Anna Ellis

Consulting: Communication Skills for GPs in Training

RCGP Midland Faculty Two DVDs plus 54 page workbook RCGP, 2006, £30 (available from RCGP online bookstore—www.rcgp.org.uk/acatalog.whats_new.html) ISBN: 000000DVD2 Rating: ★★★★★/5 This is a package designed primarily for GP (general practitioner) registrars to help improve communication skills as well as pass the video component of the MRCGP (membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners) exam. The two DVDs are divided into two sections. The first DVD neatly breaks down the consultation, looking at various elements of consulting and techniques used within it, and the second DVD …

UK travellers warned after first suspected case of new syndrome.

The Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) and the Department of Health this week warned travellers returning to the United Kingdom to be aware of the possible threat of severe acute respiratory syndrome, an atypical pneumonia that is puzzling specialists at the World Health Organization. The organisations recommended that travellers seek medical advice if they develop a sudden high fever and one or more respiratory symptoms (cough, sore throat, …

28 Days Later

Directed by Danny Boyle A film from Twentieth Century Fox UK release date: 1 November ——————— Rating: ![Graphic][1] ![Graphic][2] Londoners have been subjected to a series of posters on underground escalators over the past 28 days. On day one the poster was titled “Exposure,” on day three “Infection,” and on day eight “Evacuation.” Given the current political climate, commuters gave each other sideways glances, wondering if this was some bizarre public health warning or even anti-war propaganda. The posters were actually a clever advertising campaign for a new film. I thought it was going to be about bioterrorism. In fact, 28 Days Later … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif

Book: In the Land of Pain

Alphonse Daudet Ed Julian Barnes Jonathan Cape, £10, pp 102 ![][1] ISBN 0 224 06267 0 Rating: ![Graphic][2] ![Graphic][3] Alphonse Daudet was a novelist who lived in France in the second half of the 19th century. At the age of 17 he contracted syphilis, which lay dormant for some 20 years. He eventually developed locomotor ataxia as a result of tabes dorsalis, when the disease moved to his neurological system. He died in 1897 at the age of 57. For … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif

Guidelines could reduce children's head injuries from cycling

A set of guidelines to get cycle helmets on childrens heads was launched last week by the charity the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust, with the support of transport minister David Jamieson. The guidelines are the result of a three year initiative in Reading, in which helmet programmes were run in the community, linked to healthcare trusts. Helmet use among …