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Opinion - Page 26

Every gap is an educational gap

"Recently I saw Ted and Rachel. They were living temporarily in a share house as they had recently been made homeless. Ted is a happy man despite his current circumstances, but has diabetes that is not well controlled. He takes his medication,
9 January 2026
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Heroes: general practice and Karpman’s triangle

Living in a different culture is exciting and fascinating. But living in Bahrain we do miss “culture” in its other sense. There is a magnificent National Theatre, usually empty, putting on just a few touring shows a year. The nearest opera house
5 October 2016
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STPs – plans being made about us, without us?

NHS England is in the process of implementing the Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP), which draws together Clinical Commissioning Groups, local authorities and providers to show “how local services will evolve and become sustainable over the next five years”. In each geographical
2 October 2016
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Why Slazenger’s cat explains global warming

I admit that Slazenger’s cat is a red herring, but my wife was in a rail carriage a while ago, close to a small group of friends in earnest discussion. One was trying to refer to the paradox of Schrödinger’s cat, but
19 September 2016
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Time for the old guard to join the social media fray?

The news is everywhere. I don’t mean this in the way that I might if I were a dewy-eyed aspiring journalist, seeing fascination and potential scoops in everything around me. I mean that news coverage seems to be literally everywhere; on the
15 September 2016
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Brexit and statins: a tale of scepticism

Christien Fortune is a final year medical student at The University of Manchester and has interests in cardiology and medical education. In the fabled land of post-June 23rd Britain and Northern Ireland, politics in the UK has been understandably dominated by the UK’s
7 September 2016
3 mins read

Brave New Medical World 2084

Death has been banned and we will all live forever. Hurrah! The medical profession has decreed that as long as we take all the necessary measures to avoid risk that we can live forever. Doctors through scientific research have established the major
27 July 2016
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Why have an operation if you can avoid one?

George Ampat is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon hoping to help patients find non-surgical solutions. Why have an operation if you can avoid one? It’s a simple question with an obvious answer but increasingly surgery is being used where it may not be
19 July 2016
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The merits of time off from practice

Although we would otherwise think and hope it, there remains a culture within medicine that disincentivises time off for anything, from parental leave to sabbaticals. The reasons for this are myriad, from concerns about de-skilling to the fear of the unknown and
12 July 2016
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Googling symptoms: let’s do it together

The English Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, recently sparked anger when he suggested that parents could look online to determine the severity of their child’s rash. The medical community rightly rebuffed this firmly, highlighting the potential harm that could be caused, notably through
5 May 2016
1 min read

General practice in meltdown: it’s not just funding

You can download the PDF and comment on this article in the May issue of the BJGP available at bjgp.org. General practice is in crisis. One in three training posts are empty, 10% of GP positions are unfilled and this is worsening
28 April 2016
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Hearing crackles: reflections on PACES and prejudice

Rachel Brettell is an Academic Clinical Fellow GP Trainee in the Oxford Deanery. As a GP registrar, the MRCGP Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) exam is currently at the forefront of my mind. VTS teaching focuses on how to pass, evenings are spent
15 April 2016
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Trainee notes: Life school

Aisha Yahaya is a GP ST2 with Imperial VTS who has an interest in effective communication with patients, writing and a yearly resolution to save her guitar from the dusty corner in which it sits. Increasingly, I learn more about the way of
2 March 2016
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Qualitative research and the BJGP

Kath Checkland (@khcheck) is a GP and a Professor at the University of Manchester. She is a passionate advocate of the value of qualitative research, and is a member of the BJGP editorial board. On Saturday, the British Medical Journal published an
19 February 2016
4 mins read

StarDocs: The Coffee Shop Model

Jim Pink (top) is a GP, father and songwriter with an interest in people, rather than patients. Jenny Coventry (right) is a fourth year medical student at Cardiff. In her free time she loves country walks and playing in the Cornish waves. Leo
17 February 2016
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SAPC Dangerous Idea: funding research through Kickstarter

Sarah Knowles (@dr_know) is a Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. Her interests are mental health, applied health services research and patient and public involvement and engagement. Since 2012, the Society for Academic Primary Care has run a competition at their
12 February 2016
2 mins read

Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt

Simon Morgan is a GP and medical educator from Newcastle, NSW, Australia. He spends his spare time writing and playing the ukulele. Can I take a photo? Recently, I was in Heathrow Airport when an anonymous traveller approached me and asked ‘Do
29 January 2016
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Junior doctor dispute: The politicisation of a generation

Thuvaraka Ware is a GP Registrar working in Camden. She tutors medical students at UCL in community medicine and believes primary care research will shape clinical and public health policy over the coming years. I am a junior doctor. I went through
1 December 2015
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Junior doctors’ dispute – learning from previous experience

Peter Sykes is a retired surgeon and author. His latest light hearted novel, entitled ‘First do no harm’ is set against the industrial action that beset the NHS in the 1970s. His website is www.petersykes.org. Recently junior doctors voted overwhelmingly in favour of
23 November 2015
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BJGP article on practices in special measures: CQC response

Devin Gray is a National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow and a GP trainee, interested in driving system-level change to achieve better care and outcomes for patients. This article was co-authored with Professor Nigel Sparrow OBE, Senior National GP Advisor and Responsible Officer, CQC
13 November 2015
4 mins read

Refugee medicine: time to get our act together

Rebecca Farrington first worked overseas with refugees 20 years ago for MSF.  She is now a GPwSI in refugee mental health having worked in the UK as a GP with people seeking asylum for 10 years. She combines this with a clinical
5 November 2015
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The Ten Commandments for patient-centred treatment

Richard Lehman gives some background on the BJGP article The Ten Commandments for Patient-Centred Treatment published in the October issue. The Ten Commandments for Patient-Centred Treatment had a gestation of nearly four years. And their true parent was John S Yudkin, Emeritus
20 October 2015
1 min read

BJGP Letter: A bleak future for future GPs in England

Guy Rughani is a Foundation Year 2 doctor working in North London. He wrote this short letter to the BJGP. Contribute to the BJGP at http://bjgp.org/letters. I want to be a GP, but the government is doing everything it can to stop me.
16 October 2015
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Review: An interoceptive moment with your neurobiological self

Alistair Dobbin is an honorary fellow at Edinburgh University medical school, an ex GP, a researcher and charity director. Book Review: How Do You Feel?: An Interoceptive Moment with Your Neurobiological Self by A.D. (Bud) Craig. Available at Princeton Press: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10405.html Groundbreaking scientific discovery
13 October 2015
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RCGP Conference 2015: Stephen Bergman on good patient care

Stephen Bergman is a doctor, novelist and playwright. He is currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine in Medical Humanities and Ethics at New York University Medical School. His book, The House of God, published in 1978, is firmly established in medical culture
2 October 2015
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The CSA examination: learning to be a fox again

Khalil Hassanally is a First5 GP and student of bioethics. Twitter: @asuitabledoctor Coming from an immigrant community there has always been huge pressure on not losing one’s roots. Many apocryphal tales, anecdotes and fables are told in this regard, and one in
16 September 2015
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