I hate to miss the opening ceremonies of European geriatric medicine conferences, with the individual interplay between this most complex of medical specialties with the national characteristics of the host […]
Month: September 2015
The BMJ Today: No cash in the attic
• Politics of desperation In the latest of his regular column, Nigel Hawkes comments on the impossible situation the NHS finds itself in: as prey to an austerity hungry government […]
Sharat Pandey: How can Jharkhand improve its maternal mortality rates?
Maternal death is defined as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, […]
Patrice Baptiste: Mental health issues among medical students
I was extremely saddened when I read the Student BMJ’s article on a survey of 1122 medical students, 343 of whom were suffering with mental health issues. Several astounding figures […]
The BMJ Today: Appraisals, carers, and cognitive enhancement
• What is appraisal good for? As big finance companies such as Accenture are reported to be scrapping formal appraisal systems for their employees, Margaret McCartney, our Glasgow based weekly […]
William Cayley: Life saving science?
This past week saw the interestingly coincident publication of a reanalysis of “Study 329” in The BMJ and an opinion piece in the New York Times, calling for more rapid dissemination of […]
Scarlett McNally: Challenging the stereotype of a surgeon
The social media campaign #ilooklikeasurgeon highlighted just how many women surgeons there are working in the UK and around the world. Posting photos of themselves with the caption, “I look […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—21 September 2015
NEJM 17 Sep 2015 Vol 373 1095 Well, here’s a paper that nearly caused me to stop breathing. It was certainly followed by a sharp intake of breath. Cheyne-Stokes breathing […]
Andy Young and Sarah Collis: The real Ebola heroes will not be getting medals
We are two of many British doctors and nurses chosen to receive a medal for providing medical care as part of the response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa […]
Richard Smith: How well are countries doing in responding to the NCD pandemic?
A pandemic of NCD (non-communicable disease) is sweeping across the world, particularly in poor countries, causing much suffering and premature death and swamping health systems. NCD (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic […]