BMJ Elective: A new experience leading a newer perspective….The Patient-centered learning. By Vivek Podder Currently, undergraduate medical education is largely limited to the lectures or textbooks based teaching-learning approach rather than a patient-centered learning in various parts of the world. Lack of formal training for students in medical school as well as lack of future […]
Latest articles
Cultural Competence in Global Health
By Nathan Douthit [I]n the…aim to produce cultural competence, one dimension to be avoided is… narrowly defining competence… in its traditional sense: an easily demonstrable mastery of a finite body of knowledge. Rather, cultural competence…is best described… as a commitment and active engagement in a lifelong process that individuals enter into on an ongoing basis […]
15,000 Case Reports Published
We are pleased to announce BMJ Case Reports has now published over 15,000 cases online. BMJ Case Reports is an important educational resource offering a high volume of cases in all disciplines so that healthcare professionals, researchers and others can easily find clinically important information on common and rare conditions. Seema Biswas, Editor in Chief […]
Stigma as a Barrier to Global Health Care
By Nathan Douthit “People who are excluded…are not ‘just like’ the rest of the poor, only poorer. They are also disadvantaged by who they are or where they live, and as a result, are locked out of the benefits of development.”[1] In ‘HIV-associated dementia in the Dominican Republic: a consequence of stigma, domestic abuse and […]
Use of Telemedicine to Deliver Global Medical Care
By Nathan Douthit Telemedicine is an important developing field for global health. Its use has been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), Medecins Sans Frontieres and multiple other national health services and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Telemedicine has multiple definitions, but the one endorsed by the WHO is: “The delivery of health care services, where […]
Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Their Effect on Global Health
By Nathan Douthit According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is on the rise. The US National Institute of Health defines complementary medicine as non-mainstream, non-western practice used together with conventional medicine, whereas alternative medicine is defined as the same used instead of conventional medicine. The WHO […]
Taking Care of Vulnerable Populations as Global Health – Case Reports on Refugees and Migrants
By Nathan Douthit According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a refugee is someone who,” owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, […]
What can Global Health Case Reports do for the “Neglected Stepchild of Global Health”?
By Nathan Douthit Access to safe, affordable surgery is an essential aspect of global health. Eight million people are killed or injured every year due to inadequate availability of surgical services. Five billion are at risk due to lack of access to these services. Despite investment in surgery providing a 10:1 benefit:cost ratio for developing […]
What does it mean to celebrate International Women’s Day in health and medicine?
By Manasi Jiwrajka We look back at some of our case reports: Gender remains an important determinant of health. For example, in HIV in India: the Jogini culture , we read that female gender ensured a lifestyle that exposed the patient to HIV.1 “The patient never attended school. At menstruation, she awoke to a startling reality as […]
Back to Basics with Female Genital Mutilation
By Manasi Jiwrajka The 6th of February marks the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Last year I had the privilege to listen to Khadija Gbla at the Global Health Conference in Newcastle, Australia organised by the Australian Medical Student Association. Khadija is the voice and face of female genital mutilation (FGM) in […]