Psychiatry or paediatrics? Or perhaps orthopaedics or obstetrics? Or enjoying everything so much that you choose general practice? Or instead, do you meet with that recruiter from Citibank — the one whose business card your old schoolfriend gave you last week when she took you out for dinner in a...
Who is the most powerful person in the world? The well-known (and correct) Sunday School answer [1] doesn't feature Google's selection of online lists, which largely plump for Xi Jinping (President of the People's Republic of China), though a few opt for Vladimir Putin (President of Russia). Joe Biden (President...
At first sight, some might think there should be little need for formal safeguarding within an organisation like CMF. We have limited dealings with children, and most of our adult members would not usually fit the profile of a 'vulnerable adult'. Yet according to NHS England's definition, safeguarding extends beyond...
global health & AI With many low and middle-income countries struggling to meet their Sustainable Development Goals with regard to health, the use of artificial intelligence has the potential to reduce inequalities worldwide. The Lancet considers a report by USAID examining specific cases where AI was used to provide indicators of...
The most common age of a woman having an abortion in England and Wales is 21. In 2020, 30.6 of every thousand 21-year-old women had an abortion. [1] With many students being 21 or thereabouts, a medical school year group of 270 people, 60 per cent of which will usually...
Which type of books sell best on CMF student conference bookstalls? (a clue — as you work out your answer, consider which are often the largest seminars at the same conference...) The outside observer of CMF might answer 'discussions on medical ethics', or a devotional book for doctors'. Even if these...
'Don't go there!' If the preceding article sparked that sentiment, this piece is for you. Wouldn't it be easier if the Bible allowed us to 'let it be' about gender and transgender? How can we be loving to people if we don't affirm the feelings they describe? Yet we don't take...
COVID-19 increases prevalence of anxiety and depression globally 'First global estimates of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health suggest an additional 53 million (28 per cent) cases of major depressive disorder and 76 million (26 per cent) cases of anxiety disorders were due to the pandemic.' 1This conclusion...
'I 'm sorry, I can't sign those'. So began a discussion of conscientious objection to abortion when I (Laurence) was an obstetric SHO. Often, we were presented with sets of notes where we were expected to provide a second signature on the legal form needed to authorise an abortion, and...
Only a year ago, there was no vaccine available against COVID-19. The development and rollout of such vaccines in some parts of the world has been remarkable, with some countries achieving very high rates of coverage. However you interpret Covid-related figures in the UK, it is difficult to deny that...