On 28 April, 2008, I hit the publish button for the first time on A Country Doctor Writes. The post was called Cholesterol guidelines and the bachelor with platform shoes.

In the 12 years since then, I have hit the publish button 654 more times.

Thinking back over all those words and the years that have passed, I especially value my clinical vignettes and glimpses into other people’s way of dealing with their illnesses and circumstances.

I also notice how much I have written about what it means to be a doctor and how I have evolved in my profession during the last 40 years.