Contents: October 2005

Front cover (large)

Contents page (PDF)

Editorials

Biodiversity uncovered
The world is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of exploring the biodiversity of rainforests and of preserving traditional medical knowledge for developing new drugs. Nuruz Zaman and Michael Heinrich explain

Foundation programme for newly qualified doctors
Richard Hays thinks that the new UK foundation course should improve specialist training but may lack capacity

News

Hurricane Katrina: medical students and trainee doctors caught up in chaos
The devastation unleashed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita plunged many peoples' lives into chaos. The training of medical students and doctors was not spared. Douglas P Olson investigates

Medics worldwide: news and opportunities from the IFMSA
Emily Spry, International Federation of Medical Students' Associations

News Bites
News item exclusive to the web

Education

Taking a history: Conclusion and closure
In the second part of the series, Nayankumar Shah takes us from medical and surgical history to conclusion and closure

Better ways of learning
Peter Stride and Peter Scally describe a way to teach students clinical thinking skills

ABC of conflict and disaster: Weapons of mass destruction-threats and responses
Weapons of mass destruction threats and responses

Lived to tell
Philip Hendy and coauthors take us through the science behind the recent bombings in London and Egypt and analyse the emergency response provided

Cash for kidneys: right or wrong?
Crispin Hiley and coauthors look at some of the key arguments surrounding the legalisation of organ sales

A broken kidney

Careers

Senior house officers: the lost tribe?
Doing medicine used to mean a job for life, but these days many junior doctors are facing unemployment. Kaji Sritharan investigates reports of a crisis in senior house officer jobs

The 10 commandments of oral presentations 
Have you ever fallen asleep during a lecture, or felt the presentation you were attending was a waste of your time? V Raveenthiran tells you how to get that oral presentation right

Being a successful house officer

A guide to oral presentation skills
Arun Natarajan and John A Kirby provide practical advice on how to make the most out of your oral presentation

Presenting to a clinical audience 

The eminent scientist 

The advice zone

Papers

Drivers' use of mobile phones and road safety: a case- crossover study
 

Life

Go for it
Helen Gordon and Se Eun Jung explain what an IFMSA professional exchange is all about and what it takes to set up the programme in your medical school

Amazon rainforest: biodiversity and biopiracy
Klaus Morales and Tulio Vinicius investigate why biopiracy is becoming a threat to Brazilian biodiversity

Just WHO is the Clegg scholar
Learn about medical journalism: apply for the Clegg Scholarship

Techno-philic
As technology assumes an ever growing importance in health care, Douglas Olson and James L Scott discuss its impact on undergraduate medical education

Letters