As a result of the overuse or misuse of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistant superbugs represent an extraordinary threat to global health. This threat is particularly great in India, the world’s largest […]
Month: August 2016
Lisa Steen: The wilderness of the medically unexplained
This patient perspective essay was written by Lisa Steen. She has since died. We have permission to publish the piece from her husband, Raymond Brown. I am a GP, formerly […]
Rammya Mathew on the national childhood obesity strategy—doctors need to champion public health
I was left mortified after reading about the long awaited national childhood obesity strategy. “Underwhelming” would be the single best adjective to describe it. On reading the newspaper headlines, however, […]
Nora Hellman: Responding to an outbreak of yellow fever
Responding to an outbreak of yellow fever is not as exotic as you may imagine. What kind of exciting and interesting things do you do as an emergency response nurse […]
Rachel Thomas: The final frontier
Six weeks without gravity. Cushioned in a single white space for the duration. Air tanks, tubes, and pressure gauges surrounding me, the calendar days marking off a gentle, indistinct blur. And […]
Richard Smith: In search of scandal in Scotland
I’m on my way to Dumfries to investigate the state of the NHS in that region, and the thought of the town is making me remember when I travelled there […]
Christopher Martyn: Research round-up
Annals of Internal Medicine Mistreatment of residents in nursing homes Conditioned by reports in the media about mistreatment of residents in nursing homes, one leaps to the conclusion that it […]
Sara Martin on emotional labour
I work at a great place in the UK. We have gorgeous facilities, friendly staff, great benefits, and—most important to this American doctor—unlimited free coffee (and tea if you’re British). […]
Mary Higgins: The second victim in modern healthcare
First do no harm. It’s one of the fundamental rules, but what experienced clinician has not, at least once, done some harm? Medicine is intricate, and imperfect, with increasing number […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Cupping
Many celebrities, including Olympic athletes, such as US swimmer Michael Phelps, and actors, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston, are fashionably subjecting themselves to cupping. So, is “the silliest celebrity […]