Paquita was thrown into the deep end as a final year medical student, while working as a locum foundation year doctor (“house officer” in those days). On one occasion, she witnessed a death on the operating table and was entrusted with breaking the bad news to the family. She still vividly recalls the neurosurgical operation, which involved the clipping of a berry aneurysm:
Conventionally, all women presenting with a palpable breast lesion undergo a triple assessment, consisting of clinical examination, imaging and needle biopsy. Mammography is usually used in older women, while ultrasound is the imaging test of choice in younger women as their denser breast tissue limits mammographic sensitivity [1].
Osteoporotic fractures are a common problem presenting to health services in the UK: Around 300,000 osteoporotic (or ‘low-impact’) fractures, defined as those resulting from a force equivalent to falling from a standing position, occur each year [1].