Few would disagree that organ donation and transplant surgery is a remarkable achievement. It is a selfless gift that unlocks the potential to cure disease or allay symptoms. But if that “gift” was a bone fixation plate, or an implantable cardiac defibrillator, would the perception be the same? The initial “gift” production responsibility is not […]
Category: Editors at large
Trish Groves: A European tale—data sharing at the EMA
This is a tale of extraordinary persistence by medical researchers—particularly those at the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen—on behalf of patients. And it seems to have a happy ending. It starts in the warmer climes of Rome and Lisbon, where treaties were signed to form the constitutional basis of the European Union. These treaties laid […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Creating winning teams
I spent time at the weekend in the company of some very successful people; high achievers in sport, health, and the public sector—each directing teams or organisations that perform at the highest level. It wasn’t a business seminar, leadership congress, or motivational event. There was no preening, competition, or posturing. No one stood out—they all […]
Domhnall MacAuley: The medical journal of the future
Editors, by definition, are different. The annual short course for medical journal editors brought together a bunch of bright energetic free thinkers—mostly doctors. These new editors bring their own perspective on the rapid changes in medical publishing: Journals are gradually migrating to the web, publishers are selling bundles, big journals are creating off shoots, and […]
David Payne: Doctors in Mugglemarch
My last encounter with a JK Rowling novel was an abortive attempt to get through a Harry Potter boxed set given to me as a present ten years ago (why did nobody have the guts to tell the world’s most successful author to make the Goblet of Fire and subsequent volumes shorter?). […]
David Payne: Listening to our readers and authors
A year ago today the BMJ’s new website went live. We launched with an explanatory video and a dedicated email address for you, our readers, to provide feedback. This blog is a summary of the many changes—some big, some small—that we’ve made over the last 12 months. […]
Edward Davies: The American Heart Association and why the world needs journals
You would sometimes be forgiven for thinking that we are now living in the last days of the traditional medical journal. Everything from payment models, to access, and even peer review is up for grabs. Editors are a needless middleman, messing with the researchers’ genius and peer reviewers merely inflict their own bias on the […]
Helen Jaques: Expect fireworks over the new GP contract
As a seasoned hack, it’s not often that I’m shocked by medical workforce news. The pensions ballot and industrial action by doctors earlier this year was one point—I genuinely didn’t believe doctors would actually go on strike. This week though my jaw completely dropped, and I almost fell off my chair, when I saw the […]
Domhnall MacAuley on the school of primary care research 2012 showcase
What a great day, what a success story. Having worked with Richard Hobbs, director of the School of Primary Care Research, on the original primary care research capacity building initiative many years ago, it was wonderful to see the downstream results of this initiative. The progression has been incremental so it may be difficult for […]
Isobel Weinberg: Doctors, Dissection, and Resurrection Men
I’m glad I learnt anatomy via the declining art of full body dissection. I’ll be dining out on the stories for years. It’s one of the first things that people ask about when they learn I’m a medical student, and they aren’t satisfied until they’ve heard details: the smell, the cadaver’s pallor, the grisly chill […]