Britain has a number of quaint Christmas traditions. One is the great aural switch-on, when radio stations and shops start to play constant Christmas music — classical if you are lucky (there’s some variety), and if not then the same 70s and 80s Christmas hits over (and over) again. A slightly less intrusive tradition (slightly more if you have children and every child wants their own) is the advent calendar, traditionally a large card with closed paper windows numbered 1–25 that open to reveal festive images, iconically from the nativity story. There are versions that contain a chocolate for every day and even wine, clearly designed to make things more interesting for the GP surveying your blood test results of a wintry evening. A few years ago, I came across Julemysteriet (translation: The Christmas Mystery), an advent calendar in the form of a novel. It is a charming and surreal fantasy by Jostein Gaarder (author of Sophie’s World). Each chapter is a calendar day leading up to Christmas; it is about an advent calendar, the boy who buys it, its enigmatic creator, and a little girl on a quest through time and space. Each window of the calendar holds a little piece of a story, about a little girl chasing a toy lamb that has come to life in an Oslo department store, across the world and the centuries, towards the Christmas story taking place in Bethlehem. The calendar is itself a mysterious creation, a mystery that the little boy and his family determine to solve. Twenty-five years since its publication in 1992, it resonates with hope and meaning, a feeling I get when I read submissions to BJGP Life. You don’t have to throw the book away (pass it on), and it hopefully won’t derange your liver function tests. This issue comprises our very own advent calendar-mix of festive and seasonal offerings contributing to our mystery.
Academic publishing relies on the goodwill (as well as self-interest) of contributors and peer reviewers alike. David Misselbrook discusses his experience of submitting a clinically useful article to a prestigious journal, only for the more practice-oriented aspects to be removed at the insistence of peer reviewers. What is meaningful to the reader may not always be the same as what is prized by expert reviewers.
Ishbel Orla Whitehead returns from the WONCA World Conference with reflections on loneliness as a feature of primary healthcare careers, a predisposing factor in the global epidemic of poor mental health and wellbeing in healthcare professionals. As a profession, we need to understand that we are a vulnerable group to things such as loneliness. If we shy away from looking at precursors to burnout such as systemic loneliness, we remain unable to find systemic answers to it. Saul Miller takes us into a fictional but familiar coffee room discussion as GPs contemplate an education meeting on neurodiversity and inclusion, exploring the gap between what’s on offer and what is needed.
‘Do They Know It’s Christmas? is a charity song written to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The sentiment behind this song comes from a good place, but I find its title challenging. Christmas is not the only religious festival taking place during winter, and Christianity not the only world faith. Irrespective of religious holidays, people are trying to get by and to survive austere circumstances both globally and locally. Peace on earth and goodwill to all require security and shelter. Last year, Misselbrook reflected on how fragile that security could be as he tried to get home to his family. This year, Trevor Thompson reflects on I Shall Not Hate, a Gaza doctor’s autobiography and manifesto for medicine as an engine of peace. The book itself was given to him as a gift in response to discussions about the state of the world. Hirrah Syed reflects on the importance of shelter as not just a roof but also a home in her work with vulnerable, excluded, and often homeless patients.
Kerry Greenan reports on her Hippokrates Exchange in Askøy, Norway. She finds that patients know their GPs well, benefit from consistency of approach, and are understanding if they have to wait slightly longer, knowing from years of experience that their GP is there for them. This feels like a more traditional primary care model, one that is becoming rarer in the UK. Ben Hoban shares a submission on behalf of a visiting practitioner from the wintry north, who’s thinking of retiring and is seeking someone with similar values to take the reins.
Reading is not just about curling up with a book or article, but about ideas shared and discussed. Alex Burrell offers a festive edition of Yonder, taking in wishbones’ efficacy (in granting wishes), gifts from patients, and Christmas Ozempic advertising. I also discuss six books to read, give, or talk about during the festive season. It’s been another bewildering year on both a global and local level, and the selection reviewed reflects this. I am especially proud to mention Hoban’s new book, Looking for the Bigger Picture in General Practice, which originated in BJGP Life!
A few years ago some local GPs and I used children’s stories and then Christmas commercials to reflect on our practice. I wonder whether we can do the same with festive pop music. ‘Last Christmas I gave you my heart. The very next day you gave it away’ has some promise, even as a reflection on the relationship between our profession and successive UK governments! And, whether you read with Bach, Crosby, Enya, or Slade, in the hubbub of a coffee room, or in the quiet of a consulting room, this month’s BJGP will offer something to think about, and hopefully talk about.