BMJ  2005;330 (5 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7486.0-h

Editor's choice

Questions and answers

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Question: Is the role of a medical journal to question or provide answers?

Answer: Both—although asking questions is feasible, finding answers with certainty is hazardous. Questions and answers are the lifeblood of any journal, and here are some examples from this week's issue.

Q: Does passive smoking cause lung cancer?

A: Two more studies add to the evidence that already implicates passive smoking to such a degree that reduction of secondhand smoke must be a public health priority worldwide. Evidence for the causal link is clear, the argument is over the magnitude of risk (pp 265, 277, 287).

Q: Does a doctor's personality and learning style predict stress, burnout, and career satisfaction?

A: Extraversion, openness to experiences, and agreeableness confer advantages at work. Neuroticism predicts a disordered approach to work, perceived high workload, and stress (p 269). But tomorrow's workforce might value all the different . . . [Full text of this article]

Kamran Abbasi, acting editor

(kabbasi@bmj.com)


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