Front cover: Mrs Esther Donovan of Bermondsey receives her medicine after handing in her prescription card at St Olave's Hospital, Rotherhithe. In 1952, the prescription charge was one shilling. Photo: Topham Picturepoint		Student BMJ July 1998 volume 6 Editorials 222 Medical ethics and law as a core subject 223 Toys and games: poorly recognised hearing hazards? 224 Violence begins at home 225 Screening for Chlamydia trachomatis News 182 Meningitis vaccination for all freshers is not justified Ethics expert calls for lethal injections to end lives New York's junior doctors work illegally long hours Israel reverses decision on nursing exams New Lyme disease vaccine given guarded approval Newcastle GP charged with murder Loss of doctors from NHS can be stemmed New medical curriculums halve student dropout rates Queen's birthday honours list Medics' cannabis use doubles in 14 years GMC rejects three year medical degree Carers ignored by the NHS, claims survey Nurses sit in medics' lectures Education 231 The first 50 years of the NHS 233 Doctors and the NHS: 50 years of influence? 234 Constantly feeling tired 237 Net.Philes 238 Coping with loss: Separation and other problems that threaten relationships Papers 241 Following up outpatients by telephone: pilot study 242 Embryonic abnormalities at medical termination of pregnancy with mifepristone and misoprostol during first trimester: observational study Life 244 STA Travel/BMA Photographic competition 246 Back to the future - experience the new NHS 249 Planning your elective - The Republic of the Gambia 250 Luxuriating in the Gambia 251 The not-so-secret diary of a medical student 252 Situation critical - Jeremy Lee-Potter interviewed 254 Making the most of life - Angela Lennox interviewed 256 Soapbox: A new path entirely - Julian Tudor Hart 256 Short story competition 256 Out there Letters 213 Medical students differ Students are forgotten in mergers Amnesty International campaigns to end torture It can't be that risky to eat out in France The real tragedy about Princess Diana's death Difference in courses are important Patients are not just a cluster of symptoms but real people Do patients test a doctor's patience? Snory story thwarts exam glory Soundings 261 Language Matters 261 Sexual history Reviews 262 The Origins of Virtue 262 The Mystery of Consciousness Personal view 263 Last on the list II Minerva 264 Editor's choice Drag yourself from the final stages of the World Cup for a minute and read your new studentBMJ! This edition is all about the other big thing happening this month - the 50th anniversary of the NHS on July 5th. To ease us gently in, Brian Edwards has written a concise and refeshing account of the NHS's history on pp 231-3. We have three very personal and contrasting accounts by doctors who write about their own experiences during 1948 (pp 246-8). Two were students at the time, and one, William Fulton, was a young GP struggling to work in a poor working class area of Glasgow. Their stories bring into focus just how much the NHS was needed, but, as Julian Tudor Hart argues on pp 256-57, the new NHS didn't include all doctors, with GPs opting out, and primary care still suffering the consequences. On pp 252-3, Hilary Bower talks to Jeremy Lee-Potter, who believes that the NHS is heading for a fall more quickly than we perhaps realise, and that this may be affecting students' education. Anna Donald suggests ways in which the medical curriculum can be expanded so that medical students can understand the very political nature of the profession they are entering (pp 233-4). To counter some of this gloom, there is Debashis Singh's heartening interview with Dr Angela Lennox (pp 254-5), a GP working in one of the poorest estates in the UK, who is making a real difference to the people's lives there. And it's not all politics this month! We have the results of the STA/BMA photo competition on pp 244-5, a full page Net.Philes (p 237), and elective reports on the Gambia (pp 249-51). If it's all too much, put your feet up, read Richard Morriss' article on constantly feeling tired (p 234-6), and then watch the Cup Final.