#badEMfest18 was a 4-day long medical education conference held in the Western Cape, South Africa on a farm venue outside of Greyton with delegates staying in a tented camp set-up for the duration of the conference.
The event focuses on Emergency Medicine including in-conference workshops on prehospital medicine, airway, ventilation, paediatrics, rescue, ultrasound and an interactive skills marketplace-style workshop. The conference target audience was paramedics, emergency/critical care nursing, doctors in the field of emergency medicine, anaesthesia, rural medicine, critical care and paediatrics.
The BEST conference I have ever been to. #BADEMFest18 You guys have done an amazing thing. Thank you for ALL your work, it IS changing lives #Ubuntu
— #hellomynameisRoss (@ffolliet) March 25, 2018
#badEMfest18 was truly a festival. These are the moments we are reminded why we are doing what we are doing in the first place. pic.twitter.com/WIt6uRDJeZ
— Neville (@docvlok) March 25, 2018
#bademfest18 is the kind of conference I read the Twitter stream about and wish I was there. I have a feeling new ground will be broken, like it’s the next phase of conference evolution after #smacc
— Cliff Reid (@cliffreid) March 19, 2018
The most important thing I have realised on day 1 of #BadEMFest18 is, “These are my people.”
— Barefoot Megz (@Doc_Megz) March 23, 2018
Hold my beer whilst I ultrasound this airway. Phrases heard only at #BADEMFest18
— Daniel Roberts (@notdocdan) March 23, 2018
My reflection on #bademfest18 : So BAD it’s good.
https://t.co/fK9NYZ8wYZ
— Penny Wilson (@nomadicgp) March 26, 2018
Thanks to the @bad__EM team. You guys have outdone yourselves with this amazing festive/concert/conference. Safe traveling to all going back home. See you soon!!!#BadEMFest18
— Miranda Wessels (@Mirandjies) March 26, 2018
Connected with some amazing, clever and inspiring people from all over. Mindset changing topics, thought provoking and interactive, all in the most incredible setting. #BadEMFest18 Thanks @rosshofmeyr @HealThink @mjslabbert @IanMeducator @EMManchester @QuirkyMD and so many more!
— Bojan Korda (@GasBugZa) March 25, 2018
The talks: inspiring, the debates: vibrant, the banter: deft, but today’s #BADEMFest18 Quote of the Day (as judged by the Ultimate Authority: me) goes to @sian_geraty upon diving into the dam: “Oh my goodness…this is as warm as all the baths I haven’t been taking in months!”
— Ross Hofmeyr (@rosshofmeyr) March 22, 2018
Do not conform so others may feel comfortable #bademfest18 @epicEMC
— Miranda Wessels (@Mirandjies) March 22, 2018
#BadEMFest18 is what every medical conference should be: an educational and networking fest that inspires you and makes you want to be better for your patients. So much fun that you don’t feel that you are learning.
— Katrin Hruska (@Akutdok) March 26, 2018
What I appreciated the most with #badEMfest18 was that not only occured brave discussions in advanced medical procedures, but also small and soft things. End of life care, advocating for patients, being vulnerable and caring for each other. We must all be brave and address this.
— Nurse Cicci – EMS (@sinustakykard) March 25, 2018
Thanks to “all the nice people”, especially the @bad__EM team for an insane festival of learning and fun at #badEMfest18 #makingadifference #savinglives pic.twitter.com/fyDLUuTfae
— Brandon Botha (@BrandonBotha15) March 25, 2018
Probably the most profound educational experience of my life at #BadEMFest18. Everything from echos to advocacy , AI to airways, kindness to ketamine (and karaoke). Almost back to reality but got another week in this awesome country.
— Daniel Roberts (@notdocdan) March 25, 2018
Quote of the night.
Why is #bademfest18 different?
Because it’s NOT a conference filled with poor research presented badly by mediocre people.
It’s great content in a wonderful setting
Love the @bad__EM team 😍
— Simon Carley (@EMManchester) March 23, 2018
So signal here is sort of unreliable, but let me just tell you that this is already easily the greatest conference of all time. #BadEMFest18 pic.twitter.com/V811CsxpG5
— Jennifer (@coffeeheadaches) March 22, 2018
The success of #BadEMfest18 is resonating through every attendee and reason is that every person at #BadEMfest18 could relate to a message, workshop or discussion. It shows the understanding by the organisers of the challenges we deal with in EM. You have outdone yourselves!!
