I read with some discrimination but across genres, eras, platforms, and quality.   Writers need to be readers, to understand the cadence of language and the underpinnings of syntax. It helps if writers love reading rather than embrace it reluctantly because they mainly want to write, or rather to publish.  Reading the work of authors on the art of writing gives me others’ insights into what can be a lonely pursuit – I enjoy writing collaboratively when possible.  Collective authorship, however, can be a challenge.  In The Innocent Reader: Reflectio ..read more

The medical apprentice was a familiar figure in in the UK in the 18th century: hundreds of young men voluntarily attending lectures, dissections and bedside/shop-based teaching. Surgeons and apothecaries trained by apprenticeship and received some payment depending on the work they provided.  The higher socially ranked physicians had a university degree, and some graduated without ever having examined a patient. They could charge their ‘apprentices’ for the privilege of their mentorship. Physicians, surgeons and apothecaries argued over what today we would call their scopes of p ..read more

The act of dying is an event all humans face: it may take time or be over quickly without warning.  Many health professionals have intimate experiences of others’ deaths, and many remember the first time they saw a patient die.   In the last few years several books have been published on dying that explore how culture, the medical gaze, medical advances and societal expectations are affecting how, when and where we die.  There is debate about what constitutes a ‘good death.’  Death and dying are the foci of much great literature.  Novels may help us ..read more

‘Treat people with kindness’[1]: possibly the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC) has been listening to the Harry Styles song on repeat.  It has updated its Good medical practice guidance, which will come into effect on 30 January 2024.  In section 23 doctors are instructed that they ‘must treat patients with kindness, courtesy and respect.’[2] Moreover, they must also ‘treat colleagues’ in the same way (section 48).   While respect has been emphasised in previous versions of the guidance, kindness is new.  It is not clear what being kind a ..read more

Reconsidering testimony and narrative as performance.  The author, Dina Nayeri, was born in Iran.  Her family, who were refugees due to her grandmother and mother’s conversion to Christianity, eventually settled in the United States.  This is a powerful book that examines how stories are told, and who decides on what is ‘truth’ and what is to be believed.  A major thread is the treatment of people entering the asylum system and their narratives of violence and fear of return to the countries they have fled.  Their testimonies are harrowing, particularly ..read more

Recent articles in the academic and lay press reported sexual misconduct by the medical profession, particularly male surgeons behaving badly to female colleagues.[1]  Such behaviour is not confined to working relationships. Inappropriate language and touching also occur in patient-professional interactions. While notifications to medical regulators may be rare,[2] many incidences including sexual assault and harassment go unreported.1 The impact on people’s views of the trustworthiness of health professionals are difficult to quantify. When doctors become patients, we gain ..read more

The health and social effects of climate change and weather events are gradually being recognised as crucial additions to health and social care professional curricula. I am writing this review as the first weeks of spring in Australia are breaking records for temperature with levels about 4 degrees C above the average. Today, 20th September, we are expecting a high of 34 degrees in Sydney, over 14 degrees above the average for the month.   It seems that collectively we humans are doing little to improve our long-term prospects in terms of carbon capture. Speculative fiction ten ..read more

There was little curriculum time for learning about research during my medical program.  Rather, in the first two years as students, we spent time carrying out experiments on tissues, the results of which were already known.  Many rats were sacrificed to help us learn laboratory techniques but nothing that seemed relevant to later practice.   We had to do a literature review in 2nd year – I don’t remember much instruction on how to do this.  Pre-internet, this involved looking through volumes in the Index Medicus with its very small writin ..read more

 Are humans fundamentally selfish or kind? That is the question posed by this ‘hopeful history’.  Brought up a Catholic, I was told that babies are born already marked by original sin.  Later, thanks to Richard Dawkins, that humans have a selfish gene and what may be perceived as altruistic behaviour is still self-serving.   In these days of seemingly endless doom and gloom, it is refreshing to read a book with a more optimistic rather than cynical message: it is human nature to be kind. Humans are social beings who have lived together mostly amicably until t ..read more

It seems to be conference season again with several major health professional education meetings taking place this mid-year.  Then again, thinking of the number of conferences across disciplines advertised globally each week and the tweets from conferences I read, probably not a day goes by without a gathering of academics and professionals meeting somewhere.  Flights criss-cross oceans carrying the learned and learners to conference centres, many of which are difficult to distinguish from one another.  The plenaries are held in gloomy windowless spaces. Collecting ins ..read more