Why do some doctors write poems? I asked this once in a BMJ book review of poetry by doctors. 12 years on, gamekeeper-turned-poacher, it’s still Miroslav Holub’s answer I like […]
Guest writers
Magdalena Kincaid: Surgical training in Palestine
December 2009 heralded an unexpected start for a surgical course. Our family holiday in Jerusalem and the West Bank was predictable enough: visit the Old City, and to the children’s […]
Natalie Blencowe and Jane Blazeby: Core outcomes for surgical procedures
“Emergency surgery patients must have higher priority in NHS hospitals.” So say the new standards from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which highlight the wide range of complication […]
Ann McPherson: I should have been able to choose to die
The well known general practitioner and outstanding communicator Ann McPherson died on 28 May 2011 from pancreatic cancer. She is celebrated for her books for patients, including The Diary of […]
Richard Feinmann on winning a BMJ Group award
I suppose I could be accused of banging on too much about doctors volunteering at the end of their career. But now I have another reason. At my age, I […]
Des O’Neill: Death and transfiguration
Death, suffering, and the after life – what a way to finish a geriatric medicine congress! I had at first viewed the invitation to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concert as […]
Rebecca Robinson on being an athlete and sports and exercise medicine registrar
It seemed like the perfect match: combining my dream job as a new registrar in sports and exercise medicine, with plans to develop my competitive career in international athletics. In […]
Sarah Welsh: Giving birth in art
Why is the subject of birth rarely engaged with in contemporary art? This is what Birth Rite’s collection “Birth in Contemporary Art,” questioned at a symposium on 11 June. Held […]
Sarah Walpole: It only takes health professionals to do nothing for bad things to happen
The key strategic challenges facing health services across the globe are to meet changing needs and expectations, improve quality of care, and work within financial, resource related, and environmental limits. […]
Sandra Lako: World Malaria Day in Sierra Leone
World Malaria Day was this week and unfortunately, although a preventable disease, malaria still kills many people in the developing world. At the children’s hospital I work at, we see […]