‘Axis of Elegance’. We were drawn by its ancient history, and curious as to its present-day culture and lifestyle. What we found there was a treasure box. Persia is sexy, sexy because she hasn’t sold her soul to the bottom-line.

Iranians are proud of their heritage and deep-time archaeology. Its people identify as Persian, rather than as Arab. Most Iranians are Shia Muslims, not Sunni Muslims. Most of Iran today is modern, but pockets of traditional lifestyles remain. For example, tribal nomads still traverse the Zagros and Alborz mountains.

While we saw all too many shahid (martyr) images of dead boys lost in the Iraq-Iran war lining the streets, our overwhelming impression was that Iran was a country whose message to the world is Peace. As one man in a shopping mall put it: “We think all humankind are the same and we respect all and believe in dialogue between all nations”.

Work

23 October 2017 1 Comment

Sue Wootton

In New Zealand, every fourth Monday in October is Labour Day, a public holiday that commemorates the introduction of the eight-hour working day. This achievement dates back to the 1840 campaign of Wellington carpenter Samuel Pickering. The public holiday dates from 1890, and was ‘Mondayised’ in 1910.

Work is extremely important to health and wellbeing (read a Corpus take on this by Matt Blackwood here). It can enrich a life, or grind a person into dust. As ever, balance is all, and Corpus is taking a mini-break for Labour Day (just one post this week), because…

Why should I let the toad work
Squat on my life?
Can’t I use my wit as a pitchfork
And drive the brute off?

Philip Larkin, from Toads [Read more…] about Work

Silverstream Hospital and the Marines

16 October 2017 6 Comments

Susanna (Susi) Williams

When we talk about World War 2, we usually tell the stories of people, but I would like to highlight the role of Silverstream Hospital in saving soldiers’ lives and connecting New Zealanders with Americans at a time when New Zealanders felt very vulnerable to the threat of invasion by the Japanese. Japanese military successes in early 1942, especially the fall of Singapore, had made the possibility of an invasion of New Zealand very real. In this context the presence of two Marine divisions was welcomed by the New Zealand government. With the Marines here, New Zealand would be safer, our own soldiers could stay in North Africa, and New Zealand could be a base for American operations against Japanese-occupied Islands in the South Pacific.

Marines receiving Purple Heart, Silverstream Hospital 1943 — Colonel J H Nankivell, United States Military Attache in Wellington, handing citation orders to United States Marines receiving the Purple Heart decoration for gallantry at the United States Naval Base Hospital in Silverstream, Upper Hutt, 31 January, 1943. Image courtesy Alexander Turnbull Library.

Going public with very personal stories

9 October 2017 3 Comments

Trish Harris

When I was six years old I developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

That’s a fact I’ve stated many times in the last 12 months. I’ve told big groups and I’ve told reporters.

It’s strange to say it so bluntly and so publicly. In nearly 50 years of having arthritis, it has never been the first thing I would tell people—or even something I would deliberately draw attention to—despite it being physically obvious.

The decision to write a memoir, telling the story of growing up with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and dealing with the resultant damaged joints as an adult, was a big one.

Reading well

9 October 2017 Leave a Comment

Sarah Gallagher

The book about mindfulness, newly purchased through Book Depository for dealing with anxiety and PTSD was recommended by my therapist. I visualised myself studiously poring over it and completing the various sections of the workbook, each of the completed sections a stepping-stone to wellness, wholeness and peace. However, opening the cover and seeing the word ‘anxiety’ in the title struck me down. I cried so much I couldn’t get past the first page. I never read the book.

[Read more…] about Reading well