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‘To be frank with you, which you must keep to yourself, a humour has fallen into our legs and our physicians advise us not to go far in the heat of the day.’1This famous quote is from a letter...

I entered medical school at the tender age of 17 years, way back last century when the world seemed a much larger and less connected place. Sandstone universities where revered, especially by those...

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. – Confucius1My medical school educational experience was a rather structured affair. Following a lengthy science course, we moved to...

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. – Albert EinsteinCelebration!This month we proudly salute the 60th birthday of the flagship...

Feet! Not really a glamorous endeavour when I went to medical school. At best, it seemed to almost be an afterthought, something to fill in those dreaded end-of-week lectures, when everyone had...

Back in the 1980s, clinical scope of practice for general practitioners (GPs) working in local and rural hospitals was based on the deemed skill set of the individual applicant rather than the...

Looking back, there is no real surprise that I chose general practice when considering which path to take after completing my undergraduate degree. I was by nature an inquisitive soul and had a...

Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability (William Osler).1To the untrained eye, the multitude of symptoms and signs our patients reveal suggest confusion and uncertainty...

The pre-vocational pathways to general practice are many and varied, yet all include a period in hospital-based practice. During this time, trainees rotate through a variety of distinct disciplines...

Love the life you live. Live the life you love.1The clinical practice of modern medicine provides an interesting view of humanity. Each working day we are immersed in the care of our patients. We...

Despite these potentially embarrassing problems being relatively common, polite society historically delegated problems with wind, sweat, body odour and male genitals to the outer. Although we now...

I have been reflecting on the changes in clinical practice over the 30+ years since I graduated from medical school. So many interesting ideas have now become accepted wisdom. For example, as I...

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Old Testament, Jonah 1:17)Medical students are well known for...

‘The object that presented itself to the eyes of the astonished clerk, was a boy – a wonderfully fat boy – habited as a serving lad, standing upright on the mat, with his eyes closed as if in sleep...