Opinion

Fog's Blog

Dr Jon Fogarty

“I feed him now,” my patient said, and then paused. “I don’t think he’s sure what food is any more.” She was matter-of-fact, talking about her husband of 60 years who was now demented, cared for by her at...

6 days ago0

All someone’s daughter, someone’s son …
I have some sympathy for drug seekers. They are on a desperate, dangerous and demeaning...
1 week ago0
Slaves to chocolate
I’m thinking of forming a local chapter of CA: Chocoholics Anonymous. A safe place where...
4 weeks ago0
Easter sales
It’s not a good time for retailers. Consumers have gone to water, reducing debt, paying...
4 weeks ago0

Journal Talk

Bearing bad tidings better

Dr Kate Kelso

"If we get it right, the patients and their families will never forget us; if we get it wrong they may never forgive us." So wrote the late Dr Rob Buckman on breaking bad news in practice.

3 days ago0

Fighting guideline fatigue
Guideline fatigue syndrome (GFS) is a debilitating condition characterised by irritability and overwhelming lethargy in...
1 week ago0
A political football vanishes
For years, advanced care planning has been used as a political football in the US,...
2 weeks ago0
Views of a formerly fat doctor
There's a lot to be said for a good headline. In this high-traffic, information-laden world,...
3 weeks ago0

The Last Word

The Last Word: on unsolicited advice

Dr Genevieve Yates

It's an early morning flight. You're tired, grumpy and regretting not grabbing a coffee before boarding. The seatbelt sign is turned off and the mouth of the person sitting next to you is turned on.

3 hours ago0

The Last Word: on reporting your guilt
Have you ever done something awful, something that causes you a sense of shame and...
1 week ago0
The Last Word: on meanness
I don't know whether you've noticed it, reader, but I reckon these days we are...
2 weeks ago0
The Last Word: on A Fortunate Man
Because I had just finished a couple of books by Jo Nesbo, the Norwegian author...
3 weeks ago0

Guest View

A wise choice

Dr Diyana Ishak

A 57-year-old man had presented to ED exhibiting signs of a bowel obstruction and septic shock. Here I was, holding the clamps in place and all I could think of was: "Why am I here?"

1 week ago0

A proliferation of profs
The title 'professor' comes from the Latin profiteor and refers to a person expert in...
1 week ago0
Memories and other songs
We are moving house and during one of the tedious chores of throwing out things...
2 weeks ago0
Act before it's too late
Do you have an advanced care directive? Do the people you love have one? If...
2 weeks ago0

Guest Editorial

Does whooping cough vaccine for parents protect newborns?

Professor Peter Bruce McIntyre

Recent news reports say the free whooping cough vaccine for parents to protect newborns will be discontinued because it is not effective - news that has left parents dismayed and confused.

2 days ago0

Records and better health outcomes -- make the link
Former UK Chief Medical Officer Sir Donald Acheson (1926-2010) was a gracious humanitarian and his...
1 week ago0
Time for a spring clean of GP training
Over the Easter weekend I used a wheelbarrow that was almost 60 years old, recently...
2 weeks ago0
What price a proper bowel screening program?
The latest report on the national bowel cancer screening program, from the Australian Institute of...
4 weeks ago0

Dr Linda Calabresi

Aged care needs more than money

Dr Linda Calabresi

Another year, another federal budget. Every year it seems the usual suspects stand up and demand to be counted. This year, however, one group appears to have shouted louder than usual and, more importantly, louder than most of its rivals....

3 weeks ago0

Putting some balance into radiation
It's hard to believe a year has passed since we watched, with horrified awe, those...
8 weeks ago0
Stripping quackery of its veneer of authority
At last the silent majority are speaking up. At last education authorities, who should know...
12 weeks ago0
GPs need better marketing
Happy new year. Welcome back, hopefully refreshed after some sort of break over the Christmas...
18 weeks ago0

Paul Smith

Schism over MBS book of revelations

Paul Smith

The question being asked appears simple. Can you claim a level B for compiling or curating a patient's shared e-health summary? The answer lies with an 18-year-old student called James, who "lives at home with his caring family and has...

1 day ago0

E-health pay: the saga continues
As Philip Larkin once wrote “books are a load of crap” and there is no...
3 weeks ago0
Will the College's push for quality catch Canberra's eye?
The RACGP's move to measure the quality of GP care is a significant step which...
7 weeks ago0
Ghost doctors need a voice
Anyone wanting to unpick the tangled debate around Australia's use and alleged abuse of its...
9 weeks ago0

Editor's Choice

Will this elephant fly?

Dr Kerri Parnell

This is the painful transitional phase we find ourselves in with the e-health record. If we’re lucky, in the coming years we’ll have a record that gives all healthcare providers seamless access to their patients’ health information. Lives will be...

4 weeks ago0

In praise of the crusaders
This week we touch on a long-term bugbear of mine: the outrageous claims of alternative...
A few minutes to go0
Maybe I'm just a paranoid GP
According to the AMA and many doctors, proposed amendments to the laws around pharmacists could...
23 weeks ago0
We think we've got it bad, look at the UK
Instead of writing about a story in Australian Doctor this week, for a change I...
25 weeks ago0