Agriculture is intrinsic to nutrition. It is like stating the obvious—and no formal education or training is required to see the linkage. But the simplicity ends here. While “agriculture” is […]
Month: October 2013
Simon Williams: What the ASDA and Tesco “mental patient” costume tell us about misassumptions of mental health
Recently, the British supermarket chain ASDA hit the headlines for selling a controversial “mental patient” Halloween costume. Although the costume was quickly withdrawn following complaints by notable mental health charities, […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—7 October 2013
NEJM 3 Oct 2013 Vol 369 1295 The human birth canal, it has often been observed, is not particularly well designed for the passage of one baby, let alone two. […]
Suchita Shah: HIV and health in the Navajo Nation: why historical trauma matters
The dry New Mexico wind whips up a dust cloud in the distance. Alone on a highway that stretches for miles through expanses of arid desert soil, I am travelling […]
Sophie Cook: The pitfalls of consultation skills models
Have GPs become too pre-occupied with consultation skills models? According to Roger Neighbour, author of “The inner consultation” a book familiar to most generations of GPs, while consultation models are […]
Gerry Stimson: A life or death moment for tobacco policy
European Union politics occasionally produces a humiliating own goal, but few are likely to be as deadly and unethical as a proposed new approach to tobacco policy. On 8 October, […]
Richard Cook: 1984
1984 was a great year—and not just for George Orwell lovers, or for me as I embarked on my medical education. Daley Thompson won his second Olympic gold medal in […]
Tony Waterston: Chemical weapons and the health response in Palestine
The man on the flagpole in Arafat Square was no nearer the top (see previous blog) and the mood in relation to peace talks is not hopeful. But the MA […]
Desmond O’Neill: Clinical glasshouses and stones
One of the positive aspects of working in smaller hospitals in Ireland is the professional mingling that takes place in local clinical societies. Living and working in a smaller pond […]
Anna Smajdor: Should we incentivise compassion in the NHS?
In response to the details of catastrophic failures in Mid Staffordshire NHS trust, David Cameron recently suggested that nurses’ pay should be dependent on their compassion. The idea that we […]