BMJ opinion piece-teaching about gambling harms at medical school

A blog post by Dr Jenny Blythe 

I'm a GP in east London with a background in medical education as a former Senior Clinical Lecturer at Barts and The London. More unusually for a GP, I have a Masters in Public health, which has led to an interest in teaching at the Primary Care/Public Health interface. 

I'm currently doing an NIHR funded PhD alongside my GP work, looking at public health strategies to address gambling harms. This considers gambling, alongside products such as alcohol, ultra-processed foods and cigarettes, as a Commercial Determinant of Health, more information of which can be found here: 

A recent inquest into the suicide of 24 year old Jack Ritchie, who had been affected by disordered gambling since his teens, found evidence that, in the UK, “GPs currently have insufficient training and knowledge to deal effectively with gambling problems . . . this was of particular concern given many gamblers affected are likely to contact a GP as their first attempt to seek help.”

The following article brings together my primary care, medical education and public health worlds, and suggests practical ways that teaching about gambling harms could be incorporated into the medical curriculum. Always happy to chat about this more with anyone who is interested. 

https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o2267

Dr Jenny Blythe MBChB MRCGP (2008) MPH FHEA
Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer 

Senior Internal Examiner (Year 3)
Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry

Health Equity Fellow-Newham Training Hub