Has a patient asked you to ‘bend the rules’? Here’s some guidance on unreasonable requests
“Jake seemed quite distressed during the appointment. I provided him with referrals, as I was worried about the knee mass and did not want to…
Tag: Views
If junior doctors are ‘marshmallows’, what kind of lollies are the rest of us?
Have you heard about the leaked email? Oops! A medical administration staff member laments that current junior medical staff are “clinical marshmallows” for objecting to…
Gender fluidity is this generation’s gift to sexuality: My take as the local gender GP
Thirteen years ago, when I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed GP registrar, I saw for the first time a patient who declared at the start of…
We are not so soft: The hard realities of being a ‘marshmallow’ doctor
There has been recent interest in junior doctor wellbeing following derogatory comments made by administration staff at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital. Many of my friends…
Many GPs try to avoid running into patients outside of work — I’m the opposite
I’ve just learned an amazing strategy for dealing with the desires of a five-year-old child when out shopping. If he spies something that he wants,…
Antidepressant withdrawal or depression relapse? Here’s what I want GPs to know
There is increasing evidence that antidepressant withdrawal symptoms (or ‘discontinuation’ symptoms) are common and can be severe and long-lasting. Yet in the past, these symptoms…
The media horror stories about spinal cord stimulators risk denying my patients a better life
Pain medicine is what I do every day. The art of pain management is difficult, and the journey is long. When it comes to spinal…
Do NSW psychiatrists deserve a 25% pay rise? Here’s my take as an emergency doctor
Watching from afar, the new US regime’s changes to the management of healthcare, superimposed on an already dysfunctional system, elicit a sense of foreboding. The…
My first year of medical school was sudden death — an era of big egos and elitism
Recently, I was given a copy of a paper, published in the Australasian Annals of Medicine in November 1962, entitled ‘The Art of Medicine’. It…
Has a patient asked to record a consultation? It’s worth thinking twice before saying no
Ever been faced with a patient asking if they can record the consultation, or suspected that a patient is recording covertly? Recording healthcare consultations is…
