Women’s rights to informed choices about what happens to their bodies are often contested—especially if they are pregnant or have HIV. Yet informed choices about risks and benefits form a critical part of long term prognosis. I experienced how devastating an HIV diagnosis feels, despite my access to excellent healthcare. HIV can fill you with […]
Increasing openness is a better route to eliminating biases than increasing anonymity […]
The recognition of a new clinical entity, “chronic breathlessness syndrome” has been proposed, following an international Delphi process to achieve an expert consensus.1 Why does this matter and is it a useful idea? Breathlessness on exertion is a feature of a normal healthy life, but undue breathlessness is also a common symptom, affecting around 10% […]
Richard Lehman reviews the latest research in the top medical journals […]
In the impoverished community in rural central India where my colleagues and I run a comprehensive primary health care programme, half of the population live below the poverty line [spend less than USD 0.5 per day] and undernutrition is rampant (median Body Mass Index 18.9 in men and 18.4 in women). With such impoverishment, it […]
I started my foundation year 1 (FY1) post last year full of negativity about the new junior doctor contract being enforced. My expectations were that I was going to be valued less and paid less than my predecessors. However, unexpectedly, my experience was empowering and motivating. Whether this was because I was fortunate enough to […]
The medical specialties are often glorified. Values such as empathy, kindness, dedication, and devotion are attributed to us. But one other thing that distinguishes doctors is a huge sense of “ego”. Being someone that others come to in need of help often makes up a substantial part of a physician’s psyche. It’s more than three […]
To recap, for many years medicine has been regarded as both an art and a science. Is it? As we have already seen, the word “art” has its origin in the IndoEuropean root AR, to join or fit together. In contrast, the word “science” comes from the root SEK, or in an extended form SKEI, […]
The suggestion that all referral decisions must be reviewed is a slur on the competence of GPs […]
It is not often that medics are faced with incidents as frightening as the terror attack in Manchester earlier this summer. I arrived at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital anticipating commotion and high emotional charge. Instead, the hospital was calm, quiet, and lacked the usual crowds of families and children navigating its corridors. Representatives from […]