We are living in a perfect storm: vast amounts of data and rapidly increasing, cheap computing power. The world is shifting towards basing decisions even more on data. I believe, to paraphrase Billy Bosworth, that “10 years from now when we look back at how this era of big data evolved . . . we […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Let’s twist again
The Indo-European root UER was not the only one that connoted twisting and turning. Others were PLEK, STREB, TERQ or TORQ, TERK, and UEI. Let’s start with PLEK, which in Greek gave πλεκ- and πλο(κ)-, in Latin plec- and plic-. It implied not only to twist, but other twisty actions as well—to braid or weave, […]
William Cayley: To doctor is to diagnose—part two
Having recently posted some thoughts on the continuing centrality of diagnosis in doctoring, I was happy to see the recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report “Improving Diagnosis in Healthcare.” I especially appreciated the IOM’s clear statement that “Improving the diagnostic process . . . represents a moral, professional, and public health imperative.” The IOM describes […]
Tony Rao: When doctors strike
To say that junior doctors are dissatisfied would probably be an understatement. It is now almost exactly 40 years since they turned to industrial strike action as a means of opposing a contract that failed to recognise their professional role. The 1975 strike emerged against the background of strike action from a number of other […]
John King: Just tick the boxes
The atmosphere at the mothers meeting was warm and friendly. All the local mums were looking forward to sharing the latest news and gossip about their children, as they had done for years now. Suddenly the door was flung open and a man in a smart grey suit appeared, with bulging briefcase and an authoritative […]
Mihail Călin: Protests on the streets of Bucharest—”We want hospitals, not cathedrals!
Twelve days have passed since fireworks lit the soundproofing at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, unleashing a deadly combination of fire and toxic fumes over hundreds of concert goers. The death toll has now reached 48, mostly young people, and is likely to increase, given that around 20 others are in critical condition in hospitals. […]
Mary E Black: Data—a love story
I remember my first data extraction. As a clinician I enjoyed creating good clinical notes, and was adept at digesting fat files of written scrawl, laboratory records, and referral letters—for complex or very ill patients, they often came in falling apart volumes stacked inches high. How then was I meant to scan them for a […]
DFID should put long term research at the heart of development
The 2015 autumn spending review launched by the chancellor George Osborne, aims to find ways to reduce the UK government budget by a further £20 billion. While the UK aid budget is protected from such cuts, heightened public awareness of fiscal tightening, and scrutiny from the likes of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), […]
The WHO financing dialogue: global health leadership needs to be paid for
“WHO must re-establish it’s pre-eminence as the guardian of global public health; this will require significant changes throughout WHO with the understanding that this includes both the Secretariat and the Member States.” [1] Since the Ebola outbreak shocked the world the functioning of WHO has been the subject of much attention. The director general has […]
Richard Smith: The Closer We Get
The Closer We Get shows the last months of a woman’s life after she has had a stroke and tells the complex story of a family as they gather around the mother. It’s an intense film that held my attention for every one of its 87 minutes, much more so than The Lobster and Suffragette, […]