It may seem like the junior doctors are being battered and harried as a group by events, but they are probably enjoying a renewed sense of confidence and optimism. The secret lies in the phrase ‘in a group.’ When people feel united against a common foe, a sense of common purpose and ‘us against them’ can […]
Read More… from Why the Junior Doctors’ strike will boost mental health now but cause problems later
One of the biggest challenges facing us in modern surgery is how to take tomorrow’s surgeons from relative novices to the expert that you and I would wish to have repair a vital organ. There was a time not so long ago when young surgeons practised their embryonic skills on patients in the middle of […]
Read More… from Through the keyhole – improving surgical skills
The Yemen is an ancient and tribal country situated at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It was originally known as Arabia Felix, or ‘Fortunate Arabia’, but 50 years ago it was a divided country. The northern part, with its capital at Sana, was ruled by an Imam, who although having some religious function, […]
Read More… from A ground-breaking elective in the Yemen – over 50 years ago.
SHO medic Omar Hafeez-Bore is director/producer and founder of Short Sharp Productions. His honest, chatty one minute films capture the thoughts and opinions of young UK doctors and nurses. [youtube id=”8xOK7hXG8Jg” width=”750″ height=”422″ position=”left”] Click here to watch Dear Doctor’s Diary: Gut Feeling or Dear Doctor’s Diary: Certifying a Death […]
My patient starts to cry. Tears roll down her cheeks as she tells me how years of being obese, then bariatric surgery, with very successful results, had left her with one more unexpected problem. Well, two actually. Droopy breasts. With the massive reduction in subcutaneous and mammory fat, loss of skin elasticity, and excess skin, […]
Read More… from I’m a Reality TV doc – and I’m not embarrassed
Is there a doctor on board? Before I became a medical student it was these words I imagined would one day summon me to perform some heroic life-saving act. I thought it would be me who would dash to the front of a plane, and undertake a daring procedure, never before tried outside the confines […]
Could somebody please just tell me what’s going on? As we speak, in the hallowed halls of medical schools up and down the country, almost every scrap of traditional didactic delivery is being ‘innovated’ out of the curriculum and medical education is dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty first century. Teaching is being stripped down […]
Read More… from Virtual medical school? I’d rather have some real teaching
Last month I saw a six-year old girl when I was on call. She was recovering from chicken pox when she become unsteady on her feet and clumsy. She was suffering from cerebellitis – inflammation of the lower part of the brain that controls coordination. This happens to some previously well children as a result of […]
The Chicken Pox vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective, but based on the last review of the evidence in 2009, it was found not to be cost-effective for use in the NHS. It is not routinely offered to children or adults in the UK but is recommended for healthcare workers and at risk laboratory staff (who […]
Ah, that feeling of headaches, high temperature, a rapid heart-rate and disorientation. All signs telling us that it’s probably time to pop down to the doctor and grab some antibiotics to help cure us of whatever infection may have got through our immune defences. But, what if we couldn’t do this? What if upon contracting […]