Our Podcast Section and other things
Richard Smith giving his speech at the closing ceremony of the IFMSA conf
Hi there, It’s Rhona here. You won’t believe what has happened to me since my last blog entry. In fact, it’s almost so unbelievable you wouldn’t believe me anyway if that makes sense. Enough to say, I am back at work and have been doing a bit of housekeeping on TheLancetStudent.com today. I know- a Saturday! Does that make me sad or keen? I’ll leave that for you to decide!
I just wanted to tell you about a few things. I have been sorting out our new podcast section today. It currently sits in the global health resources section as all the speeches and interviews so far have been about, yes you’ve guessed it…global health - the focus of TheLancetStudent.com.
If your a regular visitor to our site, you may have already listened to the interview with Ed Mills, lead author of The Lancet series on health and human rights, and the keynote speech made by Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet at the opening ceremony of the IFMSA Conference. But did you know about the brilliant speeches made at the closing ceremony? Richard Smith, former editor of the BMJ and Tom Ellman from MSF gave all of us who were there something to think about and I have recorded both of them for you and loaded them in our podcast section, so you don’t miss out if you were not one of the 903 medical students lucky enough to be there.
Then, I am really excited that we have an exclusive interview with Steven Miles, much respected expert in all things torture, that is, speaking out AGAINST torture, from the University of Minnesota, and author of Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity and the War on Terror. As you may expect, the interview covers controversial topics such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. I am also very impressed that the interviewer, Catherine Pastorius, has painstakingly transcribed the whole interview for those who may not be able to listen to the podcast. So if you want a copy of this, please email me at student@lancet.com. Here is just a wee taster, to tempt you:
Steven Miles: ” I think that for medical students the big issue is not to put torture into every medical school curriculum, as some might do. Rather, say to any medical student that no matter where you go that your medical professionalism exists in a tension with the institution that employs you. It may be a military prison, in which case we have the types of issues that we have been talking about today. It may be a national health service, which attempts to cut corners and deny patients effective therapies. It may be a drug company, which is sponsoring research, and paying your salary, that is trying to magnify benefits and conceal the harms. Each of these institutions will attempt to pressure physicians to go along. To help the institution pursue its short them benefits and short term goals but that these institutions are best protected when physicians push back. ”
Please listen to the whole thing if you can. I promise that it will be one of the most challenging, disturbing, and enlightening 20 minutes you have ever spent.
And just a reminder about the Lancet Digest - a weekly summary of the key content in the weekly issue of The Lancet written exclusively for you. This week’s issue of The Lancet is a special cardiology issue, but in addition to research articles about er…cardiology (!), I have included some global health articles, some copied in full. So check it out if you can. I did spend my Saturday afternoon writing it after all! Bye for now Rhona 