The sixth century AD was a tumultuous period of human history. It marked the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Empires fell and new ones rose up to take their place. It was in this period that the legendary King Arthur is said to have led the defence of Britain […]
Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide but remains a little known entity to the general public. Every year, around 150,000 people in the UK develop sepsis and, of those, over 40,000 die. The incidence of sepsis in the developed world is increasing by an alarming rate of 8-13% per year. It […]
I was not always interested in Emergency Medicine. Unsurprisingly, I used to be interested in surgery. I completed my medical school education in Pakistan, and did an elective placement in surgery at a Harvard hospital whilst still a medical student. It doesn’t get any more committed than that. (more…)
The ancient Egyptian civilisation was the first of the recorded great world civilisations. Little is known about the prehistoric societies that came before Egypt but it is assumed that they were steeped in superstition and that their ability to treat disease was primitive at best and possibly non-existent. The relative stability that Egyptian society provided […]
In the first post on cardiovascular insights, Dr. Hicks looked at the structure and function of the heart, understanding atrial fibrillation and congestive cardiac failure. We return again to his helpful site, to gain a deeper understanding of heart attacks and stents, followed by pacemakers and defibrillators: (more…)
In the Spring of 2009 a new strain of influenza began to infect people in Mexico. Reports suggested that the outbreak had started in February due to farming practices at a pig farm and it was henceforth given the name ‘swine flu’. By April, cases had started to spread and were appearing in the United […]
Our lives are often frenetic both at home and at work. The last person that we look after is usually our self. If we step back and consider this for a minute, or if we look at it from the standpoint of us giving a patient advice, then our advice would be that in order […]
Working as medics we are often rushed off our feet with barely time to take a comfort break or breathe. There are competing demands on our attention from patients and colleagues as well as the endless list of ‘must-do’ tasks. So, how can we possibly find the time to re-charge our batteries? If we think […]
In my last post, I mentioned Dr Dike Drummond’s “Burnout prevention matrix”. For me this provides a great way to dissect burnout prevention by looking at strategies to reduce stress at home and work and to increase our recharge in both. In this post, I want to focus on strategies for reducing stress at work. […]
I am a doctor, a GP. I have worked in the NHS for over 20 years. I have always loved my job. Then, stress and anxiety completely crippled me. I no longer enjoyed working as a GP. In fact, I dreaded it. I was exhausted and burnt out. I am not alone in this. Over […]