Biodiversity and the importance of environmental literacy in medical education

  Doctors have an important role in the protection and promotion of human health, from individual to global scales. As our climate changes and ecosystems are degraded, the protection of nature is becoming increasingly important for public and global health efforts. There is an increasingly large body of evidence highlighting the environment and human health as critically connected – the variety of ecosystems on Earth provide human populations with many necessities for health and wellbeing.

The Modern Medical Student Manual: A book review

Chris Lovejoy’s book ‘The Modern Medical StudentManual’ [1] combines personal anecdote and a philosophical approach that stands out for the shortness of its natureand the uniqueness of its disposition. There is something to be said for a short guide for medical students written by a recently graduated Foundation Year doctor. While the book occasionally falls short of the easy ebb and flow of other authors in the field, and perhaps, at times, attempts to stretch beyond its reach, it more than makes up in the authenticity of its voice and the quality of its personal reflection.

The Cambridge Medicine Journal’s guide to summer research projects

  

1. Research projects – the basics

A reasonable time for a research project is about 8 weeks – this will give you plenty of time to settle down, become familiar with the lab and the field, and (hopefully) get plenty of data! There are two ways of organising projects, organising your own, or applying for a research programme, and they each have distinct pros and cons.

What will British healthcare look like in 20 years' time?

At 8:40am, a medical student named Derek entered the doctor’s office on the Enhanced Recovery post-op ward and sat down by a computer. Two of the foundation doctors, Amir and Sarah, looked up to acknowledge his presence before continuing their preparation for the imminent ward-round. Derek was feeling pro-active so he grabbed the office’s VR headset and looked up which operations were currently being streamed. To his delight, a patient undergoing a spinal reconnection had consented for educational streaming and the operation had started 40 minutes ago.