Two weeks ago I spent 90 minutes in a goldfish bowl with about 30 GPs. The goldfish bowl is a process to encourage reflection, and it certainly caused me to […]
Columnists
Tiago Villanueva: My early thoughts on professional development after vocational training
One of the purposes of vocational training is to develop good professional development habits and skills that will hopefully be sustained and honed throughout the rest of a doctor’s professional […]
Richard Smith: A short history of patient power
I urge you to read Michael Millenson’s article on “Spock, Feminists, and the Fight for Participatory Medicine: a History.” It’s a fascinating and very readable account of how patient power […]
Martin McShane: Thought for the day
I enjoy Rabbi Lionel Blue’s thought for the day and one I caught recently seemed pertinent to the turmoil which the NHS is going through. He started his talk with, […]
Liz Wager: How should editors respond to plagiarism?
Gross plagiarism is easy to spot and most people agree it’s wrong, so it’s relatively easy to deal with. But while stealing somebody else’s paper and pretending it’s your own […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Internal conflict of interest bias?
If you work as a scientist, you also volunteer as a peer reviewer in the name of collegiality and service. I review about five or six manuscripts a month from a […]
Richard Smith: Will the NHS let me die of malaria?
I’m about to spend two weeks in Nigeria and need antimalarial tablets, but it seems that the NHS cannot help me. If I come back with malaria, no doubt it […]
Richard Smith: More on the United Nations meeting on NCDs
In September the United Nations will hold a high level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This is only the second such meeting that the UN […]
David Kerr: The mystery shopper
Working in supermarkets over the summer holidays can be an education for many an aspiring medical student as, to quote Henry James (and the News of the World newspaper), “all […]
Tiago Villanueva: Barbara Starfield’s legacy
Primary healthcare gurus can’t compete with the ranks of top film or sports stars in terms of global notoriety, but Barbara Starfield, who died earlier this month in California aged 78, was one […]