— Richard Moodie (@Relay_Ops) March 26, 2018
I’m still trying to digest everything I learned at #BadEMFest18. It was brilliant, it was inspiring, it was amazing, and it was beautiful in so many ways. I am actually excited to get back to work after being inspired by African Medicine and so many new friends. pic.twitter.com/5s9Y2FHX36
— Jason Boitnott (@madmedic809) March 26, 2018
Last night in Cape Town, absolutely crushed to be leaving. I’m leaving inspired and re-energized to finally get off my butt and put out my first episode. Thank you #BADEMFest18 pic.twitter.com/EtiDOEpKXy
— Medical Alchemist (@MedicalAlchemy) March 25, 2018
This seems to be the most amazing setting for conference and socializing #bademfest18 https://t.co/r7Ou2EUbDw
— Morten Lindkvist (@medicML) March 22, 2018
Going through some photos from the weekend. #badEMfest18 was an experience unlike any other. These people are the personification of all things kind, caring, knowledgeable & wonderful. If you ever get a chance – come to South Africa & have a brave discussion. You won’t regret it. pic.twitter.com/WTPBwSTKSs
— Ivan McCann (@imccann1) March 26, 2018
EM Conference meets festival in mountains outside Cape Town. @bad__EM are a #FOAMed team: brave african discussions in EM. And they’re changing the world. @kat__evans @craigwylie @SurferKirst @JoParkRoss @willem_stassen
— Rowan Duys (@HealThink) March 26, 2018
What a wonderful team to work with, and a wonderful event to have contributed to and experienced. Building global communities of practice! #bademfest18
— Rowan Duys (@HealThink) March 25, 2018
I have been inspired and encouraged. It is so good to have met so many of my heroes and such amazing teachers 💗 #BADEMFest18 Thank you to the @bad__EM team for such a wonderful couple of days
— Tammy Baillie (@QuirkyMD) March 26, 2018
#badEMfest18 Day 1. St Emlyn’s
Last week the St Emlyn’s team in the form of Janos Baombe, Natalie May, Ross Fisher and myself travelled to Greyton for the very first #badEMfest18. This is a conference with a real difference. Set out on a farm about 2 hours out of Cape Town and convened by the badEM crew, it has brought clinicians together from across Africa (and some from further afield) to learn, meet and share. We will bring you blogs from each of the four days over the next few weeks, but if you want a sneak preview on what we thought it’s this.
#badEMfest18 Day 1. St Emlyn’s#badEMfest18: So BAD it’s good.
It’s been quite a while since a conference blew my mind, and having been to four SMACC conferences, I’ve seen the best of the best. But with #badEMfest18, the team from Brave African Discussions in Emergency Medicine has pulled off a conference so insanely good, it has set a new bar for conferences everywhere.
Nomadic GP - #badEMfest18: So BAD it’s good.DFTB GO TO SOUTH AFRICA
When Annet Alenyo Ngabirano spoke about Ubuntu at DasSMACC one of things everyone wanted to know was how could they help. There was talking about donating to Supadel or supporting African academics and writers . Another suggestion was for those of us who ware lucky enough to get a study budget to go to Africa and share our knowledge and experience. When Kat Evans came to Brisbane last year to speak at DFTB17 she was very excited about her upcoming secret project. BADEMFest18 was conceived as a very different type of conference.
DFTB GO TO SOUTH AFRICAThis one time, at badEMfest18…
Remember that time I went to a little town (village??) called Greyton, with some friends, and had a blast?
It happened again.
This time, not as a student, but as a doctor. Then, Greyton enriched me. This time, it may well have changed my life. Or at least, my career. (Are they really two different things?)
This one time, at badEMfest18…Inside the bubble of #BadEMFest18
To say that last week’s #BadEMFest18 changed my life would be really dramatic. But sometimes I am dramatic…
#BadEMFest18 was the most amazing collection of incredible experiences I could ever have asked for in short 4 days. From the caliber of speakers, topics, people and interactions to the food, glamping set up and programme, this conference changed the way I see myself, EM and most importantly AFRICAN EM.
Inside the bubble of #BadEMFest18LESSONS FOR WORTHING FROM THE WESTERN CAPE
I have never been to a conference before, they didn’t particularly appeal to me despite being an unashamed ED nerd. I don’t find a lecture a fantastic way to learn and I turn my nose up at networking. Which is why it seemed strange decision to fly halfway round the world on my own to go to a field with 150 people I have never met to talk about emergency medicine in Africa. This turned out to be the best educational decision I have ever made.
LESSONS FOR WORTHING FROM THE WESTERN CAPE