“Down the wire” is the process of winching down and up from a helicopter to locations otherwise inaccessible. It’s a phrase that I associate with films involving Navy Seals, the SAS, and the effervescent Steven Seagal; not, and lets make this clear, me. So, you can imagine my surprise to find myself in a classroom, […]
The BMJ Today: Stand up to keep fit
• According a news story, standing and light activity for two hours per day during work hours is recommended for those in roles which are for the most part sedentary. The advice comes from a guide published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. […]
Neel Sharma: Validation in medical education—from classroom to curriculum
In clinical research there is typically a transition from cell based analysis, animal work, and human involvement before any form of intervention, be it diagnostic or treatment based, is deemed valid in a clinical setting. One example I can relate to currently is the use of image enhanced endoscopy which my colleagues and I are working on […]
Katherine Sleeman: Assisted dying is about more than autonomy
Last month, Jeffrey Spector, a business man from Lancashire, travelled to Switzerland to receive assistance to die. He had been diagnosed six years earlier with an inoperable spinal tumour, which although was unlikely to kill him, would almost certainly have led to progressive paralysis and dependence. His choice, supported by his wife and family, was […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—1 June 2015
NEJM 28 May 2015 Vol 372 2087 Now that the NEJM has flagged up its position on conflicts of interest, it’s definitely a case of caveat lector—looking hard at what it decides to publish. First in this week’s issue is a GSK-funded trial of its new herpes zoster vaccine (HZ/su) aimed at preventing shingles in […]
The BMJ Today: “Rapid responses are wonderful”
Michael Stone praises The BMJ’s article based post publication peer review in a weekend rapid response to my feature marking the 20th anniversary of the journal’s website last week. They “allow for an almost immediate analysis of “intricate and technical issues” which arise from the original paper,” he writes, adding: “It is possible to effectively “debate a point […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word … Join the Q
Just like the grapheme /x/, which I discussed last time, the grapheme /q/ is among the symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that do not represent the sounds of the English letters they resemble. Followed by a u in English and pronounced kw, it is instead used in IPA to represent the voiceless velar […]
Michel Kazatchkine: Tuberculosis and poverty in Europe
After recently returning from a ministerial conference on tuberculosis (TB) and multi-drug resistant TB held on the initiative of the Latvian Presidency of the European Union, I am encouraged that our political elites are eventually deciding to commit to eradicate—rather than to only “control”—TB, the world biggest killing curable disease. Tuberculosis has always been a […]
Jyoti Shah: How can we address sexism in medicine?
A blog to expose some of the worst examples of sexism in Hollywood has become an enormous hit simply due to the incredible number of contributions; all remaining anonymous because of “fear of retaliation.” Published on the canvas of the social media platform Tumblr, the blog, “Shit People Say to Women Directors” is taking the film […]
The BMJ Today: Warning the following content from The BMJ contains strong views
• Thebmj.com at 20—This week marks an important birthday for thebmj.com which has been online for 20 years. Continuing to embrace progress in multimedia, you can read the related editorial from our digital and deputy editors, listen to a podcast interview with Richard Smith, former editor-in-chief, explaining why The BMJ was an early adopter amongst […]