Few politicians in the UK would dare to argue publicly against the principle that those too ill to work deserve help from the the State. Nevertheless, in recent years, politicians have struck a chord with the public by highlighting the disincentives to work that are inherent in the UK disability benefits system. The main disincentive […]
Latest articles
New York, London, Oslo: art collections at the click of a mouse
One of the most powerful teaching tools available to educators is- for me- art. And one of the wonderful things about being a medical educator is the fact that so many of the world’s great art galleries and museums have- or are in the process of -making their collections freely available on-line. In this posting […]
Arts and humanities: a neglected aspect of education in South Asia
In this posting, Nepalese medical educator and MH Editorial Advisory Board Member, Ravi Shankar, describes the educational background of students entering medical school in South Asia. […]
Access to NHS Funded IVF: NICE if you can get it
To say that it is sometimes appropriate, even obligatory, for guidelines to be ignored will not make me any friends amongst those campaigning for more equitable access to NHS funded IVF treatment. Nevertheless, and in spite of my discomfort with the inequitable access to IVF treatment experienced by people in different parts of the UK, I’d […]
Today was a difficult day: thoughts on being useful
Today has been- to use popular management speak- challenging. Today was one of those days when, in spite of twenty-two years as a doctor, I find myself distressed at the suffering that I’ve encountered. And I’m left wondering how to find the right balance between being useful, of use to my patients, and still being […]
Medical Humanities Resources: Visual, Performed, Oral and Written Stories of Illness
One of the primary aims of this blog is to enable quicker and easier communication between the providers and users of medical humanities resources. One of the most important of these types of resources focus on the importance of the stories and experiences of those affected by illness. Sometimes the aim in recording these stories […]
American Society for Bioethics & Humanities Conference:Cleveland, USA, 23-26th October 2008
Another fantastic conference, this time for bioethicists and for the wider medical humanities community. And an open invitation to speakers and delegates at this and other medical humanities conferences and meetings:send us your papers so that your hard work can be shared with a wider audience. To submit your paper via our electronic submission system […]
Association of Medical Humanities Conference: Glasgow 7-8 July 2008
For anyone interested in the medical humanities I highly recommend this conference. Entitled “Creative space: arts, humanities and healthcare”, the conference themes include visual arts and medicine; literature and medicine; art, architecture, and design in healthcare; and medical humanities in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula. […]
Boston Medics Make Music in London: 21st -29th June 2008
Please see below details of a musical tour of London with a medical humanities flavour. Details provided by Dr Lisa M. Wong, President and Violinist Longwood Symphony Orchestra. […]
Dying to protect the NHS: a political perversion of healthcare
The title of this posting refers to a funding controversy causing outrage amongst patients, doctors, and other health care professionals in the United Kingdom: namely the decision by the government to deny free National Health Service (NHS) treatment to any patient, in England or Wales, who decides to pay for life-prolonging cancer treatment that the […]