Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Our journals
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Future Healthcare Journal
  • Subject collections
  • About the RCP
  • Contact us

Clinical Medicine Journal

  • ClinMed Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Author guidance
    • Instructions for authors
    • Submit online
  • About ClinMed
    • Scope
    • Editorial board
    • Policies
    • Information for reviewers
    • Advertising

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
RCP Journals
Home
  • Log in
  • Home
  • Our journals
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Future Healthcare Journal
  • Subject collections
  • About the RCP
  • Contact us
Advanced

Clinical Medicine Journal

clinmedicine Logo
  • ClinMed Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Author guidance
    • Instructions for authors
    • Submit online
  • About ClinMed
    • Scope
    • Editorial board
    • Policies
    • Information for reviewers
    • Advertising

Formalised curiosity

Anton Emmanuel
Download PDF
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmed.ed.23.1.1
Clin Med January 2023
Anton Emmanuel
Roles: Editor-in-chief
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
Loading

A new year brings an element of planning ahead and improving from the past. 2023 is set to be a year of change for ClinMed as the journal builds on its research content while remaining rooted as a go-to journal for those seeing general medical patients as well as specialists. The title of this editorial is derived from a paragraph by the author Zora Neale Hurston, who termed research as ‘formalised curiosity... prying with a purpose’. And that is the spirit of the content we will be publishing in the years ahead.

All clinicians deal with patients with cancer, with over 18 million cancers diagnosed each year, and over 1,000 patients a day receiving the diagnosis in the UK. And oncology practice is a strong theme of this edition of the journal. The CME section, curated by guest editor and eminent clinical oncologist Amen Sibtain, is an excellent blend of the emerging science around cancer and how this is influencing management. The articles cover common clinical scenarios in acute oncology1,2 and complications of therapy3 while also reviewing the emergent therapies.4,5 The shift towards more comprehensive genomic profiling of tumours has the potential to identify greater treatment options for patients. Simultaneously, the emergence of drugs that can be used to treat any kind of cancer, regardless of tissue of origin, heralds the potential for greater ‘precision medicine’ in oncology practice.

A survey article by Opensha and colleagues6 identifies some challenges in the journey ahead, however. Selecting these targeted therapies requires sound understanding of tumour genetics, linked to identification of patients with inherited genetic errors (eg BRCA1/2). A nationwide survey of oncologists’ understanding of genomics survey reveals knowledge gaps in understanding and application of genomics and the need for improvement of training in cancer genomics.

Another paper identifying a knowledge gap and variability in training on a topic of significant importance is from Ismael et al.7 The UK-CoPACK study assessed knowledge and confidence in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) among healthcare workers. The study also evaluated levels of anxiety among staff, and contributors to that. Confidence and anxiety about the efficacy of PPE emerges as strongly related to adequacy of information and training offered, with clear lessons for the future.

A commonly occurring practical question is answered by Sievänen et al:8 how soon after a traumatic lumbar puncture (LP) is it safe to perform another LP if trying to avoid more trauma and artefactual results? The answer... do read the article to find out.

One other piece to highlight is by Hutchison et al,9 on how skin colour is classified and how inflammation presents in skin of colour. Previous studies have highlighted the under-representation of skin of colour in dermatological teaching, resulting in clinicians lacking confidence to safely diagnose and manage dermatological disease in patients with darker skin tones. The authors outline key conditions that physicians of all specialties should be able to identify and how these present in patients with skin of colour.

  • © Royal College of Physicians 2023. All rights reserved.

References

  1. ↵
    1. Palmer K
    , Wang E, Mattu R, Tipples K. The essentials of acute oncology. Clin Med 2023;23:45–51.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  2. ↵
    1. Ferreira VV
    , Ghosh AK. The essentials of cardio-oncology. Clin Med 2023;23:52–5.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  3. ↵
    1. Mahalingam P
    , Newsom-Davis T. Immunotherapy and the management of side effects. Clin Med 2023;23:56–60.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  4. ↵
    1. Nugent K
    , Good J. The oligometastatic paradigm and the role of radiotherapy. Clin Med 2023;23:61–4.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  5. ↵
    1. Morton C
    , Sarker D, Ross P. Next-generation sequencing and molecular therapy. Clin Med 2023;23:65–9.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  6. ↵
    1. Tutika RK
    , Bennett JA, Abraham J, et al. Mainstreaming of genomics in oncology: a nationwide survey of the genomics training needs of UK oncologists. Clin Med 2023;23:9–15.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  7. ↵
    1. Ismael ST
    , Manoharan G, George A, et al. UK CoPACK Study: knowledge and confidence of healthcare workers in using personal protective equipment and related anxiety levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clin Med 2023;23:24–30.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  8. ↵
    1. Sievänen H
    , Kari J, Eskola V, et al. Incidence of traumatic lumbar punctures in adults: the impact of a patient's first procedure. Clin Med 2023;23:31–7.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  9. ↵
    1. Hutchison E
    , Yoseph R, Wainman H. Skin of colour: essentials for the non-dermatologist. Clin Med 2023;23:2–8.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
Back to top
Previous articleNext article

Article Tools

Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation Tools
Formalised curiosity
Anton Emmanuel
Clinical Medicine Jan 2023, 23 (1) 1; DOI: 10.7861/clinmed.ed.23.1.1

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Formalised curiosity
Anton Emmanuel
Clinical Medicine Jan 2023, 23 (1) 1; DOI: 10.7861/clinmed.ed.23.1.1
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • References
  • Info & Metrics

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • COP27 Climate Change Conference: urgent action needed for Africa and the world
  • Celebrating 10 years of the National Early Warning Score
Show more Editorial

Similar Articles

FAQs

  • Difficulty logging in.

There is currently no login required to access the journals. Please go to the home page and simply click on the edition that you wish to read. If you are still unable to access the content you require, please let us know through the 'Contact us' page.

  • Can't find the CME questionnaire.

The read-only self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) can be found after the CME section in each edition of Clinical Medicine. RCP members and fellows (using their login details for the main RCP website) are able to access the full SAQ with answers and are awarded 2 CPD points upon successful (8/10) completion from:  https://cme.rcplondon.ac.uk

Navigate this Journal

  • Journal Home
  • Current Issue
  • Ahead of Print
  • Archive

Related Links

  • ClinMed - Home
  • FHJ - Home
clinmedicine Footer Logo
  • Home
  • Journals
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
HighWire Press, Inc.

Follow Us:

  • Follow HighWire Origins on Twitter
  • Visit HighWire Origins on Facebook

Copyright © 2021 by the Royal College of Physicians