Civilisation is fragile; only weak restraints prevent us from falling into barbarity. From 1945 until around 1980, those restraints were largely underpinned by the Enlightenment values of reason, science, and […]
Year: 2018
Rodolfo Saracci: The public health community must speak out on rising rates of migrants dying at sea
Migrants continue to drown in the Mediterranean sea attempting to reach Europe. [1] On 20 August, Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, refused authorisation for a group of 177 refugees and […]
Michael Myers: The complexity of physician suicide
Physicians take their own lives when many diverse and overwhelming forces come together all at once—a perfect storm of biopsychosocial factors. There is no one reason why a physician might […]
Richard Smith: What I learnt from brief encounters with a GP whose obituary I’ve just read
I find that at age 66 the obituary pages of The BMJ usually include each week at least one person I’ve known. Often the obituaries bring back memories, some exciting […]
Ricky Frazer: Doctor through the patient lens
From doctor to inpatient—Ricky Frazer discovered some key lessons for healthcare professionals […]
Abraar Karan: Changing the way we communicate about patients
The way we communicate can reinforce a culture in which people become another case of “X” disease […]
When patients choose wisely: empowering patients with evidence to resist low-value care
Anneliese Synnot and David Synnot A few months ago I received a text message from mum that made my heart sink: “Dad’s been diagnosed with a torn knee meniscus. We’re […]
Zackary Berger’s journal reviews—28 August 2018
This week we introduce the first of our three new columnists who will be writing our weekly research reviews […]
Rachel Clarke: Senator John McCain’s surprising lesson for doctors
McCain’s advice about communication has lessons for doctors, says Rachel Clarke […]
Victoria Crowe: Error in radiology and the danger of “20/20 vision in hindsight”
During the early stages of training in radiology there is limited independent practice and much of your work is supervised or signed off by a senior colleague prior to a […]