Last week I referred to “‘competence’ and the more recent ‘competency’”. But both of these words first appeared in English, as cited in the OED, in 1594. So in what […]
Columnists
Sian Griffiths: Is gambling a public health issue?
Public health precautionary strategies are needed at national and local level to protect populations from harm from gambling […]
Nick Hopkinson: What we talk about when we talk about privatisation
It’s indisputable that privatisation is occurring in the NHS, so where does privatisation denial come from? […]
Richard Smith: Schopenhauer, the Economist, and cancer
This morning I’ve read a disappointingly shallow account in the Economist of the attempt to cure cancer and a quote from Schopenhauer that could be sent as a letter to […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Competence
To recap: the triad of knowledge, skills, and performance is, I have suggested, a modern trivium, underpinned by a modern quadrivium—literacy, numeracy, oracy, and computeracy. In its document Working with […]
Kieran Walsh: Cardiac arrests, catholic priests, and evidence-based clinical decision support
I used to work in a hospital that was run by nuns. Priests also had a role but they were very much in second place. The main job of the […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Performance
As I discussed last week, skills and knowledge constitute the art and science of medicine. To these the General Medical Council, in the first domain in its document Working with […]
Martin McKee: Building bridges in Budapest
Dr Tedros set out his priorities on SDGs […]
Richard Smith: Science fiction stories foresee a bleak future for healthcare
The rhetoric of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the medical royal colleges, and medical researchers is that the future of healthcare is bright. Personalised medicine is coming; diseases that are […]
Sharon Roman: In good hands
What are the qualities that make for a good doctor and what can patients do if they’re missing? […]