Front cover: Malcolm Willett Out There BMA working abroad seminars will take place as follows: Edinburgh: 23 September; contact BMA Edinburgh Office, 3 Hill Place, Edinburgh EH8 9EQ or telephone 0131 662 4820. London: 4 November; contact BMA North Thames Office, BMA House Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP or telephone 0171 388 8296. Join the Chain: London 13 June, and Cologne 19 June. 70,000 people will be forming a human chain to protest against the injustice of Third World debt. Hundreds of medics will be joining them. Will you come too? For more details contact Mike Rowson at Medact, on +44(0) 171 272 2020, or email: medact@gn.apc.org 10th European Students' Conference: 20-24 October, at Charite medical school, Berlin. Scientific conference for medical students. Deadline for abstracts: 15 May. If your abstract is accepted, then you will be invited to present your work at the conference. More details at http://medizin.imnetz.de/esc or email Steffen Lueder at steffen.leuder@charite.de Two week course on traumatology in Croatia: 18 July to 2 August. Lectures and 'hands on' demonstrations on emergency medicine from regional specialists. Also other activities including diving, climbing, white water rafting and mountain biking and bungee jumping in Slovenia. Closing date for applications is 1 June. Cost is 1100DM (£400), which includes food, accommodation and all activities. For information contact Tom Martin, on 0181 981 1178, or email t.a.martin@mds.qmw.ac.uk If you'd like to advertise in Out There please write to: Catherine Harding-Wiltshire at studentBMJ, or email her at charding@bmj.com Please specify the issue you want to advertise in, and don't forget to tell us any closing dates.

Student BMJ June 1999 volume 7 Editorials 174 Legal medicine 175 Sex and drugs and rock and roll 176 Medical fiction 176 Reducing gun deaths in the United States News and student politics 178 Children who sleep with light on may damage their sight Thorough cancer surgery may make radiation unnecessary BMA calls for halt on GM crops Pennsylvania plans to reward organ donation Letter not seen by relevant body, Bristol inquiry told Dyslexia may be associated with cerebellar abnormalities Belgium is to regulate complementary medicine US survey reveals deficits in women's health care Women with epilepsy are not getting pregnancy advice Ashworth announces its reform plan Savage challenges Irvine for GMC presidency Face to face with the GMC - an interview with Sir Donald Irvine In brief Education 184 Emergency! 187 Choosing an undergraduate research project 188 Picture Quiz 189 You should know, you're a medic 189 Net.Philes 190 ABC of sexual health: Female sexual problems II: sexual pain and sexual fears 193 Career focus: Choosing a career 194 The doctor who changed my view Papers 195 Effects of a drug overdose in a television drama on presentations to hospital for self poisoning: time series and questionnaire study Life 199 The shadow of Hippocrates 201 A sobering look at psychiatry - Dr Douglas Cameron 202 Broadmoor Hospital - an inside perspective 203 The not-so-secret diary of a medical student 204 Planning your elective - Bolivia 206 Take my breath away 207 Coping with depression Letters 208 Patients could help to care for sick people All medical students should have experience as an inpatient Self awareness is crucial to mental health work Public should be informed about junior doctors' predicament Empathy is needed for fulfilling medical career Media must become more responsible Soundings 210 Identity crisis 210 The test Reviews 211 Polish your pathology 212 Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine 213 The Tennis Partner - A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss 213 Red Lights and Green Lizards - A Cambodian Adventure Medicine and the media 214 A prayer from the dying 214 Website of the month Personal view 215 The Soho bomb Minerva 216 Editors choice How much does television really affect the public's perception of medicine? In a culture where the media are rapidly becoming the people's bible, John Collee's editorial (p 176) looks at the world of television and its effects as society's most popular "drug." He explores whether there should be policies that restrict the portrayal of suicide and self harm on television, or whether responsible viewing rather than responsible programming holds the key. Swallowing television reality? - p 176 This month's paper section (p 195) continues the trend, with a study on drug overdoses in television dramas such as Casualty and how these affect self poisoning presentations to hospital in the real world; in the letters section (p 209), Paul Tomlins points out that if Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan had undergone five years of basic medical grounding, doctors would find it far easier to treat patients.... Laboratory lament - The trials of choosing a research project - p 187 On page 187, Stephen Page guides you carefully through the quagmire of choosing a research project, and John Bache takes this one step further (p 193) by giving advice on choosing a career. From training and prospects to glamour and status, he covers many of the factors to be considered by fresh faced undergraduates. With professionalism in mind, Marc Gutenstein examines Hippocrates's doctrine of "doing no harm" (p 199) and wonders if we can ever return to such an idyllic state of practising medicine, while Gerard Panting argues that it is imperative to teach medical students about the legalities of medical practice (p 174), just in case we ever fall short of the ideal.   The shadow of Hippocrates - p 199