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Opinion

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Schrödinger’s consultation

Let us imagine for a moment a consultation involving such a box, whose contents are not merely unknown, but as yet undetermined. It would perhaps be easier ... if we could look inside, although neither wants to be responsible for sealing poor
25 November 2025
4 mins read
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I have a stammer

I still have days where I come out of my clinic into the waiting and turn back around because the patient’s name is stuck in my throat and I need a minute to compose myself. But that’s my journey. I don’t choose
21 November 2025
5 mins read

Balance, Boundaries, and Burnout

Burnout. A small word with huge emotive connotations and, at times, stifling stigma. Like any health condition, it seems to me that burnout does not discriminate.
17 November 2025
4 mins read
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Making Mosaics

I have learned something crucial about the experience of being listened to and been able to talk about and reflect on the patients I find hardest to care for.
14 November 2025
7 mins read
1
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Are we no better than a pigeon?

These rookies in the California experiment were not learning listening skills but rather just a very specific interpretation of pathology slides. To some doubters particularly those in the medical field it may seem no surprise that they were doing so well...
12 November 2025
8 mins read
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The value of time

How often have you exclaimed that you ‘wish there were more hours in the day’, lamented where the ‘day has gone’, or complained about how some activity has ‘robbed you of time’ you will ‘never get back’. ...time... has value and worth.
29 October 2025
4 mins read
3

Investigating uncertainty

This has always been part of a doctor’s repertoire, although the frequency with which patients are investigated in general practice is rising, and the need to deal with large numbers of results at the end of a long working day is recognised
27 October 2025
5 mins read
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Where continuity is key: Primary care in Norway

Patients know their doctor well, benefit from consistency of approach and are understanding if they have to wait slightly longer ... knowing from years of experience that their GP is there for them. This feels like a more traditional primary care model,
20 October 2025
4 mins read

Ketamine: When the Party’s Over

Ketamine, once a niche party drug, is at the centre of a public health crisis. Paul McNamara and Megan Glover argue that we have an opportunity — and a responsibility — to improve awareness, reduce harm, and protect young people from the
17 October 2025
4 mins read

The Consciousness Conundrum

We are embedded in the world, which is shaped by our actions and interactions. Consciousness is not an isolated process but situated within and dependent upon our physical and social environment.
16 October 2025
3 mins read
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Rebuilding the relational core of general practice

General practice is a complex intervention that rests on core relational practice, and is built on continuity, contextual knowledge, and professional competence.  As continuity is disrupted by fragmented care and workload pressures, the relationships that sustain trust become harder to maintain.
15 October 2025
5 mins read

Tackling the problem of quality in peer review

"Peer review remains central to maintaining quality and standards in scientific research. Despite its vital gatekeeping role in academic publishing, peer review itself has only recently become the subject of serious scrutiny, with growing efforts to guide its ethical practice. Less attention,
9 October 2025
3 mins read
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Are we judging GP registrars on their outfits?

Professionalism may not be a discrete domain on the mark scheme, yet it shapes how registrars are assessed, creating a standard that remains open to personal interpretation. And when that interpretation is shaped by assumptions about religion, culture, gender, or identity, attire
8 October 2025
3 mins read
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The anxiety engine

...there’s often this powerful driver behind our consultations that pushes people to present to us, maybe in words that are too frightening to say out loud, maybe in a nebulous wordless sense of angst... Tim Senior examines the anxiety engine.
6 October 2025
2 mins read
1
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Complexity, demand, and those little white spots

Any system for managing seasonal illness makes certain assumptions, primarily that we are dealing with a seasonal illness rather than something superficially similar but more serious. What are we to do, then, in the face of such uncertainty, especially when general practice
1 October 2025
5 mins read

It’s not the antidepressants, it’s the keys

That’s not to dismiss the value of treatment, but to acknowledge that in some lives, the most potent prescription we can help facilitate isn’t 20 mg of citalopram — it’s a tenancy agreement.
19 September 2025
3 mins read
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