MEDICINE AT HOME AND ABROAD BY
I 1
i
JOHN APLEY, M.D., M.R.C.P.
Consultant Paediatrician, United Bristol
Hospitals
and United Bath
The Briton abroad who demands porridge, bacon, marmalade and breakfast may never realize what he has missed; his loss cannot be e%Pr; merely in terms of croissants, black cherry jam and coffee. Meals are fl/j joyed only at the dining-table; there are, indeed, banquets at which the\( dients are ideas, the courses are thoughts, and the waiters are words. It is not only our own compatriots abroad but, equally, visitors to this c?ll who tend to measure everything by the hallowed yardstick of their customs; and, of course, always with the naive assumption that one's and one's own stick are inviolable. I remember being told, on returning ?'< visit to some children's hospitals in Barcelona, that we have nothing whate'i learn from Spain, apart from guitar playing and bull-fighting; my inform u course, has yet to go there to confirm this opinion. It was amusing to setsr this the remark of a worthy but equally untravelled Spanish physician ^ 'i the sort of occasion when thoughts are uninhibited and tongues loosened, f' i to my gambit on English medicine: Well, Britain is an island; and is'3n are insular Though I have often tried, I find it impossible to assess the impression 3 visitors to this country take away from any centre of English medicii^'; incidentally, is it not a little disturbing that so few do come here, except ft w Commonwealth countries? But then, what would we like our visitor8 member, in Bristol, for example? Perhaps it is easier to be certain of the we would like them to forget, or never to have seen. We have, there is n? P at all, many things to be proud of. but what could visitors think of garden at Dr. X's out-patient clinic; or of Mr. Y's surgical spelaeology 1 theatre; or of Z's research ", which we may know only too well is lit*1 1 than a form of occupational therapy for the medically sterile? We tend n^ though perhaps subconsciously, to shepherd foreign lambs. When abroad professionally we too are shepherded: we are led to graze in pastures, and we must be mindful not to bleat too dogmatically when to our own fold. With this warning in mind it is, I think, instructive and certainly inters, V try to compare the standard of medicine, and for myself particularly tries, in our own and foreign countries. My own practice when I go ask not only the natives but also other foreign visitors for their views: in * a wider perspective is obtained, though this random sampling is open to criticism, and what I choose to regard as a healthy English imp c may be called by other names. I have tried this gambit in reverse at ho111 '
o^l
"
-
the|
'
"
abf?j|.a ?
"
16
"
17 AND MEDICINE AT HOME
ABROAD a
or
tempted to use a sphygmomanometer, y t ey accept it, as genera views exp v my respected colleagues when they the of follow most t oug vcious alacrity. In the remarks which than their own, other ose of doctors discussing countries own opi my
ive
often been
with forth.
stances, of
course
a
sense
of honest
ome
:nsist
indignation,
.
.
,
meeicine,, bursting often that in clinica er t e Thus, it still surprises me to hear so consi countries w o hich we modestly pride ourselves, other wor in the a country in g exp iperiors. In fact, there must be scarcely are the outstan is co ?J not believe sincerely that they themselves alone that discussion
x>n
,
?rt nn ^
"
lyertisements
^jistolian
atl?^
.
.
philosophy,
,
'
>
-
finevitably
^
ejacol?gicai drugs). W^nthetic s* It is widely ,
on t e
has now fallen of the Germans 1 accepted that the mantle standar s o me the U.S.A. the in the in ye -mericans. In many illustrious centres anywhere ractice and research are, I agree wholeheartedly, unsurpassed be a mitte it must or and great men and bold pioneers abound. But units in t fe? more remote the and them is often between a jfp'lere startling gap in their equa y is also evident * an
I 1
i
JOHN APLEY, M.D., M.R.C.P.
Consultant Paediatrician, United Bristol
Hospitals
and United Bath
The Briton abroad who demands porridge, bacon, marmalade and breakfast may never realize what he has missed; his loss cannot be e%Pr; merely in terms of croissants, black cherry jam and coffee. Meals are fl/j joyed only at the dining-table; there are, indeed, banquets at which the\( dients are ideas, the courses are thoughts, and the waiters are words. It is not only our own compatriots abroad but, equally, visitors to this c?ll who tend to measure everything by the hallowed yardstick of their customs; and, of course, always with the naive assumption that one's and one's own stick are inviolable. I remember being told, on returning ?'< visit to some children's hospitals in Barcelona, that we have nothing whate'i learn from Spain, apart from guitar playing and bull-fighting; my inform u course, has yet to go there to confirm this opinion. It was amusing to setsr this the remark of a worthy but equally untravelled Spanish physician ^ 'i the sort of occasion when thoughts are uninhibited and tongues loosened, f' i to my gambit on English medicine: Well, Britain is an island; and is'3n are insular Though I have often tried, I find it impossible to assess the impression 3 visitors to this country take away from any centre of English medicii^'; incidentally, is it not a little disturbing that so few do come here, except ft w Commonwealth countries? But then, what would we like our visitor8 member, in Bristol, for example? Perhaps it is easier to be certain of the we would like them to forget, or never to have seen. We have, there is n? P at all, many things to be proud of. but what could visitors think of garden at Dr. X's out-patient clinic; or of Mr. Y's surgical spelaeology 1 theatre; or of Z's research ", which we may know only too well is lit*1 1 than a form of occupational therapy for the medically sterile? We tend n^ though perhaps subconsciously, to shepherd foreign lambs. When abroad professionally we too are shepherded: we are led to graze in pastures, and we must be mindful not to bleat too dogmatically when to our own fold. With this warning in mind it is, I think, instructive and certainly inters, V try to compare the standard of medicine, and for myself particularly tries, in our own and foreign countries. My own practice when I go ask not only the natives but also other foreign visitors for their views: in * a wider perspective is obtained, though this random sampling is open to criticism, and what I choose to regard as a healthy English imp c may be called by other names. I have tried this gambit in reverse at ho111 '
o^l
"
-
the|
'
"
abf?j|.a ?
"
16
"
17 AND MEDICINE AT HOME
ABROAD a
or
tempted to use a sphygmomanometer, y t ey accept it, as genera views exp v my respected colleagues when they the of follow most t oug vcious alacrity. In the remarks which than their own, other ose of doctors discussing countries own opi my
ive
often been
with forth.
stances, of
course
a
sense
of honest
ome
:nsist
indignation,
.
.
,
meeicine,, bursting often that in clinica er t e Thus, it still surprises me to hear so consi countries w o hich we modestly pride ourselves, other wor in the a country in g exp iperiors. In fact, there must be scarcely are the outstan is co ?J not believe sincerely that they themselves alone that discussion
x>n
,
?rt nn ^
"
lyertisements
^jistolian
atl?^
.
.
philosophy,
,
'
>
-
finevitably
^
ejacol?gicai drugs). W^nthetic s* It is widely ,
on t e
has now fallen of the Germans 1 accepted that the mantle standar s o me the U.S.A. the in the in ye -mericans. In many illustrious centres anywhere ractice and research are, I agree wholeheartedly, unsurpassed be a mitte it must or and great men and bold pioneers abound. But units in t fe? more remote the and them is often between a jfp'lere startling gap in their equa y is also evident * an
