John Cahill

It was the fall of 1966. Of course, I had tasted alcohol briefly with a sip here and sip there, but this was different. This was the beginning of a lifelong battle with alcoholism. I had decided that I would attend the sock hop after the football game. For more than three years I had dreamed of having a relationship with this one very special girl. I was a senior and she was a sophomore. I came into the dance and placed my shoes in a corner of the gymnasium. Some of my friends were lined up along the wall. All the girls were seated in the bleachers on the other side of the gym. I came into the dance virtually unnoticed as I was not a really popular kid in high school. As usual at these festive occasions the music was playing but no one was dancing. This seemed to be common practice at these events. Oh, there was some mingling going on between football players and cheerleaders, however, the vast majority of us who wandered blindly through high school, incapable when it came to communication with the opposite sex. We all thought about it but we didn't act on it. This is my real first recollection that I had such a fear of rejection and would struggle for most of the rest of my life to try and overcome that fear. Addiction would somehow enter the scene and, for time, would cover the fear gently leaving me to believe I was the one in control. This would become a disastrous illusion.

The first operation under anesthesia in Ireland took place 175 years ago when John MacDonnell, a surgeon at the Richmond Hospital, Dublin amputated the arm of Mary Kane on January 1st 1847. This occurred less than three months after the first public demonstration of the use of ether for painless surgery in Boston. Over the next 150 years, anesthesia was to evolve from an apprentice-based craft to become a highly technical specialty, integral not just in the operating theater but also to a wide range of other medical settings. The book, in the first published history of the specialty in Ireland, describes the personalities, institutions and innovators who led the development of anesthesia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from 1847 to the foundation of the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland in 1998.

The current state of medicine has witnessed the long-term adverse effects of certain medications, an increased rate of polypharmacy, and a cultural shift that emphasizes patient-centered practice. The term "deprescribing" refers to the optimization of the pharmacological regimen by reducing or cessing medications that incur more risks than benefits. Many people consider stopping their psychiatric medications, but prescribers may not know how to do this in a collaborative, systematic way. Deprescribing in Psychiatry presents a framework for deprescribing to guide the prescriber-patient dyad through the process of deciding if and when to reduce psychiatric medication, how to go about doing it, and at the same time, acknowledge the inherent risks in such an endeavour. As the first book on the subject, Deprescribing in Psychiatry stands to serve as a definitive text in this burgeoning field and as a 'rallying call' to raise crucial and topical questions in psychiatric practice, promote innovation, and act as a resource on the current state-of-the-art care. It describes the ins and outs of how clinicians can work closely with their patients to consider whether or not to try decreasing medications. It also discusses the anticipated future research directions, considerations for the field, and emphasizes collaboration with the patient, transparency, and the acknowledgement of uncertainty in psychiatric practice.

Since the economic downturn law firms that once saw growth as easy and inevitable are finding that the only way to achieve this is now to wrest market share from the competition. There is no one "right" way to do this; some firms have opted for a determined policy of buying market share and recruiting lateral talent, while others rely on more organic growth. With contributions from a wide range of thought leaders and industry experts, Growth Strategies for the Modern Law Firm provides advice on a number growth options available, and shares practical guidance designed to help firm leaders to formulate and implement a profitable, sustainable growth strategy. Topics covered include: Aligning strategy, culture, and performance management with a growth agenda Utilizing a key relationship management program to retain and grow clients and referral sources Implementing listening programs to better serve clients, and create a platform for differentiation and growth Making cross-selling a cornerstone of growth strategies and firm culture Critical success factors that enable lateral hiring to be a key to client growth Creativity and innovations impact on growth strategies for legal departments Systematic programs for lawyer business development Organic growth strategies through focusing practice specialties Holistic approaches to improving client experience that drives client growth and much more...