Editorial - April 2003
John Farndon was a superb medical teacher as well as being Professor of Surgery. He was a friend and supporter to countless students. During his year as President of the Bristol Med. Chi he invited six students to each give an 8 minute paper to the Society describing their experiences whilst undertaking electives. The first meeting occurred in February 2001 and we were impressed by the quality of the presentations as well as the timekeeping and mastery of Powerpoint! They had been well coached by John.
It was John\'s suggestion that the student evening, with the Med Chi, would be repeated annually. The second meeting was planned for the end of February 2002. Sadly, John died at the beginning of the month. The presentations for that year were cancelled. The Med Chi were delighted to comply with John\'s wishes and subsequently established the John Farndon lectures as an annual event.
On February 26th, 2003 six students gave papers describing their experiences. These ranged from the problem of bathroom scalds in Australia to the non-operative management of abdominal gunshot wounds in South Africa. The meeting started with a brief talk by Clive Roberts, the Clinical Dean, who had been involved with organizing the electives as well as helping the students prepare the presentations. It was a most successful evening which ended with a presentation of prizes to the successful students by Mrs. Chris Farndon. This issue of our website newsletter contains a summary of the papers which we hope will be of wide interest. It is marvellous to know that the new generation of doctors are of such high calibre.
Many of our readers will have read the article in the BMJ on the ethics of intimate examinations. The lead author, Yvette Coldicott, was a Bristol medical student. We are very pleased to publish a brief interview with her. It is unusual for a medical student to get a paper published in a main-line journal. We hope that her experience may encourage other students to undertake publishable research.
Daily perusal of the Evening Post continues to yield useful information about the Bristol medical scene. This month there are further details of the difficult financial situation facing virtually all NHS services in the area. There is also some information about research.
The website has now been in existence for 7 months. The number of monthly visits now exceeds 600 and is rising. We are pleased that so many people are using this new facility. However, we need your comments-positive and otherwise - with ideas for the future. We look forward to lots of contributions via the \"Your Say\" button.
Have a good Easter break.
Richard Langton-Hewer
(Joint Editor)