Sir John Grimley Evans, Grimley to all who knew him, died unexpectedly on 26 March 2018, and Oxford’s Green-Templeton College, previously Green College, of which he was an emeritus fellow, […]
Columnists
Richard Smith: A cholera epidemic
Most doctors in high income countries have never seen a case of cholera, but if they were to spend a day in the hospital of the icddr,b (formerly known as the […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . The geniousness of Doug Altman
As the whole world knows, Doug Altman died this week. The news provoked a Twitter storm of large proportions, over 200 messages in five days, plus innumerable retweets. The significant […]
Richard Smith: The case for medical nihilism and “gentle medicine”
Most practising doctors are instinctive medical nihilists, argues Richard Smith […]
Neville Goodman’s metaphor watch: Uncommon words
There are some words that I keep having to look up. They are not common words, and in the intervals before seeing them again I forget what they mean. It […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Verbalization
A few weeks ago I listed seven method of creating neologisms, or neologizing. The word “neologize” was itself a neologism in the early part of the 19th century, and it […]
Peter Brindley: You’re going to die, why not live?
Several months ago, I committed to “just slow down,” to reduce computer worship, and to be more present and thoughtful. Well, the report card is in: moderate effort; minimal progress; see […]
Julian Sheather: Medicine, trauma, and sexual violence—healing the wounds of war
The shadows fall early in the crumpled hills surrounding Sarajevo. It is 25 years since UN intervention finally brought the war here to a close. In May I was invited […]
Kieran Walsh: The case against medical education
Bryan Caplan is an American economist and author of a popular new book—The Case against Education. He thinks that much of our education system is a waste of time and […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . The –ize have it
While we are talking about differences between British and American English, let me ask you this: when you discuss mixed function oxidases, now known as CYPs, as I’m sure all […]