Opening the doors to lost worlds: me and my dementia patients
A familiar lone figure waits directly behind the security doors of the geriatric ward. There in his mint green pyjamas and long plaid overcoat he…
Tag: Doctor stories
Naked moonlight bathing: Why do intelligent patients choose mumbo-jumbo ‘cures’ over science?
Patients who don’t believe in science puzzle me. I was reminded of one recently, after Dr Pam Rachootin wrote about being tired of patients harbouring…
‘Guess the script I’ve run out of’ — the essential GP skill that’s neglected in CPD
Mind-reading, although never formally taught in medical school, and a completely neglected topic in CPD, is an absolutely essential skill for GPs. My patient sat…
‘A troubled and eccentric GP with a profound vision’: The story that has stayed with me for over 50 years
There are many books that have influenced my life, starting with the Famous Five series and then the New English Bible. But during my time…
Peering at the screen I was sure I could see metastases: When the doctor becomes the patient
Most of us have spent some time on the other side of the doctor’s desk. We have sat anxiously or hopefully or awkwardly with our…
I’m a doctor with hearing loss: Here’s my story…
How do I begin to explain how it feels to grieve the loss of something intangible? I remember that first moment in the waiting room,…
Physician registrar on his four open-heart surgeries: ‘It’s the scenic route through training’
Dr Geoff Lester was refereeing a basketball game when the chest pain and dizziness hit. As a healthy 24-year-old, about to finish an economics degree,…
The tribulations of a hair-challenged doctor
If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they cure male pattern baldness? It’s not easy being bald. In winter, you freeze;…
Aussie doctor held hostage by al-Qaeda for seven years finally tells his story
Despite its intense drama, the plight of Dr Ken Elliott’s life is not well-known. Last year, he was released from seven years of captivity, having…
I’m sitting on a cardiac time bomb — and that’s not the end of my tale of woe
In the Alan Bennett play, The History Boys, a teacher asks one of his students, a North Country lad, why he doesn’t like studying history. “History?”…
