Handing on the gong

Tonight there will be a little ceremony at our local medical society. As outgoing president I am required to unfasten my medal of office (a test of dexterity, as the catch tends to creep up under the back of the collar) and hang it round the neck of my successor. What he does with it then is up to him.

Doctors generally have little time for ceremonial or insignias. Most of us happily wore …