• Private practice is unethical—and doctors should give it up Consultant cardiologist John Dean talks frankly about why he could not go on with his private medical practice. “No matter how […]
Month: May 2015
The aftermath of Nepal’s earthquake—health sector response
The massive earthquake on 25 April has already claimed over 7000 lives across several districts in Nepal. Many villages have been completely flattened, while some are left with only a […]
Jocalyn Clark: More on predatory journals—a bad dream turning into a nightmare
In a sort of karmic backlash, predatory publishers seem to be redoubling their efforts since my last blog on predatory journals to swamp my inbox with pesky emails promising quick publication […]
David Payne: Top nurses with a tamed Hound
Spare a thought for the comedian asked to host a professional awards ceremony within a week of the UK general election. Oliver Reed lookalike Rufus Hound (pictured) showed all the signs […]
Nepal’s earthquake, depression in EastEnders, running away from rugby balls, and bad language
• “We were on the fifth floor of the Yellow Pagoda Hotel discussing radiotherapy for lung cancer at about noon on Saturday 25 April when suddenly the floor lurched and we […]
Alex Langford: Doctors should try to be politicians
In psychiatry we’re taught to consider our patients in “biopsychosocial” terms. This is useful, but the term has become a bit of cliché. If I mention it when teaching medical […]
Richard Lehman’s weekly journal review—5 May 2015
NEJM 30 April 2015 Vol 372 1684 “Virtual Visits—Confronting the Challenges of Telemedicine” is a Perspective piece which starts full of optimism about the potential of telemedicine and then switches […]
Allison Trimble: A new relationship with patients and the community?
There are welcome signs that policy makers and NHS leaders are becoming more open to exploring how health professionals could work more collaboratively with patients as leaders—and support patients to […]
Richard Smith: Australians fire an editor of the MJA for the fourth time
The Australian Medical Publishing Company (AMPCo), a creature of the Australian Medical Association, has just fired another editor of the Medical Journal Australia; that’s at least four (and probably more) […]
Toby Shipway: Ticking away
It is surprising how young some patients in the Northern Territory, Australia, present with medical conditions that are traditionally the preserve of older patients. I am sitting in a clinic […]