As the US presidential election inches closer, Donald Trump appears to be tapping into the American zeitgeist. But what would a Trump presidency mean for the world? Some say nothing will change in the permanently gridlocked US political system. Others fear nuclear war, the re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan, and shorter maternity leave. And […]
Category: Students
Fiona Godlee: My biggest career failure
Like most of us, I have known failure. I tried to get into Cambridge to do preclinical medicine from sixth form—twice: once in my fourth term and again in my seventh. Both attempts were unsuccessful. Instead I went to University College London and got to know London (my favourite city), and had the added benefit […]
Soham D Bhaduri: The NEET-PG could be an opportunity to transform India’s medical education
The Indian government has seemingly assented to the NEET-PG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Post Graduate) as a common exit cum entrance exam for those who’ve achieved their MBBS and want to begin practising medicine or continue with a postgraduate medical course, irrespective of whether they come from an Indian or foreign medical school. As has […]
Neel Sharma: We need to understand the real life applications of technology in medical education
Technology as we all know has caused significant movement in medical education. In reality this was not a desire of our own as doctors, but was brought to us courtesy of the gaining popularity of technology use in everyday lives, from the rise of the internet, mobile devices, laptops, and social media. We then attempted […]
Nick Hopkinson: Canvassing—should medical students get out on the doorstep?
The price good people pay for not engaging in politics is bad government. I prefer this version of Plato’s aphorism to the more usual “rule by your inferiors” one. The guiding ethical principle should not be one’s position within a hierarchy, but rather that society should be fair and reasonable; organised in a way that […]
Pratheeshaa Varuni Nageswaran: The fictional narrative
I entered medical school armed with a large collection of my favourite fiction, a boxset of Friends, and excitement for this new phase of my life. Although getting lost in a book had always previously been one of my favourite things to do in my spare time, I found that with the increasing number of […]
Claire Beecroft: Why all medical students need an education in health economics
How do doctors manage conversations with patients about the availability (or often non-availability) of certain drugs or treatments within the NHS? In most consultations, the patient’s questions around their illness and treatment can usually be answered by drawing on a combination of medical training, formal guidelines, and clinical experience. However, few doctors will have received […]
George Gillett: Medical schools should teach students to combat disease, not terrorism
The winter holiday is a busy time for medical students. In anticipation of another year of clinical rotations, we’re faced with the annual onslaught of online training activities to prepare for our upcoming placements. These tasks invariably feature the relatively tedious topics so-cherished by our course organisers; health and safety, data protection, and manual handling. Yet […]
Alisha Patel: Why sustainability should be important to medical students
Medical school can feel like a production line of future doctors, equipping us with the skills to diagnose and manage patients with a vast number of illnesses. But if we are not engaging in issues related to sustainability along the way, then will we really be able to fully fulfil our duty as health professionals? […]
Alisha Patel and Emma Pearson: Volunteering in rural South Africa
After two years of medical school and miserable weather, we decided it was time to take our newly found skills to a warmer climate. In summer 2015, we spent three weeks volunteering in Underberg, a rural town in the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Our time there consisted of school outreach for children from the […]