Monkey Brain Musings

 3/21/2026 Hello, friends! I have an hour before my ride picks me up for the airport, so I thought I would share some details of the conference and our Community of Practice information... Monday morning, we will host a breakout presentation and round table discussion. The Dak International Network has sponsored this event, and it was pulled together a little bit last minute, so we are hopeful for some interest and attendance.  Much of the conference seems to be focused on AI, much to the annoyance of Rachel and I, which will be interesting. I have a lot of misgivings about AI in general, but especially when it is marketed as a solution for areas that are in serious need of more resources and educated medical professionals. As I have mentioned many times in the past, a large problem with the archaic academic environment in Uganda (and many developing countries) is the lack of critical thinking skills training. Many of the AI programs offered for OB/GYN do not encourage more cr...

 March 2, 2026 Hello, friends! I have been meaning to check in and then I get online to follow the global news, and I feel paralyzed and furious and sick, all at the same time. Those of you who have been following along with me for quite some time know that my Ugandan travel brought me to Dubai multiple times, and I am lucky to have made some wonderful friends there. I'm relieved to say that they have all reached out to me to say they are safe. For those of you who may have friends or family in any of the areas affected by this latest nightmare, I will keep you in my thoughts and heart.  Dubai Only time will tell how this will affect my travel, so in the meantime I am just working away and preparing for my trip to the conference in Kenya. Preparation for the conference has included quite a few video meetings with the CoP members, the latest was a 2-hour meeting starting at 2am for me. Yikes. Timing is the biggest challenge for the CoP because we are trying to coordinate betwee...

 1/11/26 Hellooooooo! Well, here we are in a new year...and I'm already exhausted. Anyone else feeling the same? I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about what is happening in our country and how it may affect the work I am doing overseas. All I can do is fight the good fight, cause good trouble, and keep going until someone stops me! 😬 I closed out last year with travel, of course, both for work and fun. I spent a week in Chicago, working at a massive, global Radiology conference. I had almost forgotten how much I love Chicago; it's been decades since I've been there and wish I had gotten more time (and had a little more energy) to enjoy the city. My first evening in the city, I managed to walk around for a few hours and a few of the engineers and I did spend a night at the Christmas Market. The conference was massive, with Radiologists from all over the world, which was interesting and fun.  Although I enjoyed the conference, it did reek some havoc on my kn...

 Hi people! Whew, I'm back home! I landed back in the US 2 weeks ago and I hit the ground running. I took a few days to get my brain back into PST, catch up on laundry, and clean and put away my luggage. Returning home to the PNW in November is a shock to the system, it's dark and rainy and dreary. Last year I decided that once my favorite holiday (Halloween) was over, I could officially decorate for the holidays! It's dark when I leave for work in the morning and it's dark when I get home, so having an overdose of sparkly lights waiting for me when I get home is a great way to get through the winter gloom. The weekend after I got home, I dragged out all of my decor and went crazy! The next couple of months are going to be bananas. I have picked up quite a few shifts at the hospital and outpatient clinic, I have officially started my new position as a Maternal Health Specialist for One Heart Worldwide, and I am filling in every spare minute with my consultant job at Uni...