Sparking Up
A moment to spare, what else to do but spark up the screen, taking a deep breath of the hot smoke on offer.*
The home of general practice and family medicine
I’m running late (A poem of general practice)
I’m running late, the daily mantra of a working GP ... I’m running late, not an uncommon sight to see ... I’m running late, stuck behind a tractor on my commute ... I’m running late, the laptop has some updates to compute.
Creative writing in medical ethics – Reflections on reflective practice
Having... been ‘critiqued’ for writing in too-detached a style, I was intrigued to see how a creative writing approach would change the process of reflection. As part of a self-selected module in ethics education, I took part in a one-day course on
Believing our own tinctures
...cognitive bias sustained public faith in the medical profession long before doctors had the tools to truly alter the course of an illness. These forces did not disappear the moment that working therapeutics arrived - meaning we remain enthralled by own salves
Jean Baudrillard against the Post Office
Over 4 million people watched the first episode of Mr Bates against the Post Office when it screened on New Year’s Day. And suddenly things started to happen. David Misselbrook reflects on what this might mean for British medicine...
Lessons from Bronze Age Greece for modern practice
The links between my passion for Bronze Age Greece and working in modern-day practice have never felt tangible, until I recently took time to reflect. Look close enough and you’ll find the threads of history woven throughout medicine and, like all history,
Alone: General Practice
...while the risk of bear attacks or frostbite is substantially lower than in the popular namesake television series, GP trainees face a range of similar challenges as their TV counterparts – isolation, uncertainty, a steep learning curve, and genuine fear.
Film review: Nexus — the pandemic’s impact on the mental health of children and young people
"Nexus is a powerful, brilliantly acted film [...] about the impact of COVID-19 on young people's mental health, eating-related coping strategies, and the power of social connection. I recommend sharing it with colleagues, patients, and their families."
The general practice ‘Waste Land’
David Mummery reflects on the professional and political waste land faced by UK general practice and on 'The Waste Land' by TS Eliot
This Poem
This poem by Kathleen Wenaden is the one she doesn't want to write. It is one that 'needs to be written, deep down, lived'.
Compassion Fatigue
In this poem Kathleen Wenaden considers compassion fatigue, a topic of some importance to GPs. When faced with 'an urge for fixing, for making better', is there really 'nothing left to give'?
I Would Like to Talk About Why Life is so Unequal
In her poem, Kathleen Wenaden describes the inequality she sees in her Hackney practice. She considers too burnout and the strain of working in general practice. But is there nevertheless some positivity to be found here?
Science and compassion: but the greater of these is compassion
Around 2000 years ago St Paul taught that love for others was the most important virtue, much greater than knowledge or wealth. Here, Fraser Barratt and Scott A Murray MBE have adapted his memorable words to help inform and guide busy doctors
Thunderclap. A memoir of art and life & sudden death
This beautifully-produced, sensitive memoir and art history begins with a quote from Euripides, capturing the yearning of anyone who has been bereaved, “Come back! Even as a shadow, even as a dream”.
Three novels for planetary health
In the summer before COVID-19 it the UK, I read three works of fiction (one after another) that changed my perspective on the world and our place in it: The Wall, The World according to Anna, and The Ministry for Future
Madness and the Monarchy: Diagnosing King George III
The recent release of “Queen Charlotte”, the Bridgerton spin-off series on Netflix, has reignited interest in the illness of King George III. Whilst the series is described as ‘fiction inspired by fact,’ the story of King George leads into the wider controversial
Housing letters – the dilemma (a poem)
How many of us allow ourselves the possibility that from our vantage point as general practitioners, we may have had our focus so sharpened by years of walking alongside our patients that we might see the benefit of a letter where bland
Just one more thing (A short poem By Dr. P. Doff.)
here’s no appointments, and I’ve waited weeks, To show you my piles, and rash on my cheeks, I’ve also had chest pains, for the last year, And there’s just one more thing, now that I’m here!
Reflections on remote consulting
I am trying to patch a clinical web over your problem ...Empathetically. Communicating blind. Flushing the darkness systematically with questions ...That dredge the deep... A poem by Rebecca Quinn.
