Delivering high quality, patient centred care requires medical training that is long enough, broad enough, and deep enough, writes Andrew Elder A senior medical leader recently gave me a piece of advice. “Even when you are bored stiff saying the same thing again and again, say it again. Even when you think everybody will be fed up hearing it, say it again. Because the politicians may not yet have heard you.” So, I will say it again. Medicine is difficult. Yes, we have fabulous imaging and more laboratory investigations than any of us can name. And yes, we can interrogate our patients’ genomes, and the genomes of the organisms and cancers that infect and affect them. But, despite all this wonderful technology, diagnosis remains difficult. Every patient is a unique individual in a unique context, a product of both their biology and their biography. Making accurate and timely diagnoses requires more than just technology—it requires listening, observation, careful thought, judgment, and ti

Delivering high quality, patient centred care requires medical training that is long enough, broad enough, and deep enough, writes Andrew Elder A senior medical leader recently gave me a piece of advice. “Even when you are bored stiff saying the same thing again and again, say it again. Even when you think everybody will be fed up hearing it, say it again. Because the politicians may not yet have heard you.” So, I will say it again. Medicine is difficult. Yes, we have fabulous imaging and more laboratory investigations than any of us can name. And yes, we can interrogate our patients’ genomes, and the genomes of the organisms and cancers that infect and affect them. But, despite all this wonderful technology, diagnosis remains difficult. Every patient is a unique individual in a unique context, a product of both their biology and their biography. Making accurate and timely diagnoses requires more than just technology—it requires listening, observation, careful thought, judgment, and ti