The story of Cinchona: from myth to medicine

Where Andes hides his cloud-wreathed crest in snow, And roots his base on burning sands below; Cinchona, fairest of Peruvian maids, To Health’s bright goddess, in the breezy glades Of Quito’s temperate plains, an alter reared, Trilled the loud hymn, the solemn prayer preferred Inaugural Dissertation upon the Cinchonas, their History, Uses and Effects, Hooker […]

What’s the ethnicity of Dr Google? SPECIALTY searches

What do the images of online doctors tell us about how doctors are portrayed in the Internet Age? What implications might this have on wider society and the medical profession itself? Hey Google! What’s my ethnicity? This post supports my poster at the 2022 Midlands Racial Equality in Medicine Conference. Twitter @MREMnetwork Learning objectives 1. […]

Google Images, M.D. (Class of 2020)

Has your perception of your profession, your colleagues or yourself changed over the the last year? Time for an unreality check. Learning objectives 1. Image search your job role/specialism 2. See what changes, if any, have occurred since last year 3. Reflect on whether these images are influencing patients and doctors Last year I wrote […]

NHStart

Thank you for downloading NHStart™. Before you start consulting, please read these instructions carefully and follow the correct patient procedures. Keep these instructions safe for future reference. Caution: If you consult your virtual doctor for long periods, take a 10 to 15 minute break every hour or so. NHStart your healthcare journey! Welcome and enter […]

‘The Doctor’ by Fildes. Part 2: Poverty and propaganda

Ring, my friend, I said you’d call Doctor Robert Day or night he’ll be there any time at all Doctor Robert Doctor Robert, The Beatles Learning objectives 1. Continue our exploration of ‘The Doctor’. 2. Reflect on how images and their use shape societal expectations. 3. Think about how the medical profession will manage […]

Feeling guilty? Jury service for doctors

You come home after a busy day at work to find a letter on the doormat. It looks important. Opening it you notice the imposing red font and realise it is a court summons and your first thought is ‘what did I do!’ Quickly you realise it’s not you who has to stand in the […]

Whatever happened to Anderson Island?

Ship’s surgeon William Anderson died in 1778 and was buried at sea. Captain James Cook decided to name the island near the burial after Anderson. Cook, however, had made an uncharacteristic error. He failed to realise that the island had already been discovered by the explorer Bering in 1728. St. Lawrence Island, as it was […]

Medical jousting and the art of uncourtly clinical criticism: A noble name for an ignoble activity

[SIGH/FROWN/ROLLING EYES/SHAKING OF HEAD DISAPPROVINGLY…] “Oh dear, you know your previous doctor should never have allowed things to get this bad. Why weren’t you referred to me sooner? What on earth were they thinking when they prescribed you this medication? They probably didn’t even send you for an x-ray. Did they even go to medical […]

The gatekeeper and the wizard: fan fiction

Wizards aren’t just characters of a mysterious nature sometimes found in Middle-Earth. They are also helpful in depicting the relationship between primary and secondary care doctors. Mathers and Hodkgin wrote such an article in 1989 and there have been a few sequels published since. Although the original paper is nearly 30 years old, it is […]

Don’t blame it on Baltasar

As The Jacksons famously said, “don’t blame it on the sunshine, don’t blame it on the moonlight, don’t blame it on good times, blame it on the boogie“. Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658), a Spanish Jesuit and philosopher would have probably agreed with the sentiment. Learning objectives 1. Introduce Baltasar Gracián to those unfamiliar to his works 2. […]