The (Great) Unknown

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By Rose Brazilek

Watching the trepidatious first year medical students enter the hallowed halls of building 15 for the first time, it is hard not to get swept up by their wide-eyed enthusiasm and innocent optimism. Phrases such as “I’m definitely going to attend all the meetings of the Disney club” and “I don’t need to pre-read any lectures,” are often heard, phrases they may regret uttering so freely six months from now. However, it was not so long ago that many of us also opened a medical textbook, encountered a cadaver or calculated the exact time until an assignment could be re-submitted on Turnitin for the first time either.

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I Promise Myself: The Mental Health Contract

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By Grace Scolyer

It’s been 16 months since I sat, tachycardic and sweating in a superclinic GP’s office, asking for a K-10 test and mental health treatment plan. 16 months since I was met with a suppressed laugh, obligatory printout, and subsequent arrangement of an urgent follow-up with another GP with more mental health experience. My exterior did not seem to fit up with my K-10 score; the difference between by 2pm brain and my 2am brain something quite concerning. High functioning, clinically depressed.

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Doing everything we can: On effective altruism and medicine

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By Keyur Doolabh

Ask any medical student why they decided to go into medicine, and at some point you’ll hear the phrase ‘I want to help people.’ Human motivation is a complex thing, but I don’t doubt that it’s true -most of us want to give back to the world. And on face value, medicine is a pretty good career for it; those same medical students will probably be involved in many life-saving efforts that have earned the medical profession a reputation for doing good.

But as well as being philanthropists, doctors are also scientists at heart. So what’s the evidence about how much good your average doctor will do over their career?

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