Contents: July 2006

Editorials

Digesting journals
Does reading medical journals sound boring and geeky? Tiago Villaneuva and Balaji Ravichandran explain why they think starting to read medical journals while you are at medical school is invaluable

Life without COX 2 inhibitors
Doctors need to broaden their approach to pain in older patients because cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors have the potential to affect the heart, argue Allen F Shaughnessy and Andrea E Gordon

News

newsbites

Medics worldwide: news and opportunities from the IFMSA

Education

Say Aa:Why pharmacogenetics is something worth talking about
The role of genetic variation in medicine is a surprisingly simple concept, and something you consider every time you see a patient, say John-Joe Reilly and John D Blakey

ABCof wound healing : Traumatic & surgical wounds
A 19 year old man presented to the accident and emergency department with acute onset inability to swallow and a feeling of a lump in his throat after having a meal. On examination he was distressed and was drooling saliva. The patient showed marked dysphagia when asked to take sips of water.

Doctors and alcohol misuse
There is no conclusive evidence to show that doctors drink more alcohol than anyone else, but alcohol misuse in this profession is a risk to patients. Ian Harwood and Stephen Stansfeld discuss the public myth and the medical reality

From medical student to junior doctor: The “difficult patient”
Tough patients can cause doctors distress and can take up considerable amounts of time. Geoffrey Robinson and colleagues give advice on how to recognise and deal with these patients

An unusual renal mass
A woman aged 52, otherwise fit and well, was admitted as an emergency with the history of a sudden onset constant back pain on the right hand side, for the past four hours.

Stethoscopes—now look hear
Ultrasound stethoscopy will revolutionise the art of bedside diagnosis. Manique Wijesinghe describes the invention and development of the stethoscope and the importance of this new technology

Careers

Oral medicine
This fascinating field combines aspects of medicine and dentistry, as Philip Atkin explains

The crown jewel of medical school
Your elective could be the most exciting part of your time at medical school. Earim Chaudry and Aeisha Aslam explain why and how to organise one

Medical education: at what cost?
Throughout the world medical education has become increasingly expensive. Vijaya Raj Bhatt considers the repercussions for students as well as public health

Acting up
Heather Battenis a drama student at the Poor School in London. In the November 2005 obstetrics and gynaecology objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) she played the part of a 30 year old women with an abnormal smear and a pregnant 25 year old whose membranes had ruptured at 22 weeks, as Sabreena Malik found out.

Book club
Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine¹ is one of the leading textbooks on internal medicine at the undergraduate level. Parveen Kumar, a consultant gastroenterologist and professor of clinical medical education, is one of the minds behind the genesis of the book. Joseph Ward catches up with her

Acronyms soup
Can’t tell your SSC from the GMC? Deborah Cohen explains some acronyms commonly used in the UK health system

One more to go
Students applying to study medicine in the United Kingdom in 2007 have an extra hurdle to clear. The UK clinical aptitude test assesses characteristics of suitability for a medical career, as John Bonner explains

Papers

Pre-medicine summer school for pupils from underprivileged backgrounds: action research study
Nick Dunn takes you through a study about trying to motivate school pupils to apply to medical school by sending them to summer school

Life

Bad Medicine
Trade in counterfeit drugs is a growing but illegal business worth billions of pounds a year. Jihène El Kafsi and Peter Raven examine some of the implications

Undergraduate medicine in Prague
Traditional didactic methods of teaching, like those still used in Prague, provide a solid foundation for the clinical years, thinks Jonathan Menon

The fashion doctor