When I Use a word ... Changing your practice

Abstract

Be not the first by whom the New are try’d, Nor yet the last to lay the Old aside. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism How many Oxford dons does it take to change a light bulb? Change?!? The word ‘change’ comes from the Latin word cambire, to barter, but change is not always a good bargain. Many sayings deplore it. ‘Plus ca change plus c’est la meme chose’, said Alphonse Karr, talking about revolutions. And Ogden Nash thought that progress may have been all right once but that it had gone on too long. On the other hand, bad practices abound and need to be changed, and even good practices become outdated as new technologies are invented and new ideas take root. For many years, the BMJ has run a column titled ‘A paper that changed my practice’, and NICE has published a document ‘How to change practice’,1 identifying barriers such as lack of awareness, knowledge, motivation, belief, and skill, and practical, financial, and political obstacles. I recognize three broad types of publication that might change your practice. First, one that reminds or teaches you about something you already know or should—in other words, education;2 the BMJ 's ‘Change Page’ aims to do this,3 and this type of publication may be a more powerful engine of change than original research. Secondly, a single research paper can occasionally change your practice, although to do …