No 80 - MediCurious' Spring Recommendations 2024
Tldr
Some recent articles, books and podcasts that I would thoroughly recommend.
I am trying to discipline myself to produce at least one piece for MediCurious every week. That was always the goal but I am going to make a renewed effort for the next few weeks.
I have seen quite a few other Substacks doing reviews and summary pieces. Here is my attempt…
This is going to be a shorter piece, with some recommendations for articles and podcasts and other things that I have really enjoyed recently, plus some older pieces linked in again because I have been thinking about them.
The Most Recent MediCurious articles:
No 77 - The Art and Science of UK GP: A Historical Timeline
No 78 - A Timeline of General Practice and EBM: In Much More Detail
No- 79: Teaching Students How to Maximise the Impact of Their Academic Careers
Thank you to all of you readers who read and shared these pieces. I was really pleased to see how many new people shared and read these. If you thought they were useful then please do share the link with a colleague. Every little helps!
A Call to Action:
No 75: Building Collaborative Research in UK Primary Care
No 73: UK General Practice Conferences 2023-24
WiseGP - Ongoing Research Studies - Please Read
I don’t think I can claim any credit for this but clearly I was thinking along the right lines. WiseGP has started a website to collate ongoing research within primary care in the UK and a list of regional contacts. If you are interested in participating or learning about academic GP then please go to the website above.
If you are a primary care clinician or trainee interested in research then please feel free to contact me directly. I have a number of whatsapp groups and contacts that I am happy to add you too.
Podcast Recommendations:
Portfolio working - An interview with Dr Jonathan Leach OBE
This is the Worcestershire LMC Podcast and I was really impressed, that this local organisation was highlighting the impressive careers of their local GPs. I may be biased but I think this is a great idea and something we need more of. Dr Leach’s career was fascinating and he had some great insights for military doctors. Also good tips on leadership, managing patients with PTSD and veterans healthcare.
No 32: The Top 21 Podcasts for Military Clinicians
If you like military or medical podcasts then you might like this list I compiled a few years ago. I still stand by most of the podcasts on this list.
The Hidden Dangers Of Social Media - Jonathan Haidt - Modern Wisdom Youtube
Jonathan Haidt is everywhere at the moment, but if you are interested in the rise in anxiety and the mental health crisis in the younger generation, then this is worth listening to. Do you agree that smart phones and social media is the cause?
Book Recommendations:
Side Effects: How Our Healthcare Lost Its Way–and How We Fix It by Dr David Haslam
Side Effects was excellent. I really enjoyed it. Yes I am a geek that spends my time thinking about healthcare systems and medicine, but, I think someone less geeky would also enjoy it. If you have ever wondered how healthcare systems work (or don’t) and why “just spending more” is not always the answer then this is a great book to start with.
I would highly recommend this book for people who want to go to medical school, who are med students, or are studying health economics or politics. If you want to be on the BMA or RCGP or work in medical politics then you should probably read this first.
Concussed: Sport's Uncomfortable Truth by Sam Peters
Concussed was an uncomfortable read for me. I couldn’t put it down but it did make me wince. Having suffered a head injury that ended my rugby “career”, it was quite frightening to hear how common this has become and how serious it might be.
If you are a sports med doctor or an avid rugby player or the friends and family of rugby players, then it’s worth reading. It has genuinely put me off letting my son play rugby.
Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
Range and Generalism, two of the favourite words of most GP educators. This book isn’t about medicine but I think there is a lot we can learn from it. Medicine is a “wicked” subject and GP is far more “wicked” than most lay people or policy makers think it is. To be an excellent generalists takes time, experience and a difficult learning process. I’d highly recommend all those who train medical students or GPs read this.
Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine by David Patraeus and Andrew Roberts
If you like the history of war, then you will love this book. Short summaries of the recent conflicts and lessons from them. It is fast paced and well written. I have listened to it a few times already.
Previous MediCurious posts that you don’t want to miss out on:
No 74 - What Should Doctors and Medical Students Read in 2024?
No 50: Previous MediCurious Summary
No 14 - Chest pain: Can we teach it better? - I recently re-read this post on chest pain. I have to admit I had forgotten how much effort and work I had put into this post and slide presentation. I have been thinking about this quite a bit, because I am working with colleagues on a new teaching project. What do you think?
Did I miss anything in this presentation? Should we be changing how we teach chest pain or anything else? Do we need to start using Bayesian thinking to direct our questions during the history taking?