It is fairly widely accepted that medicine is both a science and an art, that it lays claim to a rigorous evidence-based method, while recognising the impact of irreducibly human […]
Guest writers
A day in the life of an MSF doctor
This evening I am pretty tired again. January and December tend to be the busiest months for the Emergency Unit and there have been a higher percentage than normal of […]
Vidhya Alakeson on the US stimulus bill
While Tom Daschle waits another week for his confirmation as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, health reform has got underway without him in the form of the stimulus […]
William Lee on “A Short Stay In Switzerland”
Last night the BBC aired “A Short Stay in Switzerland”, a one-off drama based on the true story of a terminally ill doctor who killed herself in Zurich with the […]
Mark Clarfield on Israeli Arab patients in time of war
Someone less than familiar with Israel might wonder how during this crisis we handle Israeli Arab patients who walk around the hospital in a bright red kaffieh and use the […]
Philipp du Cros on drug resistant tuberculosis
My name is Philipp du Cros and I work in the Manson Unit of Médecins Sans Frontières UK, providing assistance to our programmes treating tuberculosis (TB). This year I have […]
Peter Lapsley opens up with closing down
I make no apology for beginning with a sad but salutary tale. Governments are charged with spending their health budgets wisely and to best advantage. The prevention of illness – […]
Ohad Oren wants to preserve the beauty of medicine
The news item was embedded in the margin of the paper. “100 Years Ago – In Our Pages,” subtitled “1908: Fraud Beauty Doctor” would have attracted the attention of anyone […]
Mark Clarfield on a hospital under rocket fire
My hospital, the main institution serving southern Israel, has come under rocket fire since the very first day of the war. As a result, there have been far reaching changes […]
Mark Clarfield at the southern Israeli front
Despite all of the problems working as a doctor in southern Israel during these trying times, life must go on. For example, I really had to get my car serviced today. So […]