Our Distinctive and Noble Profession

Surgery: A “Noble“ Profession

Yet, when I began to set my thoughts in order, the concept of surgery and what it takes to be a surgeon proved to be elusive. Each word or definition suggested more words and more description. It began to look as if there was just too much material to describe this entity, almost “too many notes.”1 The topic would not reduce itself. I became engrossed with finding a way to adequately describe s...

The 2022 GP: our profession, our patients, our future.

For the last decade or two general practice, indeed medicine in general, has been manufacturing ‘tools’ as if a 21st century industrial revolution was under way. Am I alone in my distaste and negative reactions, feeling that in most cases the word ‘tool’ is now used in a most ignorant and inappropriate way? Most patients know exactly what tools are, and use them to good effect in the real world...

Our Profession Needs a Reminder

Embracing diversity in our profession.

353 This is a reflective article that carries the discussion of cultural diversity from more typically considered arenas of clinical practice and education to a less-considered context: the occupational therapy community. The occupational therapy literature offers fine work that targets constructs related to diversity (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 1995, 1996; Black, 2002; C...

Climate change: time to redefine our profession.

As the December Copenhagen Summit on climate change ended, the chief negotiator for the 130 ‘G77’ lowerincome countries said that the final document was ‘asking Africa to sign a suicide pact’. Greenpeace said: ‘The city of Copenhagen is a crime scene tonight, and the guilty men and women are fleeing to the airport’. US President Barack Obama explained that he couldn’t stay for the final vote be...