Out with the old and in with the new? Improvements in the quality and portability of electronic diagnostic equipment have led to increasing discussion of late over the possible demise of the stethoscope. News outlets for the general public and for medical professionals have noted the growing debate over whether portable and handheld ultrasound, as […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Apothecaries
Last Saturday (23 January) I went to Sam Wanamaker’s Globe Theatre in Southwark (picture) for a meeting of the Oxford–Globe Forum for Medicine and Drama in Practice, as part of the commemorations of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 1616, expertly organised by Shakespearean scholar Professor Laurie Maguire and her colleagues. I gave a […]
David Kerr: A bump on the road to mHealth utopia?
A recent clinical trial’s finding that digital health technology (also known as mHealth) failed to reduce healthcare costs is raising eyebrows on this side of the Atlantic. For naysayers the results will most certainly reinforce their belief that mHealth is a fad, which distracts from the real business of medicine, and that more investment in […]
Jeanelle de Gruchy: Should David Bowie have spoken out about the cause of his cancer?
David Bowie has died. From cancer. So much outpouring of grief. And yes I participated, posting #RIPBowie tweets and reminiscing about seeing him in concert in Montreal as an 18 year old with all who would listen, shedding a tear listening to the day long radio tributes as I felt my youth slipping away with […]
Enes Hajdarbegovic and Deepak Balak: Science, spam, and scam
Hi there! Are you interested in making easy money? Go into scientific publishing with this easy three step programme: The first step is to get yourself a website. Get some server space from any of the super cheap providers and get your HTML magic going. Create a biomedical journal with a name that sounds a […]
Paul Sooby: The last of an endangered species? The view of a LAT trainee
In January 2016 NHS employers withdrew locum appointed for training (LAT) posts in England. The numbers of doctors undertaking LATs has fallen since 2014 and there were vacant posts last year. There are concerns that doctors staying in LATs year after year gain pay progression without career progression, and that direct observation and educational supervision […]
Elizabeth Wortley: Please refrain from using that kind of language
We talk a lot about communication in medicine and try to teach the right skills to students, such as the importance of body language and simplifying medical terminology. But how often do we look at non-medical language and the effect it has? Suzanne Gordon’s BMJ blog “Medicine’s F word—Fail” in early December reminded me to […]
John Fabre: The absence of a national leadership structure within the NHS
The strike by junior doctors illustrates a fundamental fact about the National Health Service: the de facto chief executive is the minister for health, and there are no advisory or decision making bodies between him and doctors and nurses at the coal face. While there was a broad consensus for the principles underlying the NHS, […]
Amir Hannan: Please don’t forget the patient
“Please don’t forget the patient.” So said Clare Reynolds—one of the many delegates who came along to the Long Term Conditions (LTC) conference. The welcome letter claimed it will “seek to identify the greatest challenges facing those living with LTCs.” The conference started off well with the keynote speech from Jacquie White, deputy director for […]
Sadie Boniface and Sally Marlow: Mother’s ruin? New guidelines for alcohol consumption during pregnancy
The Chief Medical Officer’s proposed new drinking guidelines were announced on the 8th January. These included specific advice about drinking during pregnancy, to which we could not do justice in our previous post about drinking guidelines. The new guideline says “if you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, the safest approach is not to drink […]