Endgames
Picture Quiz
A teenager with a cough, fever, and poor appetite
Cite this as:
BMJ
2012;344:e2821
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Displaying 1-3 out of 3 published
28 April 2012
Sorry, I disagree. Was it the teenager who was [not] clubbed or her nails? If serious about shifting the culture of medicine, we need to rise above subtle and unintentional conflation of the person with the disease.
BMJ, let's vote.
Competing interests: None declared
QMUL, London E1 2AB
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27 April 2012
This was a fascinating case study, really well written up and informative, except for one thing. Could we say 'the patient had no clubbing' rather than 'the patient was not clubbed'? This would align with the general trend in medical writing to avoid describing patients as (for example) 'an epileptic' rather than 'a person with epilepsy' and so on.
Perhaps BMJ's technical editors could keep a look out for such nuances and advise authors accordingly?
Competing interests: None declared
QMUL, London E1 2AB
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27 April 2012
Much as I respect the world-wise and feet-on-the ground relevance of most everything Trisha writes, she seems to be making a very narrow point here as to the politico-medically correct 'was not clubbed' as opposed to 'had no clubbing'.
Uncharacteristically she misses the wider world ambiguities - A teenager who 'had no clubbing' must be rare indeed. Thankfully perhaps, in these mean streets, because he 'was not clubbed', (yet).
Competing interests: None declared
General Practitioner, Surgery, Newport, Pembrokeshire SA42 0TJ
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