I have just read a BMJ news story about doctors being beaten up in Nepal for the death of a patient. While this may seem to be quite shocking for the western society, it is an everyday reality for us, medicos, living and practising in Nepal. Over the past five years such incidents have been […]
David Payne on Second Life
There’s a great scene in US sitcom Cheers when postal worker Cliff Clavin confidently predicts that email is a passing fad and the art of letter-writing will one day return. Cliff is threatened by technology, fears for his livelihood, and, besides, has no need of email. His world is small. All his social interaction happens […]
Lucy Dennison on talent and autism
Last week I went to a two day discussion meeting at the Royal Society on talent and autism. It raised a lot of thought provoking questions, not only about autism but also about wider issues such as the working of the brain. Special skills are far more common in autism spectrum disorders than any other […]
Vidhya Alakeson on parity for US mental health patients
Buried in last week’s legislation to bail out Wall Street was a small but important victory for healthcare in America. At the same time as passing a $700 billion rescue package for the financial sector last Friday, the US House of Representatives also passed a bill on mental health parity. Rumour has it that parity […]
Helen Barratt: Back to reality
Returning to full-time work after a year of studying has taken some getting used to. I’m slowly adjusting to my Outlook calendar running my life, and learning to survive the two hour meetings which are a regular part of life in public health. Lasting the course until 17:00 on Friday is still a struggle though. […]
Birte Twisselmann: It’s good to talk
Cracking up, to be broadcast this coming Sunday on BBC2, will be the second television programme to be broadcast in the context of the BBC’s Headroom campaign for mental health and wellbeing (bbc.co.uk/headroom). I had a preview at a screening organised by the Royal Society of Medicine. The documentary provided a moving insight into journalist […]
Klaus Morales: Can doctors be healthy AND happy?
“Work is central to wellbeing, and certain features correlate highly with happiness.” Tony Delamothe (BMJ 2005;331:1489-1490). Agree. But to what extent? I just got home from a whole day of activities and duties at the hospital and let’s say – a bit of bla bla blas. Yes, I am a junior doctor, but not a […]
Eva Brencicova on admissions to medical school
The procedures of admissions to medical school are extremely varied around the world. Yet they seem to have one thing in common – success is considered a huge deal. At the next family reunion, you are bound to have enchanted relatives patting you on the back, dropping comments about how you make them proud. Are […]
David Pencheon: Climate change – not just doing better but doing different
By now you will know that the UK Committee on Climate Change has recommended that the 2050 target should be increased from a 60% reduction against baseline to 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (principally carbon dioxide). This has now been accepted by the UK Government. This makes the target (rightly) extremely challenging. It […]
Fiona Godlee: Why pharma should not be allowed to fill the gap in patient information
There was one thing we were all agreed on – proposers and opposers alike – at the Great Oxford Debate last week: there’s a big gap in the quality and quantity of information for patients. Where we disagreed – and starkly – was whether the drug industry should be allowed to fill that gap. Yes […]