The latest in our series of Head to Head articles was posted yesterday, and has already garnered a response—let us know if you agree with the arguments. Andrew Hartle and Sarah Gibb, both from the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, think that 48 hours a week is enough time to train doctors. […]
Category: The BMJ today
The BMJ Today: Editor’s delights
Self prescribing among doctors is legal and commonplace, but its potential problems have been recognised for many years, and regulators are increasingly taking a dim view, writes BMJ Careers editor Tom Moberly in a feature. He reviews the concerns of self prescribing as reflected in guidance from medical authorities around the world, advising doctors against […]
The BMJ Today: Male circumcision and medical suicides
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that doctors start telling uncircumcised sexually active teenage boys they can reduce their risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted disease if they have the surgery. The draft proposal also applies to adult heterosexual men and for expectant parents as they decide about newborn circumcision. […]
The BMJ Today: Global differences in pregnancies
Global inequalities in health and healthcare never cease to amaze me. This week we published a large study from Sweden showing the negative effects of obesity in pregnancy, and we find a report telling us that for €20 ($25, £16) per year per woman we can reduce almost three quarters of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions […]
The BMJ Today: Looking for general practitioner (GP) authors
In a recent BMJ Today, I explained that The BMJ maintains an educational section called Endgames aimed at junior doctors preparing for their postgraduate examinations. What I didn’t say was that most case reports and picture quizzes published so far are aimed particularly at hospital doctors rather than primary care doctors (GP’s/family physicians). […]
The BMJ Today: Mediterranean diets and infant mortality
The Nurses ’Health Studies are long term epidemiological studies conducted on women’s health. They are among the largest investigations into risk factors for major chronic diseases in women ever conducted. Marta Crous-Bou and co-workers have published a new and interesting finding from it. Greater adherence to Mediterranean diet was significantly associated with longer leukocyte telomere length, […]
The BMJ Today: Relationships in medicine
Relationships are at the heart of medical practice. These relationships are built on trust and shared clinical, academic, personal, or economic goals. Two articles just published on thebmj.com explore ways to strengthen these relationships at the two ends of the spectrum of clinical practice: the clinical relationship between a doctor and his (the author is a man) […]
The BMJ Today: Unravelling the notion of informed patient choice
“Doctor, what would you do in my shoes?” This simple plea for advice from a patient may stump many a doctor. Involving patients in decisions about their care is increasingly regarded as the sine qua non of medical practice. Anna Mead Robson cautions, however, “that by continuing to champion patient choice at the expense of […]
The BMJ Today: Are GPs really “overpaid?”
With the mainstream media claiming that GPs are overpaid, whinging, and earning up to £200 000, and the specialist press claiming that practices around the country are closing owing to cuts, it is difficult to get a clear picture of what state UK general practice is really in. Writing in this week’s The BMJ, the King’s […]
The BMJ Today: How can you provide healthcare without healthcare staff?
The ultimate consequences of problems recruiting doctors and other healthcare workers have been highlighted this week. A report into Scotland’s worst ever outbreak of Clostridium difficile infection describes how difficulties recruiting staff exacerbated problems at a “dysfunctional” hospital and undermined the quality of patient care. As Bryan Christie writes, the uncertain future of the Vale […]