WEMJ Volume 112 No. 4 - December 2013

Seasons greetings to all our readers. This time of year we reflect on what has happened in the last year or years and look forward to developments in the future. Accordingly we have two historically based articles from our good friend and correspondent Professor Peter Dunn. He is looking back at the history of paediatric surgery in the UK and in particular at the role of Sir Denis Browne. In addition Professor Dunn has provided a previously unpublished article based on research he personally undertook in the 1960s and 70s.

Dr. Alick Dowling, retired GP and author, has written an account of his own treatment over the past year. As usual the comments are spot-on and the observations insightful.

To provide a futuristic finale to the issue the editor has written an article on the Medical Implications of the New Space Race and the Proposed Conquest of Mars. This will be presented as a talk to the Bristol Medico Chirurgical Society on January 8th 2014.

Happy New Year

Paul Goddard

Abstracts and PDFs

1. WEMJ Volume 112 No 4 Article Number 1 December 2013

Sir Denis Browne (1892-1967), the father of paediatric surgery in Britain Author: Peter Dunn

A short biography of Sir Denis Browne

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2. WEMJ Volume 112 No 4 Article 2 December 2013

Congenital dislocation of the hip:Why is the left hip affected more than the right?: Peter M. Dunn

During the 1960s and 1970s the author undertook three clinical, pathological, radiological and epidemiological studies on CDH. The conclusion reached was that CDH was a congenital postural deformity caused by sustained gentle pressure in-utero acting on the plastic and rapidly growing hip-joint during the later weeks of pregnancy

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3. WEMJ Volume 112 No 4 Article 3 December 2013

End of year view and Specialisation : Alick Dowling

A personal view of 2013 and the author’s own experiences of the NHS

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4. WEMJ Volume 112 No 4 Article Number 4 December 2013

The Medical Implications of the New Space Race and the Proposed Conquest of Mars. Paul Goddard

The space race is hotting up with numerous nations and half a dozen large private concerns involved. What are the medical implications of such activities. The author has been interested in this field for many years and shares his enthusiasm for the subject in this article.

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Welcome to the West of England Medical Journal. This is the online journal of the Bristol Medico Chirurgical Society. The journal was formerly known as the Bristol Medico Chirurgical Journal and was first published in 1883.

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