To watch this interview, please follow this link Hello, I’m Domhnall MacAuley and welcome to this BMJ Leader conversation. Today I’m talking to Roger Kline. There’s something you say on your website that caught my imagination – that you are a disruptive innovator. So, my question is, can you be a disruptive innovator and a leader at the same time? Roger Kline: Yes, but it’s hard work and it carries risks with it. And, over the years, I’ve slowly learned how to how to duck and dive, when to step back and step sideways, but never lose your principles. And sometimes, there is a time to hold fire ..read more

“We’re so lucky to have these wonderful trainees,” I would often hear from my fellow GP educators. I would say it too. And indeed, we did feel lucky to have these brilliant, passionate, clever trainees who would breeze through their exams without needing any additional support, intrigue us with their thoughtful reflections and challenge us with their insights. And there was more – they would win prizes, participate in ground-breaking research, and go on to positions of leadership. And we were lucky that their hospital trusts released them every single week to attend their half day release, ter ..read more

Differential Attainment Many medical educators ‘have been’ and ‘remain’ challenged by the concept of Differential Attainment (DA). The term DA describes a variation in levels of educational achievement that occurs between different demographic groups undertaking the same assessments. But this is not limited to medical education, Regan De Bere et al, have shown that DA is a common characteristic of ‘professional education’. Widely reported definitions for DA include increased feelings of segregation owing to representing a ‘minority culture’ or ‘religion’; unsatisfied with the higher education ..read more

My name is Dr Priya Kumar, and I am a frontline General Practitioner (GP) who has also been part of the Slough wider team for the past 10 years. During this time, I have held a variety of roles including the primary care strategy lead, urgent care lead and more recently as the health inequalities lead.  As part of my GP vocational training in 2013, I had the opportunity to train in areas with pockets of deprivation, including Lambeth North and Elephant and Castle. Following that, I undertook a Darzi Fellowship placement in Enfield & Haringey, another deprived borough within London. Af ..read more

Why is it important to work together to involve and engage communities in research? It is very important to understand what public involvement means. It has been defined by INVOLVE, the national advisory group that supports public involvement, as “Research being carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them. The public can contribute to research in a few distinct ways: Engagement – where information and knowledge about research is shared with the public and They are involved in all stages of the research process. Most importantly, it is a two-way pro ..read more

“The way we imagine discrimination or disempowerment often is more complicated for people who are subjected to multiple forms of exclusion. The good news is that intersectionality provides us a way to see it.” Prof Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw Defining disability Given the overall sensitivity of disability policy in the UK, there are various ways of defining what a ‘disability status’ is[1]. For practical purposes, one definition is provided by the Equality Act (2010)[2], but there are very many other theoretical formulations including individuals with vulnerabilities which require support[3]. I ..read more

“There’s an ingrained societal suspicion that intentionally supporting one group hurts another. That equity is a zero sum game. In fact, when the nation targets support where it is needed most—when we create the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully—everyone wins.” The Curb Cut Effect -Angela Glover Blackwell I was delighted to be invited to write an article for this blog series as justice and fairness are pivotal values for me, around which everything else stems. I was brought up as a Sikh, which has egalitarianism at its heart. This is e ..read more

“The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge” Aristotle However, it is also possible that this action, sanctioned by Aristotle can prove advantageous for some sections of society because of the concept of social engineering, which is a form of social planning. It can be understood as –  using knowledge and resources ‘to better’ certain citizens and exclude other from benefitting in society. We have ample evidence for the impacts of social determinants of health, health inequalities, inequity, and racism, yet, we have little action that makes a difference to the lives of individuals ..read more

The climate crisis is the biggest health crisis we have ever faced, having been described as a “code red for humanity”. Given both the well-established health consequences of the climate emergency as well as the vulnerability of healthcare services to the threats of climate change itself, health institutions are well placed to advocate for change. Whilst numerous royal colleges, unions and healthcare providers have declared a climate emergency, it is not unreasonable to ponder what this means in practical terms. Some UK health institutions have also volunteered to take part in a climate health ..read more

To watch this interview, please follow this link Hello, I’m Domhnall MacAuley and welcome to this BMJ Leader conversation. Today I’m talking to James Mountford, who’s the editor of BMJ Leader, but he has many other roles. James, you’ve had a most unusual career trajectory. Tell us what you’re doing and how you got there. James Mountford:  My initial job after graduating was as a junior doctor, and then I did a spell in consulting because, although I couldn’t express it like this at the time, I was frustrated at the lack of organization and operational management, clinical leadership, lead ..read more