Last Wednesday was the launch of the Declaration on Mental Health Research. This initiative is aimed at drawing attention to the imbalance of resources devoted to research on mental illnesses […]
Guest writers
Vidhya Alakeson on the US Finance Committee bill
Few people outside of Washington have heard of Olympia Snowe, the senator from Maine. But on Tuesday, she became the most important person in healthcare reform. Her vote in the […]
Louise Kenny: Flying solo
After the blow to my confidence last week with obstetrics patients, I have developed a healthy fear of the uterus and have understandably been reluctant to see ante-natal, labouring, or […]
Sheila McLean on advance directives and the case of Kerrie Wooltorton
The inquest into the death of Kerrie Wooltorton in 2007 has focused some media attention on advance decisions (directives), or so-called ‘living wills’. While undoubtedly a tragic case, however, it […]
Louise Kenny’s longest night
Before I arrived here, I was concerned about quite how bad my first on-call could be given the new environment, the language, and the vastly different presentations that I could […]
Tejshri Shah on scrapping healthcare fees in developing countries
A group of doctors warned last week that if climate change is not effectively tackled we all face a health catastrophe. What they did not say is that the catastrophe […]
Oscar Yang: A Sino-Kiwi in Scotland
So finally, when dusk fades into darkness, I sit down at my computer to type my first BMJ blog entry. I’m sitting at the warmly-lit dinner table in my second floor apartment […]
Joe Collier: A drink for Mr Teetotaller?
Two things are certain. First, I am a teetotaller. Second, UK society (in common with society in Europe generally) is awash with the influence of alcohol. If ever there were […]
Louise Kenny: It’s a mystery
One of the most exciting aspects of working here is the opportunity to have a good rummage among the rarities of diagnoses that I learnt about for the MRCP. There […]
Douglas Noble: Tales of patient safety from the frontline for junior doctors: incident reporting
The NHS has so far accumulated almost 3 million incident reports, well on the way to being as tall as the British Telecom Tower if they were all piled up one […]