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Erik Erichsen

The blog is about my daily life as a surgeon working at a mission hospital in a remote area of Ethiopia with practical advises on how to practice surgery in a third world country.
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STILL ALIVE by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc We are still alive but have no internet connection since a month. We can check mail on the mobile network on the cellphone, but dial up internet connection simply doe ... Read on »
AND AGAIN by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc Still fighting with a hopeless internet connection. That’s why the news on the blog are short and scarce. This young girl was happy to survive one of the co ... Read on »
APPROPIATE TECHNOLOGY - AGAIN! by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc What do you do when a patient presents a one week old displaced olecranon (elbow) fracture like the x-ray below and you don’t have any sophisticated tools or ha ... Read on »
ANOTHER ADVANCED CASE by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc As stated before the surgical cases you see here are pretty much the same as back home only that they present far later and are far more larger and advanced. ... Read on »
BUSINESS AS USUAL by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc Although it is difficult to keep the blog alive due to severe difficulties with the internet connection work is proceeding as usual. As I have stated many ... Read on »
SAVED AT LAST by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc A man arrives to the hospital with obvious dyspnoe – breathing problem – after a blunt injury to the thorax.  Clinical examination including x-ray discloses a h ... Read on »
THE FUTURE IS HERE by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc   Gradually the internet connection is getting a bit easier, but still it needs a lot of patience and luck to get access. I am told that the Ethiopian telecommuni ... Read on »
It has been completely ... by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc It has been completely impossible to get connected to internet for a lomg time now. It takes too much energy and patience to even try when you come home tired after a ... Read on »
GOOD NEWS AGAIN! by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc     Most donors, individuals as well as organizations, have their own agenda. Most often the help which is offered is not our highest priority or even not wa ... Read on »
A CRAZY WORLD III by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc To lose a leg is catastrophic. There is no supply of prosthesis around and without a leg you cannot do the farming which is the only way to survive for 95% of ... Read on »
A CRAZY WORLD II by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc   About 2-3 years ago I was approached by a NGO representative was looking into the fistula business searching for a fistula project to support with the surplus ... Read on »
A CRAZY WORLD by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc Aira Hospital has a long tradition of repairing obstetric fistulas dating back some 30 years or more. We used to have a regular flow of fistulas, but the lat ... Read on »
TO CHOP OR NOT ? by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc Elephantiasis is a disease which can be treated conservatively with good result (see page “ELEPHANTIASIS”)       ... Read on »
JUNE - A FUNNY CALENDER by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc The end of June is approaching. On the kitchen table we have a calendar with pictures from Aira and a bible verse for each month. The calendar is a gift from a ... Read on »
BE PREPARED ! by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc   Breech deliveries are always a challenge since the largest part of the baby – the head – is the last to pass the pelvic outlet. There is a substantial risk tha ... Read on »
POVERTY AND HEALTH by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc Although the hospital tries to keep the patients’ fees as low as possible still too many cannot afford the treatment they need. Asking a fee immediately exclud ... Read on »
TRAUMA by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc What is the biggest killer in the third world?  AIDS?  Malaria?   Tuberculosis?  Snake bites?   NO- NO - NO!   The single bigg ... Read on »
COMPLICATIONS IV by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc An elderly lady sustained a fracture of the femur in a car accident and was taken to a nearby hospital. There she was treated with the time honored method of t ... Read on »
COMPLICATIONS III by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc A young girl went to the local mill to help her mother grinding maze. While working she stumbled and fell into the mill. Both her legs were caught and crushed ... Read on »
COMPLICATIONS II by Erik Erichsen Posted in: Blog Posts in Life as a Doc Only the surgeon who does not perform surgery has no complications. Recently one patient was referred to Aira Hospital from a nearby hospital where he had ... Read on »