Search

In conversation with Helen and De Wet in Paris: cochlear implants in the year 2074

The World Congress of Audiology (WCA), held in Paris, France, in September 2024, provided a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with colleagues from around the globe. I took the chance to sit outside in the sunshine with De Wet Swanepoel from...

Nature or nurture in surgical training

It’s Thursday in the UK, so that means time for another root and branch reform of medical training. If you’re not keen on the Greenaway Report (Shape of Training review) [1], don’t fret there’ll be another one along well before...

BACO 2015 – Liverpool

Team BACO 2015: Academic Secretary, Peter Andrews; Treasurer, Chris Potter; Master, Ian Mackay and Local Host and Programme Director, Andrew Swift. (Photo taken by Academic Chairman, Shakeel Saeed.) In the height of a glorious English summer, over 1200 of the...

“Oh Manchester is Wonderful”...And other chants you might hear from the football stands or at BACO

Chris Potter is a lad of the North West, and we see him here letting his bleach blond hair grow out to show us his Northern roots. When I was a lad, Manchester was a troubled city in apparent terminal...

The curse of Sports Illustrated

“Not a supernatural curse, but a basic statistical concept of blinding simplicity.” What is ‘regression to the mean’? I am reliably informed that our former North American colonies publish a periodical known as Sports Illustrated (note, incidentally, the characteristically incorrect...

Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise

Our irrepressible Features Editor, Chris Potter, explores the limits of ignorance. I’m not sure about you, but I seem to exist in a sea of incompetence and ignorance, constantly surrounded by amateurish chumps and feckless underachievers. Now, a lesser man...

When dinosaurs ruled the earth

Optimism is abundant in medical research, but frequently ends up being tempered with reality. In his inimitable style, Chris Potter looks back over his career – starting with his medical school memories of Bentley-driving ENT consultants, and moving forward through...

A funny thing happened on the way to a conference – and other stories

This series of stories is dedicated to those of you with whom some of these moments were shared (or endured) and, above all, to my amazing and long-suffering husband, David Howard. Most of you know him as an exceptional head...

Hotels.com

This series of stories is dedicated to those of you with whom some of these moments were shared (or endured) and, above all, to my amazing and long-suffering husband, David Howard. Most of you know him as an exceptional head...

Why one should not be seduced into organising a conference

Having enjoyed yourself at so many meetings, it may strike you or be suggested to you by ‘friends’, that it would be a good idea to organise an international conference. Think of the kudos, the fame, the financial gain for...