BJGP Life – The home of general practice and family medicine

Latest

On becoming: Empathy at the deep end

4 February 2026

Empathy is not a luxury. It is the ground on which healing relationships are built — and the ground on which we remain whole.

Episode 222: Belonging, autonomy and burnout: Why GPs leave

In this episode, we speak to Dr Laura Jefferson about GP turnover and reasons why GPs leave.

3 February 2026

A note on educators’ notes: why GP training programmes in the UK needs clearer, fairer assessment governance

GP training programmes must balance two imperatives: protecting patients and supporting the development of hardworking, reflective clinicians. To achieve this, the establishment relies heavily on narrative assessment tools...

2 February 2026

Icarus Plummeting

Zigmond mercilessly describes the ways in which our healthcare systems have made us less able to listen to the patient’s experience, less able to see their experience in the context of their life, their family and their social circumstances.

31 January 2026

Opinion and Clinical

AiT·BJGP Long Read·Opinion

A note on educators’ notes: why GP training programmes in the UK needs clearer, fairer assessment governance

GP training programmes must balance two imperatives: protecting patients and supporting the development of hardworking, reflective clinicians. To achieve this, the establishment relies heavily on narrative assessment tools...

2 February 2026

Book review·Opinion

Icarus Plummeting

Zigmond mercilessly describes the ways in which our healthcare systems have made us less able to listen to the patient’s experience, less able to see their experience in the context of their life, their family and their social circumstances.

31 January 2026

BJGP Long Read·International·Opinion

Primary care in a destroyed health system: reflections on a deployment to Gaza

Each mission has taught me something different about medicine in low-resource settings, but Gaza has presented challenges unlike anything I've encountered before. The conflict in Gaza has resulted in the near-total collapse of the healthcare system.

29 January 2026

BJGP Long Read·Opinion·Stories

The gatekeepers and the wizards revisited (part 1): Seventy eight years of fairy tales

The People waited and waited for the new King and his Minister to make things better. They were not happy. And nor were the Wizards and Gatekeepers...

28 January 2026

Clinical·Podcast·Videos

Episode 221: BJGP Top 10 research most read and published in 2025

In this episode, we look back at the top 10 most read research papers in the BJGP in 2025.

27 January 2026

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Leviathans and a different sort of contract

A social contract must be framed in a way that enables people to look after other people, rather than simply creating systems of ever-increasing complexity to deliver care which is mechanical and ultimately disappointing.

26 January 2026

Opinion

The alchemy of doubt, praise, and progress

Those who are underestimated may be overlooked for opportunities, while those who are overestimated may feel pressure to perform flawlessly, discouraging help-seeking and reflection.

23 January 2026

1

BJGP Long Read·Clinical·Opinion

Just say NO: the growing toll of nitrous oxide in General Practice

Nitrous oxide (‘nos’, ‘noxy’) is sold as harmless fun — a party balloon, a legal high, a cheap laugh. But behind that image lies a growing clinical problem. A warning from deep end GP.

22 January 2026

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

How doctors learn not to listen

Students learn that ambiguity is risky, uncertainty should be resolved, and experience must be rendered legible through diagnosis. They learn to apply the gaze, filtering out the “noise” of life to find the signal of disease.

21 January 2026

Book Reviews

Book review·Opinion

Icarus Plummeting

Zigmond mercilessly describes the ways in which our healthcare systems have made us less able to listen to the patient’s experience, less able to see their experience in the context of their life, their family and their social circumstances.

2 mins read

Book review

Book review: How Animals Heal Us

"How Animals Heal Us is a deeply heartfelt work from an author with lived experience of both devastating mental ill health and the restorative power of animal friendship. It contains uplifting and joyful anecdotes of animal companionship and ministration. It is also, at times, a

2 mins read

Book review

Book review: Psychology’s Quiet Conservatism: How a Supposedly Woke Science Promotes Capitalism and Protects Privilege

"I can only recommend this wide-ranging and rich book to any doctor interested in psychology, as you may find (like I did) that you will learn a lot more about psychology (and our current social climate) than you could do from any psychology textbook ..."

2 mins read

Book review·Opinion

Give me HRT: a reflection on the BBC’s Riot Women

The BBC’s Riot Women shows us a snippet of the lives of five women navigating the menopause and forming a rock band.

2 mins read

Book review

The Leopard in my House, by Mark Steel

The shared human experience... makes it a compelling and worthwhile read... also for those affected directly by cancer or friends and relatives caring for them.

3 mins read

Book review

Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference by Rutger Bregman

Moral ambition does not mean trying to be perfect. This book is meant as a practical guide for anyone who wants to be more effective in making a difference.

3 mins read

1

Book review

Stranger Within: Poems & Prose, by Blair Smith

Blair Smith was a GP for twenty years before he became a professor and then a consultant in pain medicine. This lovely book reflects all these aspects of his career as well as his own personal cancer experience.

