Printed from: https://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=issue&id=148
For my medical elective I went to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania, East Africa for seven weeks. I spent most of the time in the paediatric department but also visited other departments. Whilst I was there, the Tanzanian attitude to life and death was one of the aspects...
According to the World Health Organisation, 1.4 million children died in 2002 from diseases preventable by routine vaccination.[1] In Malawi there is only one doctor per 100,000 people (compared with one per 164 in the UK), in an overburdened and under-resourced health system where trained doctors and nurses are migrating...
I have some sympathy for the character in Molière's play, who said: 'Good heavens! For more than forty years I have been speaking prose without knowing it'.[1] I have been a practising Christian for a long time, but over recent years have found myself to be labelled with what other...
Charles Lamb was a famous English writer in the early 19th century. When he was a small boy, his sister Mary took him for a walk around a graveyard. The precocious lad was reading the epitaphs that praised the deceased people. They were described as 'virtuous', 'charitable', 'generous' and 'most...
Whether you're a first year at medical school, or graduated ages ago, it's always good to consider why you are working in medicine. For many of our colleagues and for some of us it was for the money, or because they thought it would be interesting to learn about the...
A mother brought her son in to see the doctor. 'Thanks so much for seeing him, doctor', she began. 'The problem is that he's so short. Is there anything you can give him to help him to grow?' The doctor peered over the edge of his large oak desk, looked...
This book discusses prayer in a very candid and compassionate way. Dr Martinez has a clear understanding of the emotional and psychological issues surrounding the matter of prayer in the Christian's life and the contributions of 'ordinary Christians' to which he refers throughout the book only add to its appeal. ...
I still remember opening my first medical textbook. I also remember getting stuck on the first sentence of the opening page, a question: 'what is health?' It's pretty relevant to everyone studying medicine, and if you want to know what the Bible has to say on it then this is...
I was about to share my testimony at an Imperial CMF social when I felt a strange concern about embarrassing myself. I told a couple of seniors and received a tart reply, 'Why, because you're used to being Hugh the saint?' It rang uncomfortably true. Much of the time, I...
New neonatal critical care guidelines New guidelines regarding the provision of intensive care to premature babies born below 26 weeks' gestation, on the borderline of viability, were presented by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (the Council). Their November 2006 report was titled Critical care decisions in fetal and neonatal medicine:...
