Thamel is a busy tourist hub in Kathmandu. Its streets are lined by numerous shops, massage centres, bars, pubs, hotels, restaurants and even strip clubs, popularly known as dance restaurants. Life in Thamel begins with nightfall. This nightlife used to continue throughout the night. But not any more. A new directive by the home ministry […]
Category: Students
Ohad Oren injects hope into medical communication
In Israel, a country where we don’t need reminding of the precariousness of life, absolute terms like life and death are sometimes blurred. This gives power to the sort of faith that relatives tend to develop, on their endless journey of praying for their dreams – of resurrecting their loved ones from the enemy’s hands […]
Frances Dixon on month two at medical school
We are well into the first term now, and we are starting to do some modules that are not just straight science. One of these is an epidemiology module. I was a little apprehensive about this, as someone had told me that epidemiology was “just health statistics”. But when we started, I realised it wasn’t […]
Ohad Oren on euthanasia, supermarket style
Debbie Purdy, a 45 year old woman with progressive multiple sclerosis, failed in her bid last month to be able to end her life when her excruciating symptoms become unbearable for her. When the time comes, she wants her husband to accompany her to Dignitas, a Swiss clinic, which will prescribe a lethal dose of barbiturates, […]
Frances Dixon on her first month at medical school
So that’s four weeks of medical school gone. Just six more years left. The first month has been pretty hectic, but thoroughly enjoyable. It started off, as most courses do, with a couple of weeks of social events to get everyone introduced to everyone else. These included a pirate themed boat party, a beach themed […]
Laura James on science and journalism
On 19 of October I arrived in Madrid, the the place of beautiful parks, live flamenco, brilliant nightlife, churros, a Spanish type of long thin doughnut, El Rastro, an enormous outdoor market, and the Golden Triangle of art museums. But I wasn’t really there for the tapas, I was there for environmental health matters. I am […]
Ohad Oren: Ambulances flying above the Middle East
“By far the most dangerous foe we have to fight is apathy – indifference from whatever cause, not from a lack of knowledge, but from carelessness, from absorption in other pursuits, from a contempt bred of self satisfaction” William Osler (1849-1919) Dominique Jean Larrey was strongly affected by the misfortunes of others. He would often […]
Siddhartha Yadav: Sue me, please
I have just read a BMJ news story about doctors being beaten up in Nepal for the death of a patient. While this may seem to be quite shocking for the western society, it is an everyday reality for us, medicos, living and practising in Nepal. Over the past five years such incidents have been […]
Lucy Dennison on talent and autism
Last week I went to a two day discussion meeting at the Royal Society on talent and autism. It raised a lot of thought provoking questions, not only about autism but also about wider issues such as the working of the brain. Special skills are far more common in autism spectrum disorders than any other […]
Eva Brencicova on admissions to medical school
The procedures of admissions to medical school are extremely varied around the world. Yet they seem to have one thing in common – success is considered a huge deal. At the next family reunion, you are bound to have enchanted relatives patting you on the back, dropping comments about how you make them proud. Are […]