Folic acid is a vitamin which is particularly necessary for fast-dividing cells – which is why we use folate antagonists to kill bacteria and cancers. But it is still a bit of a shock to think that modest folic acid supplementation (1mg daily) might possibly encourage the development of colon cancer, as this paper suggests. […]
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Flying Shrinks
Medicine is both a passport and a visa, permitting access to unknown places and insights into places most will never see. […]
Doctor of the Week: Erasmus Darwin
To millions of Americans today, the name of Darwin is taboo, associated with disbelief in the Word of God and its teaching of Creation. Oddly enough, this was the case in England even before Charles Darwin had been born. […]
Royal College of Surgeons pulls out of MTAS review
The Royal College of Surgeons has withdrawn from the MTAS review group, chaired by Professor Neil Douglas. Bernard Ribeiro, the college’s president, announced his decision in an open letter to Professor Douglas in which he said that the DH had failed to make adequate transitional arrangements for “a large number of well-trained, experienced and committed […]
Remedy UK loses high court case
Remedy UK’s legal fight against the Department of Health over the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) came to an end today. The judge hearing the case ruled against Remedy UK’s call for the interviews carried out so far only to count towards temporary appointments, not substantive posts. […]
BMA chairman resigns over MTAS letter
In an unexpected move, the BMA’s chairman Jim Johnson has resigned after a storm of protest at a letter he wrote to The Times supporting the government’s reforms of medical education — and stating that continuing to use the flawed MTAS system for appointing round 1 candidates was the ‘best available solution’. His letter, written with Carol Black, chairman of […]
It’s your call
There’s nothing quite like being interviewed in your pyjamas. Lots of people have emailed, asking for hints and advice about phone interviews. […]
MTAS ’scrapped’ – but round 1 interviews remain
Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced plans to drop the flawed Medical Training Application Service — but only from now on. Round 1 interview set up through MTAS and which have already taken place, or which are due to take place, will still be valid. […]
Trusts in frenzied effort to create thousands of staff posts
The Department of Health is frantically trying to magic up as many as 10,000 posts for those who fail to achieve posts within the specialist training stream. The BMJ understands that the big teaching hospitals are being asked to identify temporary positions that can be made available from August for doctors unsuccessful in obtaining ST3 […]
Health secretary apologises yet again
Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Health, has today made yet another statement — and another apology — in the Commons about the MTAS debacle. […]