Narrative medicine
Using narrative in consultations enhances understanding of patients’ experiences. Medical students and doctors use narrative skills on a daily basis. Taking a history from a patient, summarising a case for senior colleagues, and recording or reading a patient’s notes all require the construction of a …
What is the point? Finding meaning in research for the current generation of medical students
It is becoming more difficult to recruit and train clinician scientists. Although this is a multifaceted problem, I wonder if one of the root problems might be motivation. …
Psychiatry summer schools
For several years psychiatry has had difficulty in recruiting applicants. Despite there being 674 applicants for 479 places for entry into core psychiatric training in 2011, only 285 (61.7%) posts were filled.1 One way to combat this apparent lack of interest has been the introduction of psychiatry …
Burning out
Medical students are at risk, but support is available. Jane didn’t realise she was burnt out until the car crash. She was six weeks away from taking her finals and it had been a long year. She was on placement at a hospital an hour and …
Impending doom: thinking about the future
Do you know what you want to do?. “Do you know what you’re going to specialise in?” is a question I’m asked by most patients with whom I build a rapport. …
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