Contents: July 2005

Editorials

Nationally assessed
Earlier this year, a General Medical Council conference debated national assessments to ensure consistency in standards between medical schools. Katie Fletcher argues gainst this

Female sexual dysfunction
Ozge Tuncalp and Susan Richman discuss the medicalisation of sexual arousal in women

Outbreak in Angola
Chibuzo Odigwe and Daniel G Bausch give an overview of Marburg haemorrhagic fever and its latest outbreak in Angola

News

Global appeal to focus on neglected diseases

Medics worldwide: news and opportunities from the IFMSA

News Bites

News Bites (cont.)

Education

The ultimate polymeal

An umbilical defect

Common skin infections in children: Folliculitis and herpes
In the fourth part of our series about common skin infections in children, Michael J Sladden and Graham A Johnston review folliculitis and herpes

Sterilisation of young, competent, and childless adults
Is it ethical to sterilise a young woman who is determined she never wants children, even if there are no strong medical reasons to avoid pregnancy? Piers Benn and Martin Lupton discuss

"ABC of preterm birth: Respiratory complications of preterm birth

First aid: fractures
In the fifth part of our series, Martin Roth and colleagues explain the classification of fractures and give some basic advice about managing them in a first aid setting

10 Minute consultation: Bell's palsy

Puzzle: Aortic regurgitation

Careers

Negative perspectives
Do medical students have a negative view of the profession? Tiago Villanueva and Irina Haivas talk to students from different countries

Reality check
Shivanthi Sathanandan has realised that being a doctor in real life is a far cry from that presented on television

15 minute interview: Branded
For the past two decades she has rarely been off our screens. A former nurse, in recent years she has swapped a life as a stand up comic for domestic bliss bringing up her two preschool children. Peter Cross talked to Jo Brand

The advice zone

Papers

Paper plus: Colorectal surgery in northern Europe: survey of practice
Rhona MacDonald takes you through a short report and encourages you to question everything

Life

Brutal brucellosis
Philip MacMillan took part in a research project in Tanzania funded by the UK government's Department for International Development. He shares his experiences

Medicine beyond frontiers
We quickly become immune to the images of poverty and violence that bombard us throught he media every day. Noor Kadhim asks us to think a little deeper about the plight of medical students in Iraq

Making poverty history
You've probably seen people sporting the white wrist bands, heard rock stars' pleas for trade justice, and spotted the banners advocating the Make Poverty History campaign. So what's it all about? Rhona MacDonald explains

Cover up
Muslim women may wish to work while wearing a hijab or even a full facial veil. How can governments and hospitals avoid religious discrimination while ensuring that patients receive effectively communicated care? Karen Hebert discusses

The marketing of a disease: female sexual dysfunction
The pharmaceutical industry's dreams of making large profits from treating female sexual dysfunction are starting to look like premature speculation, says Ray Moynihan

Guerillas in the midst
Peace has long been elusive to Nepal. More than 11'000 lives have been lost during nine years of Maoist insurgency. Since the king seized power in first of February this year, the freedom of people has been severely restricted, including the right to health, say Khagendra Dahal and Kaushal Raj Pandey