Tag Archives: Medical Observer

Health consumers

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

To consume (v) I have always thought negatively of the word consume. I blame the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), whose first two definitions are; destroy or expend and; spend wastefully. The OED knows both interpretations all too well – no … Continue reading →

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The waiting game

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

Fifteen years ago I wrote an article about the waiting room at the Geelong Hospital Emergency Department, noting that a higher proportion of Geelong residents visited it than any other small room in that entire city. Back then it was … Continue reading →

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Crowd-sourced meta-health writing: wish I’d thought of it first.

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

A mate of mine has just obtained crowd-sourced funding to write a series of medical articles on the croakey.com website. This opinion series sponsored by individual payments will be an Australian first, if you don’t count John Laws and cash-for-comments. … Continue reading →

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Ask yourself four diet questions. Or I will.

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

I just don’t have the appetite for diets. Or, more specifically, for taking a diet history. The sort of thing my health service’s dietitian does ten times daily—bless her, and all her thin colleagues. Honestly, if the patient’s answer to … Continue reading →

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What’s not to love about skin rashes?

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

Luckily beauty is only skin deep, because this rash was a beauty. Classic red rings, each containing another red circle centrally—named ‘target’ lesions after the chain store logo. “Erythema multiforme!” I announced with an Ancient Greek twang. I guess the … Continue reading →

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Running man

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

I am a jogger. More specifically, I am a jogger this week. Even an actual runner, if you don’t count the uphill and flat bits. It’s been a fast-moving week. Jogging is a fundamentally boring pastime; the only ones who … Continue reading →

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My patients’ New Year’s wish list

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

I’M STARTING 2014 with a wish list and some empathy. Not my own wish list — my patients’. That’s where the empathy comes in. I’m imagining what changes they would wish upon me, by putting myself in their shoes. Actually, … Continue reading →

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2013 cardiac news according to Shakespeare

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Dr Justin Coleman

In October, Medical Observer asked me to summarise 2013 research into cardiac risk factors. I discovered Shakespeare had got there first. Hearts. Don’t you just love them? Yet despite their adorable cardiac shape, they cop a whole lot of negative … Continue reading →

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Factual facts vs Dad jokes

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Dr Justin Coleman

My exciting tale of seeing @DoctorKarl, a real, live science geek, in my home town’s writers festival was first published here in Medical Observer, Oct 2013. This morning I took two of my sons to see Dr Karl Kruszelnicki at the Brisbane Writers … Continue reading →

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Election mode

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Dr Justin Coleman

For some reason, elections are on my mind. I have a fascination with our 24-hour political fascination. The concept that a single campaign interview gaffe might actually change who we ask to rule our land for the next three years. … Continue reading →

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