The Long Road
My love for those who could not help themselves was fuelled by passion, As medicine became my way of helping them with care and compassion.
Primary care since John Fry: a research odyssey (The Royal Society of Medicine John Fry Prize winner)
The winning submission of the Royal Society of Medicine John Fry Prize by Salwa Ahmad.
Creative long COVID: poems of lived experience
Mark Pearson and colleagues present a number of powerful poems submitted by participants of long COVID support groups exploring their experience of long COVID.
Perhaps I did: a poem
'I hoped it would be all right...' is a temptation to be resisted, leading to the final bind the researcher find him/herself in as it dawns that all is not all right.
Diagnosing Faria
Alexandre Dumas’s 19th century French novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, doesn’t usually make the list of standard medical texts but perhaps it should not be so readily dismissed. It captures the spirit of an age when medicine was undergoing a revolution...
The Milk of Dreams, Biennale Arte 2022: A Surreal Awakening
"It’s the best show we have seen in years ... " — Polyester elephants on 6 foot plinths, grotesque life-sized cloth dolls, and robotic snakes — it's the return of the Venice Biennale, reviewed by Will Norman
Tea at 4:30, with milk?
‘Yes dad, a little dash like normal.’ I never knew how to reply. Was he asking a question? Was he just making a statement, did he even want milk in it? Had he forgotten how he had his tea? I never knew
A lockdown literary festival in medicine
During the UK pandemic lockdowns of 2020–21 an online literary festival was held by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, and the talks are freely available online. Andrew Papanikitas invites readers online and back in time!
Found poetry: a creative approach to illuminate the findings of qualitative research
Found poetry is created by taking words and phrases from other sources and reframing them - the literary equivalent of a collage. Jessica Watson and Fiona Hamilton demonstrate how the approach can be applied to qualitative research to capture and share experiences
The Last King of Scotland: Using a movie to explore family medicine residents’ understanding of professionalism
Movies allow health care professionals to immerse themselves in “near-true” experiences that challenge their values and principles. Beatrice Khater and Bassem Saab discuss using The Last King of Scotland in family medicine training at the American University of Beirut
Heroes with bifocals
Ben Hoban reflects on general practice as a 'Hero's journey,' but argues that this must be reconciled with the patient narrative. Don your narrative bifocals!
Ode to my GP colleagues
Hannah Weston-Simons shares an ode to her GP colleagues
Book review: Of human kindness: What Shakespeare teaches us about empathy
David Jeffrey suggests that medical teachers will find this book a source of inspiration in encouraging students to engage in empathic relationships with patients and colleagues.
The right write rite
Are you a healthcare professional looking for a creative community of writers? Neil Wilson introduces the Society of Medical Writers
This is Going to Hurt: Reflections for medical training
Yathu Maheswaran reflects on what TV 'This is going to hurt' might teach medical trainees
TV review: This is Going to Hurt
Giles Dawnay reviews the TV adaption of Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt.
Understanding family life at the margins: Reflections on Satyajit Ray’s ‘Apu’ trilogy
John Launer reflects that Pather Panchali is a masterpiece in its own right but there are particular reasons why GPs might want to find time to watch it. Few other movies show such a profound understanding of family life among people living
Operatic reflections: Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’, #MeToo, & families in primary care.
John Launer muses on what Mozart's Magic Flute can teach us about family medicine
The Thirty-Nine Steps, peptic ulcer disease and Sick Heart River.
Today’s younger generation enjoy Harry Potter and Roald Dahl’s books. John Brooks takes us back to the days of John Buchan’s spy adventures, and tells us a little of Buchan's remarkable life and medical history.
Arts review. Clouds of Glory: Turner at the Tate Britain
The Tate Britain has re-opened! Roger Jones advises us not to miss the Turner Exhibition - maybe life's getting good again!
Film review: Bending the Arc
We might feel we have had a terrible year. Most of the world have had it much worse. Nathaniel Aspray reviews an inspirational film about the origins and early years of Partners In Health, an internationally renowned health charity.
An Address to Diagnostics in Robert Burns’ Poetry
Olivia Baker brings us a special Burns' Night report on Robbie Burns lesser known career as a medical commentator.