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What does an Olympic medal and surgery have in common?

Competing against female Eastern Bloc athletes in the 1980s was a thankless task, demanding a mulish tenacity in an often futile cause. Ideal preparation for a career in surgery? My path to medicine was unusual, in that I left school...

True Cut – a dramatic biopsy from the world of surgery

True Cut is a stage play that asks: “What happens when things go wrong in healthcare?” It brings the hidden world of the operating theatre onto the theatre stage. ENT surgeon, David Alderson, talks about how the play came about....

Physician illness

Getting in the zone, recognising our personal stress limits and looking after ourselves are vital components in our efforts to stay healthy advises Abbie Lane, after almost a generation of de-stressing others. They say a rugby player like Brian O’Driscoll...

Middle ear reconstruction in children: why, when and how

Every ear in every child is different. Rob Nash discusses the rationale behind reconstructive ear surgery in children and his philosophy on timing and techniques of reconstruction. It is rare for middle ear pathologies to be life threatening. Indeed, it...

The future of rhinology: What will come first, a radical change in rhinological management or the decimation of the world?

In this article, Simon Gane looks forward to what the future holds, on the presumption he survives. Setting aside the questions of the UK even existing, the NHS still working, or the fact we’ll be commuting to our jobs in...

From aaargh to zzzzz: the ABC of paediatric anaesthesia

Andrew McTavish is one of those special breeds who not only relishes complex anaesthesia, but also does so in paediatric patients. Dealing with this group of patients requires careful planning according to accepted practice, and here he discusses some recent...

Sushruta and Indian rhinoplasty

Vijay Pothula explains rhinoplasty’s roots in ancient Indian Ayurvedic medicine, and how it was introduced to the Western world. In 1794 The Gentleman’s Magazine published a surgical operation which was long established in India but unknown in Europe [1]. A...

Access to and uptake of cochlear implants in the UK

Assessing demands on cochlear implant (CI) services is very important for both commissioners and clinicians in anticipating clinical need and funding requirements. Commercial CI’s were introduced in the late 1980s. Initial funding was from charitable sources. The first major advance...

Cognitive effort and listening in everyday life

Dining with family members, amongst the clinking of dishes and glasses, the sounds of conversations and laughter, the husband, a user of hearing aids, misses his wife’s request to bring another bottle of wine. After a third try, the wife,...

When patient choice stands in the way of patient-centredness

In the field of hearing care, there is increasing focus on ensuring patient autonomy and choice. Greater participation in decision making is supposed to result in better patient satisfaction. A study conducted in ENT and audiology clinics paradoxically suggests that...

Infant hearing loss impacts spoken language development: identify and intervene early

Early hearing detection and intervention programmes have been implemented in many countries across the globe, but why are these programmes so important and how are our Canadian colleagues managing this process? The consequences of being born with a permanent hearing...

Measuring audiological outcomes in the paediatric setting

In this article Marlene Bagatto argues that a range of outcome measures and instruments need to be implemented when working with children and families. She demonstartes how these support both clinicians and families. The primary goal of early hearing detection...