Feckless, hysterical, neurotic, sluttish: these are just some of the adjectives used to describe female patients suffering from psychological illness in the book Good General Practice, an investigation into general […]
Month: June 2015
Helen Macdonald: Discussing clot busters for stroke in the mainstream media
A recent episode of File on 4, entitled “Treating Stroke: The Doctor’s Dilemma,” discusses the latest on the only clot buster for ischaemic stroke—alteplase—and touches on broader debate that will […]
The BMJ Today: Migrant access to the NHS, shape of training, and should we call time on knee arthroscopy?
Migrant access to the NHS In their feature, Lilana Keith and Ewout van Ginneken voice strong concern over the “dehumanisation” of migrants and the potential negative impact of changes to […]
Paul Hodgkin: Is British healthcare ever corrupt?
Corruption is “the abuse of power or position to acquire a personal benefit.” For individual doctors corrupt behaviour would include ordering unnecessary tests, prescribing irrelevant medication, or performing unwarranted operations […]
Athene Donald: Learning lessons from Tim Hunt
Many years after his Nobel Prize winning discoveries in cell cycle regulation, Tim Hunt made some inappropriate and indefensible comments. It seems like the whole world wants to discuss those […]
Sioned Gwyn on sexism and women in medicine
Sir Tim Hunt, British biochemist and Nobel Laureate, had until recently enjoyed relative anonymity outside of scientific fields. Recently, at an international conference of science journalists in Seoul, he was […]
Karsten Juhl Jørgensen: Why do five recent reports on breast screening reach conflicting conclusions?
Since 2012, five collaborative efforts to quantify the benefits and harms of breast screening have been published. These are the UK Independent Review, the EUROSCREEN Working Group series (both 2012), […]
The BMJ Today: Dementia and doctors at the frontline
• Saying the “D” word The global population is rapidly ageing and, as a result, dementia is now a major concern worldwide. Robinson et al summarise current evidence and best […]
William Cayley: To doctor is to diagnose
I appreciated Richard Smith’s recent discussion of mental models—too often, I think, we simply carry on with practice as usual (or, “life as usual”) without sufficient critical attention to the […]
The BMJ Today: Global access to health services
• The WHO and World Bank have released a report showing as many as 400 million people around the world do not have access to essential health services. The report, published […]