For the thirteenth year running I have been involved in an induction programme for surgical trainees starting their...
Education
Realigning our priorities
Five people, strangers, met one sunny Friday in early September. They had not met previously, but had come together...
Relinquishing our obsession with technology.
A recent piece in the BMJ Opinion on 4 May highlighted the concept of “Covid Fatigue” among both patient facing...
Re-educating: it is not a war
This week we are picking up on the similarities that exist in professionals who work with the public, specially between healthcare professionals and teachers. A recent article from Australia claims that teachers are more burned out than any other profession and we...
Re-verbalising:The language of feedback
I had just completed a three hour workshop for medical students on feedback and reflection. The context for the workshops was contentious; the students were suspicious of the motivation of the school leadership for mandating these sessions. I was merely the...
Re-constituting: Humanity vs. Professionalism
He was furious. His face taut, great gaunt lines etched at the sides, his eyes hooded and wary, a pulse visible in his neck. He was leaning forward, almost begging and his eyes like flint, hard and cold and angled, as though to look at her directly would give away the...
Re-calculating: boundaries
When we work with others, and our work involves caring for and about them, how far is too far? When we need to walk in someone else’s shoes, in order to support them to make the best choices they can, how do we avoid slipping into those shoes too? How do we preserve...
Re-negotiating what we do in one little word
I had three deliveries last week. A USB stick, for work. A pair of shoes for a party. A wheelbarrow full of manure for the garden. The USB came through the letterbox and landed on the mat, and escaped being eaten by the dog. The shoes arrived when I was out and were...
Re-levelling the hierarchy
Do you remember....... Three little words, but three words that can strike fear into even the most experienced of clinicians. Do remember that patient you sent home? Do you remember that patient you referred to me? Do you remember that patient you operated...
Remonstrating: where teaching and medicine collide
Steven was six feet and five inches tall, with arms and legs like spaghetti. He came to my class as a fifteen year old, having been removed from his mother to live with his father and his new wife. Steven had moved over 500 miles to do so and spoke with a different...