Category: Clinical stories

Don’s heart sank when he saw the letter sitting on his desk. The envelope was of high quality, it bore a first class stamp and had a London postmark. In his experience such letters rarely brought good news. With great reluctance he opened the envelope. The note paper was thick and expensive, certainly not the sort […]

Dr Julie Smith was coming to the end of a busy family planning clinic. It had been a long day and she tired. She had discussed the merits of contraceptive pills, caps, condoms, injections, implants and coils so frequently that she feared her disenchantment with the work might become apparent to her patients, or clients […]

Scene An emergency department 50 years ago. Whilst working nervously in casualty at the City General Hospital during my first week as a doctor, I’d been completely unaware of the time but it was already one in the morning; I was tired and hungry. Seven long hours had passed since I last had anything decent […]

Utterly dejected, I collapsed into the dilapidated armchair in the corner of the room, my head in my hands, tears in my eyes, my confidence shattered. I was distraught; my mood one of total wretchedness and despair. I felt sick, my mouth was dry and my hands trembled. It was four in the morning and […]