Earlier this month the workshop on the “Future of Independent Academic Clinical research in Europe” took place in the Académie royale de médecine de Belgique, housed in a palace neighbouring King Albert’s in Brussels. Greeting you at the entrance is a statue of the Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet (he of the index), but entering is hampered by scaffolding, […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 20 September 2010
JAMA 15 Sep 2010 Vol 304 1173 Medical students dominate this week’s JAMA. These are American medical students, who all have degrees in something else before they start medicine, so they should be well rounded, relaxed human beings in the prime of youth, enjoying a new and interesting course of study which will result in their […]
Mit Philips on doublespeak in Vienna
The high point of the summer, for those involved in HIV-AIDS, was the Vienna AIDS conference – a perfect mix of evidence, policies, and politics. While some of the scientific papers presented were fascinating, what interested me most was the platform the conference provided for different stakeholders to come together and put the tensions that […]
Rahim Rezaie: A neglected resource for neglected diseases
What does a recently developed meningitis vaccine, the the anti-malarial drug ASMQ, and balaglitazone have in common? The meningitis vaccine is a partnership involving the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), the WHO and the Serum Institute of India (Pune). ASMQ was developed by Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a public-private-partnership (PPP) including […]
Domhnall Macauley on a postgraduate study day at Trinity College, Dublin
Bright eyed students wandered though the ancient cobbled courtyards of Trinity in the September sunshine- bursting with anticipation of the new term. “On Raglan Road on an Autumn Day….” The poet Patrick Kavanagh’s words came to mind- an echo of timeless repetition. In contrast, we headed off to the PhD and MD students of the […]
Andrew Burd on white coats and scrubs in Seoul
I’ve just spent one day at Leicester General Hospital. I worked there in 1980, my first SHO job in general surgery. 105 appendicectomies performed by myself in six months. Those were the days! I did not recognise the hospital at all. So much building and development. My father was having some scans so I went […]
Martin McShane: The boa constrictor of bureacracy
Another request for “urgent” reporting pinged into my inbox today. It is the third or fourth in as many days. At least two were asking for identical information from different people, for different templates. The desire for central reporting is incessant and has not lessened one iota since May. If anything, it has increased. My […]
Nataly Kelly: The value of a single word
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is a word worth? It seems difficult to quantify. Yet, 30 years ago, a Florida hospital was faced with that very question. In 1980, 18 year old Willie Ramirez was admitted into the hospital. Spanish speaking family members trying to explain his symptoms said that […]
Julian Sheather: I want to be bipolar
Slouching around the internet recently I happened upon an article with a title that intrigued me – and one that I have shamelessly stolen for this blog. Where once the mentally troubled went to enormous lengths to avoid a diagnosis of mental illness, today some of us are actively seeking it, or seeking one diagnosis […]
Karyn Moshal on CHIVA Africa
In 2004, when the South African antiretroviral programme to tackle the HIV pandemic finally began, the concern turned to the management of children – the group that is always left behind. […]