Cautionary Tales - Dr George Crisp

MANY of the clinical encounters that stay with you for life, not surprisingly perhaps, date back to those first impressionable years in practice.

One of these unforgettable lessons, from my GP trainee year, involved a retired couple who lived in a small out-of-town upstairs flat.

I first visited their smoke-filled living room with my supervisor soon after investigating and subsequently diagnosing Mrs Smith* with breast cancer. From the outset she was remarkably calm, composed and accepting of her illness.