Dr Mark Hannon writes that while it is easier to focus on methods of education such as problem-based learning, some things just have to be learned by heart. Just a couple of weeks ago, the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War came and went without much fanfare – it was mentioned [...]
Alan Deeley writes about new research that concludes that rapid drug treatment of babies with HIV dramatically cuts their risk of death. Compelling new research from South Africa advocates the administration of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to HIV-positive children as soon as possible following diagnosis – a dramatic and global reassessment of infant therapy in advance [...]
Ed Madden, BL, on a recent case in which the British Medical Association challenged a decision to abolish a concession to doctors aged 65 and over. On 30 January 2008, Dr David Farrer-Brown, a registered medical practitioner, wrote to the General Medical Council in London. He was about to retire at age 60, rather than [...]
I have been running quite a number of medical communciations programmes for doctors up and down the country. No matter where we find ourselves, the same concerns keep cropping up. Patients are as different in their make-up as snowflakes (just thought I’d throw in a festive reference for effect) and they present with complaints that [...]
Dr Garett FitzGerald reports on some strange medical ailments going on last week throughout Munster, after the province’s rugby team almost beat the All Blacks in Thomond Park. There are three tombstones in Ballygunner cemetery whose inscriptions have been altered overnight. Two of them have added ‘I was there’ and one now proclaims — in [...]
Dr Kenneth McKenzie writes that the role of the medic is becoming increasingly more complex and that medical training must reflect this. Although it always seems foolhardy to try to predict the healthcare landscape, it seems very unlikely that the role of the medic will not become increasingly more complex. Traditionally, clinical excellence was the [...]
The health sector needs to take advantage of the opportunities presented by ICT in order to improve both efficiency and the quality of care for patients. Among the largest barriers to technology integration in the health sector today are tight budgets and perceived high costs, according to Gerard Hurl, Chairman of the Health Informatics Society [...]
Terence Cosgrave says that to effect reform in the health service, we must consign past allegiances to history. It’s not hyperbole or exaggeration to state that the world is going through extraordinary times. The international financial crisis has already had one major effect — it helped elect the first black president of the United States. [...]
Dr Illona Duffy writes that if doctors are willing to stand by and watch the downgrading of safe, local hospitals, then they must also be prepared to accept the consequences. I had a lovely ‘happy clappy’ piece written. Instead of moaning, I was going to tell you all about the benefits of middle-of-the-night baby feeds, [...]
Dear Editor, Having read the article in the 14 November issue of Irish Medical Times, entitled ‘UCC’s code of practice for stem cells’. (www.imt.ie/opinion/2008/11/uccs_code_of_practice_for_stem.html), I am jolted into the question, what are they doing with MY college? They produce a poison pill, sweetened with all types of sugar coating. They speak to us from the [...]
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