“So remind me again, Alice is now Alex, Katie is Kit and Ellie is what?” When my 11-year-old daughter started at an all-girls secondary school, I was keen to show an interest and tried hard to remember the names of her classmates. I never imagined that three years on I would have to start re-learning their names, as a number took on gender neutral identities and some began struggles with their gender identity. ...more

What does health equity actually mean in the era of modern healthcare? Put simply, health equity is the absence of disparities in healthcare. Health disparities are systemic and avoidable health differences between groups, due to factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, socioeconomic status, religion, and other characteristics associated with discrimination and marginalization. These disparities have existed for centuries, however the COVID-19 pandemic has played a vital role in highlighting and amplifying them. The importance of addressing health inequities and social determinants of health has become clear across many therapy areas, especially as medicine shifts away from a “one-size-fits-all approach” towards patient-centric and personalized care. ...more

As an independent medical education provider we cover a range of conditions across many therapy areas. Applying for grants we can’t always choose, but we do not treat any disease differently. We are always committed to delivering freely accessible high-quality learning to a global multidisciplinary healthcare audience. Our purpose is to disseminate evidence-based, practical knowledge to those who can implement and translate it into practice to improve outcomes for their patients. ...more

Sweaty palms as the plane takes off, nose pressed against the window staring through the clouds at the foreign land down below, the excitement of having a pristine hotel room with ensuite bathroom all to yourself, wondering whether the meatballs in Stockholm will taste better than the ones in Ikea. These aren’t the thoughts of a child, but a 54-year old man going back to an in-person conference for the first time 3 years. ...more

Unknowingly, I have walked past the Springer Nature offices almost every weekday for the past five years on my way to school. The automatic doors would slide open as we walked past in the early mornings and we would sometimes look inside past the barriers guessing what they would lead to.  ...more

As restrictions in the UK are beginning to feel like a thing of the past, I have been reflecting on my time with the Springer Healthcare IME team, having joined amid the global pandemic in January this year, and plunged into the deep end with the entrance into a new disease area. ...more

Last Thursday (7th July), the IME team put on their black tie outfits to attend the 2022 Communique Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Mayfair. We had two programmes shortlisted as finalists that evening, and we were absolutely delighted when one of our entries (our rare disease “FOP: Recognition, Treatment and Hope” program) won the category entitled Excellence in Professional Education Programmes. We beat off strong competition from large agencies such as Langland, Havas and Lucid, in one of the most hotly contested categories that evening (it had the highest numbers of finalists of any category). ...more

What do patient-reported outcomes, precision medicine, and shared decision making actually mean in the modern era of healthcare? Evidence-based guidelines and expert consensus now highlight the importance of incorporating patient preference when developing management plans. Patients who are empowered to contribute to decisions about their medical care often experience improved outcomes, such as reduced anxiety, faster recovery and increased adherence to their treatment regimens. ...more