ENT features
A small company’s perspective
In this article, we hear from Alan McNulty, Director from Sheffmed, an SME (Small – Medium Enterprise), who have supplied surgical instruments, consumables and video systems to ENT clinicians for over 12 years. Alan outlines some of the choices and...
Industry interaction with the ENT speciality
I was enormously grateful for the chance to articulate my personal thoughts on ‘the industry interaction with the ENT clinical community’. To set a context, the term ‘industry’ refers to medical technology manufacturers and suppliers, in addition to pharmaceutical companies....
NHS collaboration and partnership with the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries
Historically the relationship between industry and the NHS has been a cautious one. Both sides have typically worked with only partially disclosed agendas, under a pervading fear of finding themselves on the wrong end of a win-lose negotiation. Things have...
Training in the use of medical devices – how should it be done?
Adequate training in novel medical devices is imperative, not only to ensure patient safety, but also to give clinicians the confidence to use the device in question. In this article, Andrea Gillies explains the philosophy of one of the equipment...
The structure and function of DNA
DNA structure and replication Genetic information within multicellular organisms, including man, is stored in molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which reside within the chromosomes of each cell nucleus. A DNA molecule consists of two very long chains, or strands, of...
Specialist teams deliver world-class trauma care
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust runs the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, which is a designated Major Trauma Centre. The Trust holds the contract to treat all UK injured military personnel evacuated from combat zones overseas. More than 1200 of...
Pre-hospital care
For those of us that work within the acute hospital system, the sound of the trauma pager going off warning of an incoming casualty with as yet unknown injuries is often the sound of uncertainty and anxiety. When it becomes...
From trauma to recovery: treatment at Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre
This year (2014) is the centenary year of the beginning of the Great War. This conflict brought with it a cluster of emotional disorders that were called at the time, Shell-Shock. The present conflict in Afghanistan has been talked of...
Philosophy and reality of entrepreneurship
Before you take the time to read this article, be informed that it is indeed hard to be an entrepreneur. It warrants passion, sacrifice, total commitment and willingness to spend day and night (even in your sleep) thinking and working...
Entrepreneurial aspirations for the otolaryngologist
Entrepreneurship is a process of identifying an idea and starting a business venture with this idea. It requires generation of a business model or plan that emphasises the value proposition for the customer. The model must identify the partners, resources,...
Job Ahead: understanding the business and financial aspects of US practice
Dr Christiansen brings over 30 years of experience as a practising otolaryngologist both in private practice and in academic medicine as Associate Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Dr Christiansen started his career in...
Establishing a medical device company: an ENTrepreneur’s experience
In 2004, while I was suturing the mucopericondrial flaps for a septoplasty, I thought to myself, “there must be an easier and faster way of doing this”. Even though I had no formal training in business or medical device development,...
