Dr James Agapoff and Dr Anandam Hilde discuss a quality improvement project to tackle the problem of sleep deprivation in trainees. The resident’s weary eyes said it all. He was finishing a 24-hour shift of a 30-day Q3 rotation (where a 24 to 30-hour shift starts every 3rd day). As a medical student waiting for […]
Latest articles
Two plus two equals four. Well, maybe.
Philip Welsby explores the difficulties that can be faced in answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions in general practice… To my annoyance a politician was being interviewed on television. That in itself is perhaps annoying enough, but he would not answer a simple question with a simple answer. He kept on talking and had to be […]
It’s a Scottish term, d’ya ken?
In our latest blog post, Philip Welsby explores some useful Scottish vocabulary… Some of us have had the misfortune to have been born and bred in England and have had the good fortune to end up living and breeding (two out of four daughters) in Scotland, but one drawback is that we have had to […]
The Patients Behind the Hospital Numbers
Bharadwaj V. Chada reflects on the human side of patient suffering “We’d made a promise”, she began carefully after much deliberation, “that if either one of us took ill, we wouldn’t come into the hospital to visit”. Her words were heavy and loaded with emotion, belying her every instinct to come and see her husband, […]
COVID-19 fatigue in postgraduate trainees – how to protect our young doctors?
Dr Mallika Kaushal reports on the experience of postgraduate residents working across different specialties in various hospitals in New Delhi during COVID, and asks what can be done to support trainees at this time. In the annals of history of medicine, 2020 will be recounted as the year when the world faced an unprecedented, global […]
Stay focused: watch out for myocardial infarction even at the time of Covid-19
By Massimo Mapelli MD, Antonio Frappampina MD, and Piergiuseppe Agostoni MD PhD A 65-year old man presented to the emergency department with a 12-hour history of chest pain, dizziness, and nausea. ECG – as displayed by the cardiology fellow in the picture (Figure 1A) – showed an ST-elevation inferolateral myocardial infarction and the patient was […]
Beware the Trojan Horse: hidden anxieties at the end of specialty training
Dr Brendan McCann reflects upon emotions surrounding finishing specialty training It is about this time of year when many of the Royal College Final Fellowship or exit exams occur. If successful, it provides a truly momentous occasion that deserves celebration and adulation for all involved. The timing of these awards often go hand in […]
Antibody tests prior and posterior (By P Wellsby)
A friend asked about the significance of her positive Covid tests. She had suggestive symptoms and an antibody test was positive. What did this mean? False negatives may occur if you test too soon, before antibodies have developed or the test might have been faulty. Counterintuitively, the significance to her of a positive test depends […]
Successful Are Those Who Adapt; Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Pain Fellowship Training During COVID-19 Pandemic in a Developing Country
Aliya Ahmed, Robyna Irshad Khan, Shemila Abbasi, Ali Sarfraz Siddiqui, Azhar Rehman, Ausaf Khan, Tanveer Baig, Gauhar Afshan Department of Anaesthesiology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Corresponding Author Aliya AhmedDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Aga Khan University, P.O. Box 3500, Stadium Road, Karachi 74800, Pakistan.Email: aliya.ahmed@aku.edu COVID-19 pandemic caught the entire world blindsided causing dramatic changes to […]
POETIC INSIGHTS INTO PERPETUAL CHANGE
Most doctors who continue to work on the shop floor of medicine, those who deal with individual patients, often remark on the uncertainty engendered by the continual change of management techniques and structures imposed on them from on high. I was about to wax eloquent in similar vein when I reflected on some lines from […]