Until quite recently, I saw little connection between fly fishing and health service provision apart from the fact that many doctors are also fly fishers. A year or so ago, however, I became aware of the growing and remarkable success of Casting for Recovery (CfR), a charity which uses fly fishing to provide education, relaxation […]
Andrew Burd: Bring back the white coat
Helen, a delightful medical student from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, has been staying with us for an elective. All overseas students are asked to provide their own white coats and our visitor from the UK told us that she had to borrow a white coat from a Hong Kong friend. There are no […]
This week’s research highlights – 30 July 2010
“Research highlights” is a weekly round-up of research papers appearing in the print BMJ. We start off with this week’s research questions, before providing more detail on some individual research papers and accompanying articles. […]
Richard Lehman’s journal blog 27 July 2010
JAMA 21 July 2010 Vol 235 This issue of JAMA is devoted to human immunodeficiency virus infection in resource-poor countries and as usual I won’t attempt to comment on issues such as preventing mother-to-child transmission in Africa and the benefits and limitations of using generic antiviral drugs in resource-poor settings. We’re talking here about individuals who are […]
David Payne on Colin Blakemore’s childhood
The UK coalition government’s Academies Bill was rushed through Parliament this week, giving the green light to parents to set up their own schools. Critics argue that it’s a backward step, a return to the two-tierism that characterised the distinction between grammar and secondary moderns before they were replaced by comprehensive education in much of […]
Sandra Lako on her return to Freetown
After being away from Sierra Leone for a year, it is good to be back. Previously I spent four and a half years in Sierra Leone working for an NGO, running an outpatient pediatric clinic. Now, I am working in the government-run Children’s Hospital, volunteering as medical coordinator for a UK-based charity called the Welbodi […]
Jeremy Sare on NRG1
The Fly Agaric mushroom, depicted in many a book of fairytales, is a powerful hallucinogen but still perfectly legal. The reason why successive governments have not sought to ban it is because its effects are so deeply unpleasant, even the most avid “stoner” does not want to take it. At least, not more than once. […]
Richard Smith on improving what the world eats
High blood pressure is the second main cause of disease burden in Australia and is only marginally behind tobacco, said Bruce Neal, senior director, research and development at the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, at a seminar organised by C3, Collaborating for Health. It’s the same in other developed countries and increasingly in […]
Simon Chapman: Sick and famous
Singer Cheryl Cole may turn out to be the most famous person to get malaria in 2010, but of course she’s not the only one. And more importantly, she’s hardly typical of malaria patients who are likely to be impoverished residents with poor access to prophylaxis living in areas with run-down public health infrastructures. While […]
Sandra Lako: An introduction
When I was two years old my parents moved onboard the M/V Anastasis, a hospital ship run by the organisation Mercy Ships, which provided relief and medical services to communities in developing countries. The ship was my home for 14 years. The greatest advantage about life on a ship was the opportunity to see so […]