One of my medical students has a fantastic story to explain why she wants to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology. As a pre-clinical medical student, before she had ever stepped into a maternity ward in Ireland, she went to work in a developing country. This student quietly watched and helped where she could. She saw […]
Being a doctor should be about being human, and yet it is one of the most dehumanising jobs of all. As I sat in NESTA’s People Powered Health conference recently and learnt about all the amazing individuals and organisations dedicated to empowering people to take control of their own health, I couldn’t help thinking that […]
It’s been about four months since the Indian Ministry of Health proposed to mandate the NEXT (National Exit Test) for MBBS graduates before they become licensed and practising physicians or enter postgraduate courses. Although I have already published a rejoinder to the proposal, I left out there the one major aspect of it that irks me […]
“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~ Pablo Picasso Working within the NHS it is easy to find oneself questioning whether our clinical work spaces reflect their vital therapeutic role. Too often our working environments are cold, harsh, and uninspiring. Nowhere more so was this the case than the junior doctor […]
A new report from Health Education England details plans to tackle the junior doctors’ morale crisis. Two FY2’s argue why change is urgently needed. […]
The MacCraith report (2014) into medical training recognised that having junior doctors in leadership positions improved communication between hospital management and junior doctors. However, involving junior doctors in the running and management of our health service brings many benefits besides that. In 2013 the Irish health service established the lead non-consultant hospital doctor (NCHD) initiative. Lead […]
The GMC is consulting on plans to develop a medical licensing assessment (MLA) that will assure and showcase the quality of medical education and practice across the UK. The thinking behind a single objective assessment for those wishing to practise medicine in the UK stems from current piecemeal arrangements. These not only provide differing levels […]
A year ago junior doctors in England went on strike for the first time in four decades. Jeremy Hunt, health secretary for England, used statistics on the so called “weekend effect” to justify a new contract for junior doctors. This was despite warnings from the medical director of NHS England that it would be “rash […]
This past year has been particularly turbulent for junior doctors nationwide. Mired in a public standoff with the government and with lacklustre stop-start plans for industrial action, it has rendered them a workforce that feels at best confused and at worst abandoned by its union. It is safe to say that morale has sunk to […]
I enjoy numbers. I enjoy the accuracy they provide; the guidance they give in the practise of clinical medicine; and, though very far from being a mathematician, I like reading of their discovery throughout history, their quirkiness, and I like being shown their logic even though I know I won’t be able to remember or […]