Progress

After many years at sea as a cruise ship doctor, I am often asked: “How do you keep up to date?” Practising medicine in isolation from other doctors, we may be regarded by our peers as out of touch.

Not at all. We see a frequently changing population of well over 1000 passengers, mainly elderly and most taking at least one prescription medication. So we are in a unique position to observe the medicine currently practised ashore, and this gives us a good insight into “progress.” Our therapeutic armamentarium is limited to the more tried and tested generic drugs of proven efficacy.

I doubt that any two people on board are taking exactly the same medication, although I …