A plagiarist on both your houses

It's difficult to live plagiarism down. Years after I had lazily and stupidly copied a Student BMJ article to use as university coursework, I was approached by BMJ Careers to write about my experiences. The person who asked me knew exactly who to contact because it was her work that I had plagiarised. Several years down the line, it was disappointing to feel as though it was all I was known for.

Plagiarism stopped my career advancing in the way I had wanted it to go. I had always been interested in medical writing but this wayward act stood in the way of my chance to take on an editorial position at the Student BMJ. It might have been the first time I had plagiarised, but that is something that people in these situations always tend to say, and no one tends to believe.

Why is plagiarism such a danger to doctors? The General Medical Council's guidelines on good medical practice state that “dishonesty, even where it does not result in direct harm to patients... is particularly serious because it undermines the trust …