It’s amazing how quickly one adapts. The first couple of days were a bit of a shock, but I soon accepted my fate and – rather worryingly – began to take on the role of the underling almost willingly. I remember how the same thing happened when I’d started medical school. Having worked prior to […]
Anna Donald
Anna died on the morning of 1 February, Sydney time. She was surrounded by her family and by the prayers and thoughts of her friends around the world. Anna took great comfort and encouragement from the comments made on this site, and her blog was one of her great delights over the last few months. […]
Borrowing from our children, or stealing from them?
I was standing next to one of the most senior health care managers in the UK recently when he again professed his admiration for the BMJ as the best journal for health care managers. It was at the launch of the Carbon Reduction Strategy for the NHS in England. Whenever I see a wealthy person […]
Juliet Walker: BMJ in the news
More than half of carers looking after relatives with dementia report acting abusively towards them according to a research paper published last week on bmj.com. The researchers, from University College London, found that a third admitted significant abuse, such as frequent insulting and swearing, and only 3 out of 220 carers admitted occasional physical abuse. […]
William Lee on “A Short Stay In Switzerland”
Last night the BBC aired “A Short Stay in Switzerland”, a one-off drama based on the true story of a terminally ill doctor who killed herself in Zurich with the help of Dignitas, an organisation specialising in assisting suicide (read obituary). Assisting a person to commit suicide is illegal in the UK, though there have […]
Siddharta Yadav on changing perceptions of HIV/AIDS
There is a famous proverb in Nepali which says we learn something either by reading about it or by facing it. I prefer the latter because of the everlasting impression that “facing something” leaves, in contrast to the hazy-sketchy memories of reading. I have been reading about HIV and AIDS since my first year in […]
Juliet Walker: BMJ in the news
The media has picked up on two research papers and a linked editorial, published this week, which address postnatal depression and how it can be treated without taking antidepressants. The studies show that the support of health visitors and other women who have experienced postnatal depression can help new mothers deal effectively with the condition. […]
Frances Dixon on term two at medical school
So new year, new term of med school. Before we broke up at the end of last term a couple of our lecturers warned us that, having completed one term, we were now doctors (in the eyes of friends and family at least) and would be bombarded by requests for advice all through the holidays. […]
Elizabeth Loder on academic-industry interactions
It was a Boston day so cold that my morning assortment of emails included a message suggesting that hospital employees should be on the lookout for indoor puddles that might indicate frozen, burst water pipes. As I walked across the medical school campus towards the Tosteson Medical Education Center, I did not anticipate that this […]
Mark Clarfield on children in the crossfire
Two days ago a terrible tragedy occurred in Gaza and the day before that in Israel – both involving innocent children. In Gaza, an errant tank shell hit the building in which 55 year old gynecologist Ezeldeen Abu-alaish and his children where residing. Three of his daughters were killed outright and a number of others […]