Dr. Darren will see you now in Medies

We are living in strange times, with plenty to cause stress and anxiety. If you’re feeling a little under the weather, the Monday night medical talk show Medies on kykNET & Kie (DStv channel 145) will help you to fight back against the blues and give you the tools to help yourself to live better.

Host Dr. Darren Green knows just how to put viewers at ease. And we took the time to get to know him better.

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Doctor & entertainer

Dr. Darren Green is a respected medical professional in South Africa. And he’s an old hand at TV work, too, as a consultant and medical expert. “I have made appearances on SABC3’s (DStv channel 193) Expresso morning talk show and anchored the medical program Doctor’s Orders for three years.I also received a SAFTA nomination for my work on the show in 2015,” he says.

Darren has been a guest on the lifestyle and talk show Tussen Ons (Thursdays at 20:00 on kykNET & Kie) since 2019, and he was over the moon when he heard in 2020 that he’d be getting his own medical talk show, titled Medies, on the channel, he was over the moon.

“It was absolutely mind blowing,” he says. “I am a person who lives for my passions and getting this opportunity was a humbling experience.” Darren is hands-on when it comes to Medies, and he’s also active on social media to find out what the audience wants to know about medicine and the medical world.

“It is important to me to take all the complex medical knowledge and jargon that I know to digest it into a language that the viewers understand and package it in a way that educates and entertains them,” says Darren.

But he gives credit from the popularity of Medies to the whole production team behind it. “The crew at Homebrew Films are wonderful, and it’s because of them that we are a success.”

Family first

When Darren is not in front of the cameras, he devotes his time to his family and his duties as the Medical Manager for Corporate Events for Mediclinic South Africa. “I strive to maintain a balance between my personal and professional lives,” says Darren. “My wife Monique (an Occupational Therapist in Psychiatry) and two boys Daniel (12) and Matthew (9) mean the world to me, and they are my biggest support system. I always strive to spend quality time with them and make sure that we are solid as a base, because if your base is shaky then everything can come tumbling down.”

As Medical Manager for Corporate Events, Dr. Green oversees multiple sports events in Cape Town, including medical support for World Rugby Sevens, Cape Epic, Cape Town Cycle Tour, World Triathlon Series and more.

Recently he was involved as Events Chief Medical Officer for the British & Irish Lions Tour to South Africa, which took place in July and August. “Essentially, I was putting together a formidable Match Day and events team of doctors, nurses, paramedics and specialists to ensure the highest possible standards in emergency pitch side support and skill sets,” he explains.

And when the Boks won the series? “I had to stay impartial throughout the tournament but in the end, I was extremely happy for our boys and what it meant for them and our country,” he smiles.

Getting the jab

Dr. Green has years of experience as a doctor and has served on COVID-19 task teams, surge capacity planning groups, vaccination coordination and strategy groups, panel discussions and guest speaking engagements, as well as media interviews on health matters.

“I am aware of our diverse society and the mass amounts of information and misinformation they have to deal with on a daily basis in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affects their lives,” says Dr. Green.

“It causes so much anxiety and people don’t always know where to get proper information, especially about the vaccination. I understand that stress and anxiety. And my answer to whether people should get the jab or not is quite simple: from all the studies and literature we as the medical community have done, we have determined that those who are vaccinated reduce the severity of the disease and a lot less patients end up in high care and the ICU. I support the Government's rollout of vaccinations and recommend it,” Darren says.

Watch Medies S2 Mondays at 21:30 on kykNET & Kie (DStv channel 145)

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