About

#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.

What They Said

What They Wrote

#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 AFRICA

This 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 #BadEMFest18

LESSONS 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