Category: Educational

Within a few days of qualifying as a doctor in the 60s, I found myself working overnight in the Casualty Department of a large city hospital.    These were the days before emergency medicine emerged as a specialty and had permanent medical staff.    The initial management of the most acutely ill patients was initiated by […]

I am certain that many folk reading this (well certainly the older ones amongst you) will remember the book written by Richard Gordon entitled Doctor in the House. Richard Gordon was a doctor; his name in real life being Gordon Ostler. He worked for a time as an anaesthetist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital where he […]

Dr Julie Smith was coming to the end of a busy family planning clinic. During a long and tiring day, she had discussed the merits of contraceptive pills, caps, condoms, coils, implants and surgery over and over again. She feared the disenchantment she felt might become apparent to her patients, or clients, as her boss […]

On 19 July 2010 I had been blue-lighted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, because my General Practitioner was concerned I was losing consciousness. Following triage, I was scuttled away for a scan of my brain. (See image )  Whilst I was fading into a coma, a doctor told my wife Anne that it was necessary to […]

On the evening of 7 June 2010, I was being pursued on my 1100cc Moto Guzzi Breva around Suffolk lanes by a RoSPA observer who would pass comment on my ride. However, events shifted because I blacked out whilst approaching a tight left-hand bend, hit a grass verge, and flew with serene motocross elegance into a […]

Recently, I had the unhappy experience of being curled up in the foetal position with my bottom overhanging the edge of the examination couch, whilst the urologist thrust his chunky finger up my anus! Actually, it wasn’t the only price I had to pay for developing the problem that is so common in gentlemen of […]

When I was a child, our next door neighbours were Greg and Mary Stratton. They had a daughter called Heidi who was much the same age as I. Neither of us had brothers or sisters and as a result we spent a lot of time playing together, becoming great friends. Our parents were friends too […]

Maisie and Michael Simpson were ten year old twins. Both were good looking kids but there the similarity ended. Michael was bright, always near the top of the class, getting good reports at school. He was also a promising athlete and sportsman. He played for the school teams at football and cricket and as a result […]

Hans Schmidt had lived all his life in the village of Tutzing, on the shores of Lake Starnberg, in Southern Germany. At the age of 21, he had married his childhood sweetheart, Gerda, and opened a small bakery, supplying bread and cakes to the local community. When his working days were over, the couple had […]

The patient was a lad of about 19 years who was clearly drunk.  He was quite unable to give an account of himself but his mates said that he had fallen down some steps on his way home from one of the nightclubs in the city centre. Inexperienced as I was, it was obvious from the […]