Every year when the shops fill with Slade, calendars count down in chocolate to an absence of cereal on the morning of the 25th December and male faces fill with desperation at present buying, my mind slips back to my kitchen, about a decade ago. It’s an unremarkable kitchen, but had in it a large […]
Category: practice of medicine
“And what medicines is he on?”
It was reading a paper describing how sociologists were working with clinical trialists testing a microbiocidal pessary to reduce HIV transmission that got me thinking, again, about how we can lose ourselves in language. The example that stuck with me in the paper was of the understood meanings of the words ‘day’ and ‘month’. When does the […]
Drained
Compassion fatigue. Burnout. Exhaustion. Call it what you will, many, if not most of us, will at some point – probably many points – crunch into a spell where putting in 110% has left you with nothing but a rattling can. And perhaps a desire for chocolate, gin or trash TV. […]
Keys to success
The challenges of looking after children with complex medical conditions have been widely acknowledged, and a model frequently proposed to address this is of a ‘key worker’ – an identified health care professional who is a point of first contact, organiser and font of locally applicable knowledge to improve care and reduce distress. In the […]
A Patient I’ll Always Remember
It’s been a feature of Schwartz rounds in many institutions to have, as a break from the team-based, thematic presentations, the odd session where a few folk offer to sit on the panel and talk to the title “A Patient I’ll Always Remember” (For those who don’t have them, Schwartz rounds are sessions focussed on […]
Gender sensitive medicine
Last year the worldwide Movember charitable organisation, in addition to having a LOT to answer for when it came to ridiculous photographs on social media and scratchy snogging, held a symposium on Boys’/Mens’ Mental Health. Crashing into this again recently made me sit up and ask “Do we paediatrician types alter our consultations / clinics […]
Guest Blog: The trials and tribulations of answering clinical questions
For a recent evidence based paediatrics assignment we had to answer and present a clinical question. I’m sure you are well acquainted with the process; construct your question in standard PICO format, search your secondary and primary sources, critically appraise the evidence and draw your conclusions. Having noted a trend towards starting lamotrigine rather than […]
Guest blog: “To Play or not to Play”?
Play in its most intimate of forms allows for free expression, exploration, joy, and excitement . For others it’s a welcome distraction. What makes play become a tool, a balance barometer, a universal subject, is when it is introduced or offered to a child/young person (CYP) who requires an intervention, treatment or one who is […]
Making decisions to limit treatment in life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in children
The revised Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health guidance on making decisions to limit treatment in life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in childhood has just been published. It provides an ethical and legal framework for practicing clinicians revised to reflect the changes in the scope and availability of advanced technology and in the emphasis and […]
What I learned from Terry Pratchett
I’ve been thinking about this for quite a long time now, and this seems like a good time. I’ve spoken about this any number of times with students in clinic, and with doctors in training. The thing is, as soon as they hear me mention Terry Pratchett, I get the judgement. Or, to be more […]