A recent BBC article about the globalisation of work and people, written by Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice, argues that there will be more professionals called “transnationals,” as the job and education market become increasingly globalised. Gratton defines a transnational as a “worldwide group of people who are able to relocate at any time, […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Transforming communities to be healthy and active
Audacious actions are being taken in Aruba, an island paradise in the Caribbean, to improve the health of its residents, said Richard Visser, the Minister of Health, Welfare, and Sport of Aruba at a recent meeting I attended. Of late the residents of this paradise have taken a turn for the worse healthwise as more […]
Domhnall MacAuley: The UMT generation reaches middle age
Remember the UMT* and a one in three. Holiday rotas to cover each other. Going to theatre to hold the retractor. Endless lists on scraps of loose paper. Morning toast in the ward on a night on call. Drips that tissued, catheters blocked, and phone calls at midnight to write up sedation. Going to work […]
Pritpal S Tamber: How my local CCG disrespects its patients
I went to my local “patient participation” group meeting last week. My local practice said they were seeking feedback on their commissioning plans and suggested I attend. This was quite gracious (and brave) of them given how rude I was about their attempts to create a patient leaflet. I think all non-practising clinicians and health […]
Desmond O’Neill: René Magritte and the art of geriatric medicine
The addition of a cultural focus to scientific congresses is increasingly common. More often than not the event relates more to the city chosen rather than the subject matter of the congress. However, given that most great art relates to the human condition, it is difficult not to find interesting resonances between the art and […]
Lewis Morrison: BMA Scotland seeks further ballot on pensions strike action
On Friday last week, a leading Scottish national newspaper reported that “Scots doctors break ranks on pensions strike ballot.” This publicised the decision by the BMA in Scotland to seek a ballot of hospital doctors on further industrial action in protest against changes to the NHS pension scheme and particularly highlighted the Scottish government’s handling […]
Richard Smith: Trying to impact the real world
Cochrane systematic reviews provide perhaps the best evidence available on health, but do they improve the care of patients and shape health policy? This was the question addressed at one of the liveliest sessions at the Cochrane Colloquium in Auckland. Most people are cared for in primary care, but the full Cochrane reviews are useless […]
David Payne: Loos in Lagos
In a hot Washington DC two days ago I needed the toilet. I was on Wisconsin Avene in Georgetown. My English reserve suddenly overcame me. I dreaded the thought of pushing past clean-cut American families waiting outside restaurants to get a table for Sunday lunch and trying to spot signs for a washroom. In the […]
Sophie Reshamwalla: Lifebox in the mist—a premier sojourn in Rwanda
Getting to Rwanda takes ages. I don’t know why there isn’t a direct flight to Kigali from the UK but there just isn’t—which meant that my journey there took close to 24 hours (via Kenya and Burundi). I have travelled through East Africa plenty before, but this was my first trip to Rwanda. I went […]
Martin McShane: Champions for change
Let me tell you a story. I recently had the opportunity to listen to a woman whose mother developed vascular dementia. This is what I heard. A stroke caused expressive and receptive dysphasia along with a change in behaviour so, when stressed, her mother would become aggressive. Despite that, she lived in her own home […]