new inspirations

What does chronic pain look like? The BMJ article 20thJune 2019  ‘What does chronic pain look like?’  provides the stimulus for this month’s post. It can be hard for patients to explain their experience of pain and for doctors to understand. The article describes a project that is investigating the value of visual imagery in […]

Thoughts about GP Training in 2019 At our recent trainer’s workshop, we discussed aspects of GP Training that have changed- this helped us understand the current trainee’s perspective. For some, GP Training was half a lifetime ago-  there was much reminiscing about a world without computers, mobile phones, protocols or CQC. We reached a consensus

A CREATIVE FORUM FOR GP TRAINEES – LEARNING HOW THE CREATIVE ARTS CAN BENEFIT HEALTH AND WELLBEING Last week we planned a one day ‘Creative Forum’ for all trainees in ST1 and 2 on York and Scarborough GP Training Schemes. A group of arts educators, local artists, a TPD and a trainee facilitated learning by:

A WORLD OF WONDER OVER 150 FREE EVENTS TO EDUCATE, ENTERTAIN AND INSPIRE Take a look at the amazing talks, drop in sessions and exhibitions that are being showcased as part of ‘York Festival of Ideas’. Why not take your trainee to an event as part of a tutorial? York GPTS are helping to run

‘Artemisia’ visits Pocklington Group Practice From Monday 29 April 2019 until Saturday 11 May as part of a partnership with the charity, Paintings in Hospitals the self-portrait by the celebrated artist, Artemisia Gentileschi is on display at Pocklington Group Practice. There will be a number of opportunities for the general public to pop in and see

It’s not just social prescribing that is making political headlines. In February, US photographer and activist Nan Goldin brought the Guggenheim Museum in New York to a standstill by staging a protest against it accepting donations from the Sackler family who own the makers of OxyContin, the prescription painkiller at the centre of the US

‘What we call the beginning is often the end And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.’    Little Gidding, The Four Quartets T. S. Eliot The last decade has seen the closure of hundreds of public libraries and the withdrawal of funding from arts projects.

It’s Christmas time. Time to be at home, time to be with family and friends, and hopefully time to be thoughtful about the lives of others. It’s a good time to publish two new resource collections on ‘home’ and ‘the lives of others’. Low calorie food for thought! Happy Christmas!

On Monday two GP Trainees and I visited the amazing Dragon Café at St George’s Church, Borough, London. We experienced first hand the power of the arts to benefit the health and wellbeing of a local community. The Dragon Café is the flagship project of the Mental Fight Club. It is open to all every Monday