Learning Medicine An Informal Guide To A Career In Medicine

LEARNING MEDICINE: AN INFORMAL GUIDE TO A CAREER IN MEDICINE, Sixteenth edition PETER RICHARDS SIMON STOCKILL BMJ Books LEARNING MEDICINE Sixteenth edition Dedicated to the memory of Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, a constant source of inspiration and strength as Patron of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, from 1930–2002 and of St Mary’s Medical School from 1930 until its merger with Imperial College in 1988 to form Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. LEARNING MEDICINE AN INFORMAL GUIDE TO A CAREER IN MEDICINE Sixteenth edition PETER RICHARDS MA MD PHD FRCP FMEDSCI President, Hughes Hall, Cambridge SIMON STOCKILL BSC MB BS DCH MRCGP General Practitioner, London With cartoons by Larry and a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales © BMJ Publishing Group 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003 BMJ Books is an imprint of the BMJ Publishing Group BMA House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JR www.bmjbooks.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. First edition 1983 Second edition 1985 Third edition 1986 Fourth edition 1987 Fifth edition 1988 Sixth edition 1989 Seventh edition 1990 Eighth edition 1991 Ninth edition 1992 Tenth edition 1993 Eleventh edition 1994 Twelfth edition 1995 Thirteenth edition 199