Overwhelmed by the relentless tide of bad news stories about UK primary care? Well, this is a good news story. A webinar organised by The Commonwealth Fund (a US philanthropic organisation originally created by the Harkness Family to identify policies and practice that could improve the US health system) discussed findings from the latest International […]
Category: Editors at large
Tessa Richards: Preventing disease with plastic water bottles and esprit de corps
A mosquito buzzed idly against the window inside the coach. Was it carrying the dengue virus we wondered? And if it was, what is the chance of dying from dengue haemorrhagic fever? Such questions run through your mind when you are in a country where the disease is endemic, and as the WHO has recently […]
Domhnall MacAuley: The surgeons who are not doctors
“The surgeons who are not doctors.” Reading this headline, I expected a story on training healthcare workers as surgical technicians in some under doctored developing country. But no, it was in the UK. I was intrigued. Medicine is introspective, protective, and doctor centric; self regulating and self directing. Places at medical school are highly prized, […]
Birte Twisselmann: Let’s hear it for music and poetry
“Representation of older people in arts, music, and literature,” a seminar held at the Royal Society of Medicine, got off to a shaky start because of noisy building work next door. Eventually a new room was found and the afternoon got properly under way. Before the interruption, Estella Tincknell, associate professor for film and culture […]
Readers’ editor: What do US physicians think of the BMJ?
This blog is the first in a series about you, our readers. Fiona Godlee, the BMJ’s editor in chief, suggested I write a regular blog explaining some of our policies and procedures. Many of them have been in place for decades, but our readership of practising physicians and academic researchers may not be aware of […]
Domhnall MacAuley: The silent cost of caring
As he hung up his coat at the end of the morning, he stunned his nursing and junior colleagues: “I will be glad when I don’t have to do that clinic anymore.” It was a cancer clinic in a non cancer speciality. Everyone in outpatients thought he was wonderful; a caring clinician, a good listener […]
Krishna Chinthapalli: The danger of sugar
Millions of years ago, plants were making fruits to disperse seeds. Once the seeds were ready to travel in animal stomachs, fruits concentrated more sugar and ripened. They became an important and safe source of energy. Consequently, our ancestors perceived fruit to be “sweet” and pleasurable. Meanwhile bees were busy making a much sweeter food, […]
Rej Bhumbra: Global surgery—global wellness
The Chinese phrase, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” is widely used, but its principles hold true, especially if you are working in the field of global surgery. A meeting organised at the Royal College of Surgeons […]
Sophie Cook: Home visits in the snow
Even in the most auspicious weather conditions, urgent home visits are time consuming and on days when snow falls this creates another obstacle to negotiate in an already stressful on-call day. I’ve become irrationally fearful of the snow. Children love it, but adults tend to be less welcoming of snow due to the disruption to […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Tranquiliser and analgesic dependence
“GPs warned to steer clear of tranquiliser trap,” Reading the headline—I expected the usual GP bashing. But, the headline misled and the story was based on a joint statement by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, supported by medical, nursing, social work, and lay bodies on the risks of […]