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Day one of The Teaching Course in Copenhagen in 2017 connects medical education with wellbeing, performance under pressure and self-awareness. The report also explores pastoral support, social media and personal learning networks as tools for developing educators and learners.

Does icatibant help ACE inhibitor-associated angioedema? This 2017 review contrasts an encouraging small trial with a larger placebo-controlled study that found no faster recovery, while explaining why its results cannot settle treatment for immediately life-threatening cases.

Can statistical checks uncover unreliable clinical research? This 2017 discussion examines John Carlisle’s analysis of baseline data in randomised trials, considering errors, possible fabrication and the responsibilities of journals, while cautioning that an unusual result is not proof of fraud.

Natalie May continues her reflections on a year with Sydney HEMS, focusing on paediatric retrieval, drowning and airway care. These personal clinical lessons explore equipment, communication and the compromises involved in delivering critical care outside the hospital.

Whose assessment counts when a child is in pain? This 2017 appraisal of paediatric pain scales examines agreement between children, nurses and doctors, questioning whether disagreement justifies dismissing children’s reports and what a single pain measurement can really tell us.

Do teaching hospitals deliver better outcomes? This 2017 appraisal examines a large US study linking teaching status with lower mortality, while exploring confounding, limits to generalisability and why the association does not show that teaching itself caused the difference.