Printed from: https://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=issue&id=6138
Christian healthcare professionals may wonder how they might effectively interact spiritually with their patients. There are many ways to do this, the one presented here provides a way that will cover different modes of spirituality that might be encountered in clinical practice. This method aims to include people who do...
Most patients accept they are more than their bodies, that they have an inner part of their life. They function as 'dualist interactionists', experiencing a fusion of body and soul, as opposed to the 'ghost in the machine' described by Ryle. (1) Many are directly aware of the bi-directional relationship...
We all face them. Situations when fatigue, overload or simply a momentary lapse of concentration or judgment lead us to do or say the wrong thing in a clinical situation. Most of the time these are minor mistakes that have no serious consequences, but we often live in fear of...
'But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.' (1) My favourite piece of...
In my speech at our wedding in 1992, I quoted Wayne from the film Wayne's World, who made the observation to his friend Garth that 'Marriage is a punishment for shoplifting in some countries!' I'm not sure what my new wife made of that, but I'm probably forgiven now. It...
A week before writing this article, I was sitting in my urology outpatient clinic with a visiting professor from Japan, when a 93-year-old gentleman came in with his daughter. I debated about whether or not I should ask what is normally my first question to a man over 90, after...
From the Psychiatrist's Chair Selected works of Dr Monty Barker Monty Barker Words by Design, 2018, £12.50, 220pp, ISBN: 9781909075672 Reviewed by Peter May, a retired GP in Southampton In 1970, medical students from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine were allowed just one month for an elective period. I chose psychiatry. Dr Monty...
Two of the besetting sins of humanity are found in our attitudes to the past and the future. At one extreme we cling to the past, decrying the present and fearing the future; the cry of our heart is 'Things are not what they used to be!' At the other,...
At a drop-in centre for refugees and asylum seekers, I deposited my few things (which were in a plastic carrier bag) in the back room, as instructed, and went to observe the work. Drinks were available free of charge, and clients could help themselves from a table bearing food donated...
Being a junior doctor can be lonely at times. Switching rotations every four to six months, changing hospitals annually and then moving as you find training vacancies means it can be hard not to feel alone - not to mention the difficulty getting to church between on calls and visits...
In February this year, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) announced their support for the decriminalisation of abortion. (1) This followed a consultation to which only 8.2% of their members responded - 4,429 of 53,724 members. 62% of those responding said they supported decriminalisation, which would entail removing the...
When Marcus Evans quit his governorship of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in February this year, it was over the 'climate of fear' and attempts to 'dismiss or undermine' concerns being raised by its own clinicians. While many of his claims are contested, an independent report backed up some...
The 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham wrote of animals: 'The question is not "Can they reason?", not "Can they talk?", but "Can they suffer?"' Professors Glover and Fisk, in their 1999 paper (1) say that Bentham caused such a change in attitude towards animals that in the UK, even frogs...
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) announced on 10 January this year, its intention to poll its 35,000 members on assisted suicide. The poll commenced on 5 February and finished on 1 March 2019. The college last polled its members in 2014 when 44.4% of its membership thought the college...
