Pete's Bogus Journey
House of cards
When I was a junior doctor in the late 1990s writing my first scientific papers, once each article was finished, I had to fill out an application form, print out multiple copies and then walk to the post office at...
An Inconvenient Truth: Pete’s hidden curriculum Part 4
“What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.” The above is a quote attributed to Mark Twain from the 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which follows Al...
Game show freak
As a child of the 70s and 80s, there were limited television viewing opportunities. For the duration of the 70s there were only three channels, only moving to four with the launch of Channel 4 in 1982. Not only that,...
It’s Friday, I’m In Love: Pete’s Hidden Curriculum Part 3
“When you’re in love, it’s the most glorious two-and-a-half days of your life.” - Richard Lewis [1]. The good news is that we are over the hump now and past the most depressing day of the year, which is known...
The ghost of Christmas present
“Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people.” Some will recognise this as one of the many brilliant quotes from what is considered to be the best Christmas movie ever – Frank Capra’s tear-jerker It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), although...
A Nightmare on Doctor Street
“Number one: you can never have sex. Big no no! Big no no! Sex equals death, okay?Number two: you can never drink or do drugs. The sin factor! It’s a sin. It’s an extension of number one.And number three: never,...
What’s Eating Gilbert Pete
“Please phone Mr C Lyon ASAP on 0131 334 9171” This was a message from my secretary waiting for me on my computer one morning shortly after I was appointed a consultant. The name did not ring any bells but...
Rainspotting. Choose your future. Choose Pete’s Hidden Curriculum Part 2.
See Pete's Hidden Curriculum Part 1 here Interviewer: “Mr Murphy, what attracts you to the leisure industry?”Spud: “In a word: pleasure. It’s like pleasure in other people’s leisure.”Interviewer: “Do you see yourself as having any weaknesses?”Spud: Shakes head, then: “Oh,...
Money never sleeps
“I want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich” As declared by Jordan Belfort in a motivational speech to his staff in the film Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Unfortunately, medicine as a career does not lead to...
Doctor by the sea (Pete’s Hidden Curriculum Part 1)
See Pete's Hidden Curriculum Part 2 here. “They can always hurt you more.” This is The Fat Man’s Law Number 8 from the book The House of God by Samuel Shem. For those that have not read this book, it...
The meaning of life
Supercomputer: “The answer to the great question of Life, the Universe and Everything is…”Programmer: “Yes…?”Supercomputer: “42. It was a tough assignment”.Programmer: “42? Is that all you have got to show for seven and a half million years work?” In this...
Doctor at large
“In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the… Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the… Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone…?” In this memorable scene, the monotonous...
