MANDEVILLE, Manchester — With close to 30 years in the medical profession, Nigerian-born physician Dr Gabriel Ukala took time out to write a book to document some of his experiences.

The publication, Clinical Dialogues in Hospital Medicine, was released in December and officially launched at Manchester Golf Club last Wednesday.

Dr Ukala has pledged part of the proceeds from sales at the book launch to the development of the Internal Medicine Department at Mandeville Regional Hospital, which he has served since 2006.

Ukala said at the ceremony hosted by the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) that the book is about supporting learning in medicine.

“My very first college certificate was from a teachers’ college. All my life I am always looking for how to simplify the subject matter of whatever life throws at me so I can understand it, then pass it on,” he said.

Ukala said that over the years as a medical practitioner he developed a passion for attending hospital ward rounds that gave him an opportunity to teach junior doctors and medical students at the bedside of patients.

In the process, he said, he would take photographs of “interesting” diseases and record interesting stories about the patients’ illnesses without “compromising their dignity or making them unduly anxious.”

Making up his clinical and imaging library are also images from “difficult” laboratory results, electrocardiograms, MRI scans, CT scans and echocardiograms that he has seen in his private practice.

The book, which was started in 2011, is a composition of over 125 patient cases, Ukala said.

“Clinical Dialogues in Hospital Medicine does not seek to replace any standard text in medicine, nor does it purport to be a complete treatise in medicine,” he said. “Rather, I have described a few medical conditions frequently seen in ward rounds in a format that showcases speaking or teaching from the bedside — a true representation of classic ward round proceedings. A format, I believe, never before used, with the hope that the simple language, clarity and imagery of real-life patients will help students and clinicians in their learning process.”

Readers without medical training can also find the book useful, he said.

Ukala, the acting head of the Department of Internal Medicine at Mandeville Regional Hospital, told the Jamaica Observer Central that the funds from the launch will assist in the development of a teaching room for the department.

Among other things, he said, the room would require a maximum of 20 chairs, an air-conditioning unit, and a multi-media projector system with a screen. He described Mandeville Regional Hospital as an accredited institution for teaching medical students.

Seymour Stewart, immediate past chairman of the Human Resource Committee of the SRHA board, said he would work to ensure that the plans for the teaching room are realised.

Professor Helen Asemota, a representative of the University of Benin Alumni Association in Jamaica, of which Ukala is president, purchased the first copy of the book for $50,000 though the designated price was $5,000.

She explained that she had placed her own price on the book — which will be paid for by the alumni association — in line with Nigerian tradition.

The Bank of Nova Scotia Mandeville donated $10,000 towards the development of the internal medicine teaching room and Sagicor Investments in Mandeville purchased four copies of the book for use by students and clinicians.