The wild reason an orthopaedic surgeon was calling about my patient’s breast biopsy
Timing can be everything in making the diagnosis of a rare condition. It was the weekend, so my patient presented to the local hospital ED.…
Tag: Art of Medicine
Anger and resentment can fester in practices when we avoid difficult conversations
In my early 20s, I struggled with my weight. Looking back now, I can see how much of this was due to anxiety. × Welcome…
My experience has taught me that complaints shouldn’t be feared
Complaints in healthcare are serious business. Not only are patients and families increasingly likely to complain, the avenues for expressing dissatisfaction are more accessible and…
Is limiting access to healthcare the solution to doctor burnout, cost blowouts and patient harm?
Recently I’ve been considering the concept of unlimited growth. In medicine, unlimited growth is the hallmark of cancer, in which cells continue to multiply without…
Prescribed reading: 16 books that inspire doctors, chosen by you
From a book on hypertension written by two economists through to a hilarious hospital classic, doctors say books have saved them and even inspired their…
‘My spidey senses tingled’: the terror of the needle in a haystack diagnosis
One of the many terrors of general practice is the fear of missing a needle in a haystack. How do we find the potentially harmful…
No heartsink: Why GPs should encourage patients to draw up The List
Dr Marguerite Tracy wants to convince GPs that patients turning up at the consult with the dreaded list can be a positive, not heartsink, moment.…
‘Simple things are difficult to sell’: Leading UK GP on primary care’s PR failure
Professor Trish Greenhalgh’s general practice parable goes like this. The scene is Britain in the late 1990s. The patient is a first-time mother. ×…
‘General practice is an opportunity to serve’: Wisdom from an award-winning GP
Dr Christopher Hughes’ first exposure to general practice came in 1977, a placement at Greenpoint Medical Centre as part of his degree at the University…
What if Humphrey Bogart played it again as an Aussie GP?
It was a WONCA presentation unlike any other, punctuated by laughs, applause, and even a call for an encore, with not a PowerPoint slide in…
