The medical specialties are often glorified. Values such as empathy, kindness, dedication, and devotion are attributed to us. But one other thing that distinguishes doctors is a huge sense of “ego”. Being someone that others come to in need of help often makes up a substantial part of a physician’s psyche. It’s more than three […]
Category: Guest writers
Sara Caterina O’Rourke: When the cogwheels of medicine work at their best
It is not often that medics are faced with incidents as frightening as the terror attack in Manchester earlier this summer. I arrived at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital anticipating commotion and high emotional charge. Instead, the hospital was calm, quiet, and lacked the usual crowds of families and children navigating its corridors. Representatives from […]
Medical schools should be prioritising nutrition and lifestyle education
Kate Womersley and Katherine Ripullone Would you expect a junior doctor to be confident giving basic advice and care for the most common and fatal diseases? Of course you would. NICE guidelines state that a first line intervention for diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol (all major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and early mortality) is to […]
Ronnie Cowan: Drug policy reform is required, we can’t afford to delay for long
We should be addressing how we think about drugs and drug laws […]
Jane Dickson: It is never appropriate for women not to be able to afford emergency contraception
Recently we have seen a rallying of women in response to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Women’s Equality Party call for a reduction in the price of emergency contraception (EC) in UK pharmacies. This was highlighted by the case of a journalist, Hannah Rose Ewens, who travelled to Paris to buy the emergency […]
Mark Watts: Are multi-disciplinary teams damaging our health?
The introduction of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) into the regular practice of cancer and other specialties within medicine must surely be one of the leading advancements in delivery of healthcare in the last decades. By setting clear guidelines and targets for management of cancer, for example, NCAT has overseen a widespread improvement in consistency of […]
Wendy Burn: Girl X has a bed, for now, but what next?
Stigma must not stop investment in mental health services, says the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists […]
Simon Wessely: Stephen Hawking and his love letter to the NHS
Walking into the Royal Society of Medicine last Saturday (19 August) for my first official duty as the incoming President, two things suggested that this was not going to be the normal event I had been promised. Firstly, there were over 500 people present, and nearly all were younger than me. Secondly, there was a line […]
Johann Malawana: Exception reporting—It’s not just a right but a duty
We must not stay silent while staff are being stretched and departments are falling apart […]
Charlotte Ralston: Medical students would benefit from working as healthcare assistants
Charlotte Ralston and Ciaran Walsh You can always spot the new medical students on a hospital ward. They look unsure—intelligent, but professionally gangly and ill at ease with their surroundings and the people that fill the unfamiliar and intimidating hospital space. Uncertainty and self consciousness may be reinforced by distrust from patients and ward staff. […]