At Britain’s first and only summit meeting on research misconduct in 2000, Alexander McCall Smith, a professor of medical law and ethics, argued that research misconduct (the gentlemanly phrase for scientific fraud) should be a criminal offence. The idea seemed outrageous. Nobody took it seriously, but 13 years later Nature has published an editorial not […]
My knowledge of eating disorders stems less from my medical training than from vicarious insights into their ravages in the milieu of my teenage and young adult daughters. Yet not infrequently on post-take ward rounds I encounter those affected and am generally struck by an inarticulacy on both sides, and a mismatch between the medical […]
The Grand Convergence is the Big Idea of the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health. It is the idea that by 2035 the poor world could have similar mortality to the rich world. Is it achievable? Can it bring the “fractious global health community” together into one aim to replace the Millennium Development Goals? The […]
Recently I was confronted with a medical emergency on board a short haul to Europe. The problem was a case of syncope, which is the most common in-flight medical emergency. It was the first time I heard the phrase “Is there a doctor on board?” and I was apparently the only doctor on that flight. […]
Simon Sebag Montefiore, the son of a doctor, recently argued that doctors make highly effective tyrants. Is he right and if he is why might it be? His article was not a systematic review but rather a brutal case study. The doctor tyrant of the moment is Bashar al-Assad. His regime has killed tens if […]
The newer the better—or so it seems in much of commercialized medicine. At least in “developed” or “higher income” countries, medical innovation seems inextricably tied with commercial endeavors, which often translate to more expensive ways to do the same things (sometimes, even if we’re not sure the outcomes are truly better) The Bulletin of the […]
Criticism of EU law is often aimed at an amorphous “Brussels,” but in many cases member states are the problem—as with the proposal to revise the Clinical Trials Directive. The proposal envisages a central EU portal and database of applications, assessments, safety reports, and other information about clinical trials. How comprehensive will that information be, […]
If you thought Australia was the envy of the rest of the world in terms of having the most physically active people, think again. Peter McCue, executive officer for the New South Wales Premier’s Council for Active Living, recently gave a talk entitled, “Walk hand in hand: health and transport collaborations,” organised by C3 Collaborating […]
Multi-source feedback and I didn’t get off to a great start when I found out that, when it came to being a doctor, my colleagues rated me as 7.3. I think my response at the time was something like “huh?” or perhaps “uh-huh.” Or maybe “uhh…” I can’t remember. I was gathering opinions for my […]
Do you believe in interprofessional education? Do you believe in problem based learning? Do you believe in objective structured clinical examinations? Do you believe in reflection in action? Or reflection on action? Do you believe in the NHS? Do you believe in NICE? What do you believe in? When I first moved to the UK […]