It took me years to get off my high horse and properly communicate with patients
When I was a medical student in the 1960s, our lecturers and tutors, all white and male, were a stone-faced mob, devoid of humour and…
Dr Craig Lilienthal
Dr Lilienthal is a GP and medicolegal adviser in Sydney, NSW.
I never mastered the fetal trumpet but have always embraced new technology – with a healthy dose of scepticism
I must respond to Dr Sue Ieraci’s question, “Why does doctor technophobia persist?”, by stating that I have always been keen to adopt new technologies,…
Trampoline torture, a vodka-toting Russian and drunk elves: Revisiting my Christmas past
“And a Merry Christmas to you Guv.” The words sounded familiar but were out of context and dripping with sarcasm. I had just arrived in…
The new court ruling that makes me wary of using AI
As a part-time scribe, medico-legal adviser and confirmed luddite, the following brings a warm glow to the cockles of my heart. Whither AI? The Supreme…
When patients stroke our ego, do we end up treating them or serving ourselves?
We all have rusted-on patients, and our interactions with them differ depending on that complex flux between what they think they want and what we…
Are doctors’ rego and indemnity fees really an extortionate rip-off?
AusDoc recently published the results of a survey designed to determine the annual running costs of being a doctor. That is, the up-front, out-of-pocket expenses,…
Why I’d support a rule restricting GPs to 25 patients a day
WARNING: This article contains disturbing ideas and will upset some readers. The British Medical Association (BMA) is recommending that British GPs increase the average length…
The medical board should ask two simple questions before forcing older doctors to undergo health checks
The Medical Board of Australia in trying to ‘retire’ incompetent/incapacitated senior doctors is going about it the wrong way. The board’s primary responsibility is to…
I don’t need the medical board to tell me when I’m too old to practise
I am a one legged, pacemaker-driven, 80-year-old GP, and I am still working three days a week in a busy, CBD practice. I also do…
I now know why antivirals can be a tough medicine to take
For those of us of a certain age, ocean cruises are a wonderful if not dangerous way to travel. My wife and I like cruising,…