1 min read

Book review

The Strange Death of Medical England by William Hayes-Wood

The trenchant disillusionment of a passing generation– a long-incubated lament and warning reviewed by David Zigmond

6 mins read

1

Book review

Six books to read, give, or talk about during the festive season

"For the last couple of years we’ve had a BJGP tradition of reviewing some book-ish stocking fillers, books to give to those we love (and/or work with), books to read in quiet moments and on cold nights, and books to talk about at gatherings. It’s

6 mins read

2

Book review

Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, a Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need, By David Edmonds

It’s a struggle to reconcile what we do with those inner thoughts that we should be doing more and doing it better. Those inner thoughts, our moral sense or conscience of right and wrong, guide our behaviour, and should make us reflect to learn what

3 mins read

International

BJGP Long Read·International·Opinion

Primary care in a destroyed health system: reflections on a deployment to Gaza

Each mission has taught me something different about medicine in low-resource settings, but Gaza has presented challenges unlike anything I've encountered before. The conflict in Gaza has resulted in the near-total collapse of the healthcare system.

4 mins read

International·Opinion

When normal tests end care too early

Medicine is remarkably effective at identifying disease. Yet when symptoms persist without a clear diagnosis, it often falters—not because knowledge is lacking, but because legitimacy quietly evaporates.

3 mins read

BJGP Long Read·International·Opinion

A Gaza medical Student, a GP Surgery in Darlaston, and the quiet influence of general practice

As GPs, we often meet people at points of disruption - when plans collapse and the future suddenly feels unclear. We sit with that complexity daily: listening, and identifying what next steps might be possible.

3 mins read

Bright Ideas and Innovation·International·Opinion

Meitheal and Umunthu as guides for healthcare

Two concepts—Meitheal from Ireland and Umunthu from Malawi—offer valuable frameworks that could improve healthcare systems for all, including the health workers who work in them.

3 mins read

BJGP Long Read·International·Opinion·Stories

Two under two, one Trainer, and a town called Virginia

Anyway, that driving tutorial and mortifying nap saga have stayed with me. What I now know is that being of the community, not just in it, is what makes general practice effective, sustainable and frankly, what makes it fun.

2 mins read

Long Read

On becoming: Empathy at the deep end

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Empathy is not a luxury. It is the ground on which healing relationships are built — and the ground on which we remain whole.

3 mins read

A note on educators’ notes: why GP training programmes in the UK needs clearer, fairer assessment governance

AiT·BJGP Long Read·Opinion

GP training programmes must balance two imperatives: protecting patients and supporting the development of hardworking, reflective clinicians. To achieve this, the establishment relies heavily on narrative assessment tools...

3 mins read

Cultural boundaries of general practice

BJGP·BJGP Long Read·Editorial comment

"So is our commitment to professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes an anthropological mirage? Is the essence of general practice just a recipe for a social status and decent salary? I would like to think not ... "

4 mins read

Primary care in a destroyed health system: reflections on a deployment to Gaza

BJGP Long Read·International·Opinion

Each mission has taught me something different about medicine in low-resource settings, but Gaza has presented challenges unlike anything I've encountered before. The conflict in Gaza has resulted in the near-total collapse of the healthcare system.

4 mins read

The gatekeepers and the wizards revisited (part 1): Seventy eight years of fairy tales

BJGP Long Read·Opinion·Stories

The People waited and waited for the new King and his Minister to make things better. They were not happy. And nor were the Wizards and Gatekeepers...

5 mins read

Trainees and students

A note on educators’ notes: why GP training programmes in the UK needs clearer, fairer assessment governance

AiT·BJGP Long Read·Opinion

GP training programmes must balance two imperatives: protecting patients and supporting the development of hardworking, reflective clinicians. To achieve this, the establishment relies heavily on narrative assessment tools...

3 mins read

Enhancing qFIT bowel screening uptake in deprived areas

BJGP Long Read·Opinion·Undergraduate

This is what Andrea Williamson and colleagues have termed missingness: The systematic absence of certain groups from health data, services, and outcomes. Those who do not return their kits are not a random group — they are often the very patients carrying the highest burden

4 mins read

Are we judging GP registrars on their outfits?

AiT·BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Professionalism may not be a discrete domain on the mark scheme, yet it shapes how registrars are assessed, creating a standard that remains open to personal interpretation. And when that interpretation is shaped by assumptions about religion, culture, gender, or identity, attire can become an

3 mins read

1

Mutual mentorship: A hidden strength in general practice

AiT·BJGP Long Read·Opinion

We’ve come to believe that at any stage of training or career, every GP has the potential to be both mentor and mentee; it is a reciprocal relationship that fosters self-reflection, career development, and personal growth for all involved.

3 mins read

Caring for my grandmother: A resident doctor’s personal experience of end-of-life caregiving in the community

AiT·BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Many have discussed the challenges informal caregivers face with end-of-life care in the community... By recounting my experience, I hope to add further insight from the perspective of a resident doctor acting in this role.

6 mins read

1

BJGP Interviews

BJGP Interviews Podcast

BJGP TV | Research

1

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32

BJGP Top 10 research 2025

Professor Martin Marshall at the BJGP Research Conference

Counting GPs

BJGP Research & Publishing Conference 2026

FULL VERSION: Menopausal symptoms from breast cancer treatment

Menopausal symptoms from breast cancer treatment

1

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32

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Trainees and students

BJGP Interviews

BJGP Interviews Podcast

BJGP TV | Research

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BJGP News and Editorial Comment