The BMJ has now called for applications for the Clegg Scholarship 2010. So, I think this might be the right time to talk about my own experiences as a Clegg Scholar and how I have fared since then. If you ask me to name one thing that Clegg Scholarship is all about, I can’t. I […]
Tony Delamothe: The Ethics of Assisted Dying – Lord Harries’s lecture
Because the House of Commons won’t touch end of life issues with a bargepole the House of Lords is the place to watch. So I went to hear the inaugural Elson Ethics Lecture, given by Lord Richard Harries of Pentregarth, on the ethics of assisted dying.(Held at Windsor Castle, we entered via the Henry VIII […]
Richard Smith on learning leadership from Henry V
Last week I was privileged to hear a brilliant talk—by Nicholas Janni—on what Henry V or rather Shakespeare has to teach us about leadership. Prince Harry was, as most people know, a dissolute youth, hanging out with drunks, pimps, whores, and undesirables with the great Falstaff chief among them. But when his father, Henry IV, […]
Emily Spry: The devil is in the detail
It might seem odd that the most challenging folk to work with here are not the Sierra Leonean ones. Sometimes the toughest part is dealing with the endeavours of my fellow “whiteman”. […]
Douglas Noble on patient safety
Ineffectively communicated clinical information has been estimated to be responsible for up to 10% of all preventable medical errors. Stanton et al, in their recent book on clinical leadership, reveal that 70% of information is communicated non-verbally. […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Of mice and real people
Do you dither with your mouse? Who would have thought there could be any new angles on consultation analysis! Simon de Lusignan (St Georges, University of London) had some new insights in his keynote address at NAPCRG (North American Primary Care Research Group). […]
Annabel Bentley: Evidence of drugs and alcohol down the pub
A debate on the harms of drugs and alcohol hosted in a pub – surely not? This week I was lucky enough to visit the epicentre of drinking and critical thinking at what claims to the be the world’s largest regular pub meeting. An open invitation to join a garrulous group of sceptics at a […]
Behrooz Astaneh: Trial registry – the Iranian experience
Clinical trials are the cornerstone of medical research. Multiple publications of the results of a specific trial as well as non-publication of unfavorable results are among the problems facing the medical literature. To avoid such problems, the idea of trial registries has been proposed, and nowadays authors cannot publish the results of trials in most […]
Tony Waterston: Making the connection between education and practice … and a pipe band in Bethlehem
Attending the graduation ceremony for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Child Health Diploma programme in Ramallah I fantasised over the effect of the course on children’s health. We want to see the following: thriving, well nourished infants, lively and independent minded children, healthy teenagers with high self esteem, disabled youngsters who are […]
Parijaat Vaidya reviews When a mother’s love is not enough
As the mother of a severely disabled child and a psychiatrist working with learning disabled children, I was particularly interested in this BBC documentary which highlights the enormous challenges families face in bringing up a child with disabilities. […]