I RECENTLY watched American Sniper, a movie nominated for six Academy Awards.  It is based on the true story of Chris Kyle, who joined the US Navy and was accepted into SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) training. The drill sergeants made it very clear that their task was to weed out the weak and strengthen…

AS health care professionals, particularly in hospitals, we are faced with human suffering every single day as our patients, many unwell and some dying, seek help. We are also often faced with angry, confused and grieving family members. From the first day of internship, we have to deal with…

TWO of the 12 apostles, Peter and John, were healing the sick during the time of the early church, and were being questioned by the religious establishment at the time about their unconventional methods. In Acts 4:9-11, when questioned, Peter said “we are being called to account today for an act of…

REAR Admiral Grace Hopper of the United States Navy once said: “You cannot manage men into battle. You manage things; you lead people”. This is a leadership principle that is applicable to health as well as to the military. Clinical leaders know from experience that managing health professionals…

“PANDEMIC” was the 2020 word of the year according to the Merriam–Webster dictionary. It’s no wonder, as the COVID-19 global pandemic has changed our whole society and exposed some of the darker aspects of human nature. There is now well established research that demonstrates that the pandemic…

THE COVID-19 pandemic has had a larger impact on the lives of people with disability compared with the population as a whole (here, here and here). Relative to the general population, higher rates of infection and death have been reported among people with intellectual disabilities in studies from the…

WHEN we look up at the stars at night, we can feel insignificant and small, overwhelmed by the vast number of celestial bodies surrounding us. If we take the time to keep looking, we will realise that the stars and planets do not stay in the same position but move across the night sky. Over a longer…

DOCTORS, in general, have a powerful voice, as we are generally trusted and respected. We are often asked to be members of boards and committees and to act as advocates. We present learnings from a virtual half-day event on 11 September called “MBA in a Day”, presented by the Committee of Chairs of…

Here we summarise the presentations made at the “Climate change: what we can do” webinar organised by the Committee of Chairs of the Medical Colleges in Victoria on the 24 October 2020. The views here are those of the individual presenters and not necessarily those of their Colleges nor the Committee…

AUSTRALIA experienced its first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge with a small number of mainly introduced infections and a national stage 3 lockdown from March to June 2020. This was followed by a second surge of community-spread disease in Melbourne, resulting in a city-wide stage 4 lockdown…

“The idea that there will be two or more patients presenting at exactly the same time, who are exactly equal in their need and prognosis, and differentiated only by a single characteristic is the stuff of thought experiments, not emergency departments.” ON 19 August 2020, Lisa Mitchell, Emma Tumilty…

WHO will be allocated a ventilator, and who will miss out? Who decides, and on what basis? Australian intensivists and emergency physicians have not had to answer grave questions like these during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, although we have all seen how they have occupied their…

SUICIDE and mental illness pose a significant burden in Australia and worldwide. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made reducing the toll of suicide a key priority, announcing his aim to drive the suicide toll towards zero. While it may be impossible to completely eliminate suicide, it should be possible…

EVERYONE ages. It’s a fact of life, a law of nature, and the great equaliser for all human beings. For eons, mankind has attempted to thwart mortality by searching for the fountain of youth, and through creams, injections and surgery, we have tried our best to retain our youth. But time marches on,…

RESEARCH has shown that there is a compelling link between medical leadership and engagement, and quality of care, productivity, value for money and improvements in patient outcomes and experience. Because of this link, health care funders and policy makers around the world are intent on developing…

DOMENICO di Bartolo’s 1440 painting titled “Cura degli infermi”, or patient care, is said to portray the earliest depiction of a medical ward round. In the painting, a surgeon is examining a patient’s wound while an entourage gathers around him, either observing or in deep discussion. If we…

WELCOME to the last issue – no. 48! – of MJA InSight for 2017. It’s been a big year for the MJA and InSight. The Journal has a new website which has attracted more than 3.2 million pageviews, and, after the correction of a mistake in the way it was calculated, it has a new journal impact factor…

TO borrow a phrase from the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts, the way to stop discrimination on the basis of gender is to stop discriminating on the basis of gender. With this in mind, we should critically re-evaluate a recent MJA Insight article about supposed gender bias…

A father and son are in a car crash and are rushed to the hospital. The father dies. The boy is taken to the operating room and the surgeon says, “I can’t operate on this boy, because he’s my son.” HOW is this possible? Apparently, most of people can’t solve this riddle because they’re unable…

DOCTORS are taught how to be leaders early on as part of medical school. In fact, the concept of doctor as leader is now built into the medical curriculum, and is an expected competency of every medical practitioner. Most Australian medical specialty colleges have training programs that are based on…

THE Australian hospital-based health system remains stuck in 19th century traditional models of care that are provider-centric despite the dramatic changes in society, technology and disease profile of the population. This is not sustainable, efficient or accessible, and the health system is ripe for…

WELCOME to the penultimate edition of MJA InSight for 2016, a year that has been both unforgettable and very much in need of forgetting. The deaths of a string of pop culture icons that included David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Glenn Frey, Harper Lee, Jon English, Ronnie Corbett, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Kenny…

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” -- Thomas Edison, 1903 AS many commentators have observed, our current acute, hospital-based public health system is primarily concerned…

HEALTH leaders dealing with the business side of health care have much to glean from the intellectual advancements of their financial industry counterparts. Whether it is a venture capital fund or a tertiary hospital, leadership affects organisational performance, with a considerable body of supporting…