The rural hill villages of Nepal have been worst affected by the earthquake, yet received the least attention. We asked renowned mountain photographer Nick Mason to give us an insight into life in these areas before the disaster struck to help us make better sense of the current situation.

What does it take to practice medicine in the coldest, darkest corner of our planet? We interviewed Alex Kumar and Beth Healey, European Space Agency doctors at Concordia station about darkness, hypoxia and life at -80C.

Embracing all things snowy, Rachael Parker details her Winter elective in Swedish Lapland, from midnight skiing to patient transfers in the sub-zero.

GP trainee Katie Sellens swapped locuming in the UK for island-life by volunteering as a medic for Operation Wallacea in remote Indonesia.

Jim Moonie and Sarah Abraham finished Core Training, left the English ‘summer’ and travelled to New Zealand to work as doctors for the ski fields around Queenstown. Let’s be honest – this is a dream job.

We get emails every day from readers asking how to get into expedition medicine. Tom Yeoman tells us of his first expedition, and the steps he took that led to the summit of Kilimanjaro.

China defers the vote on ketamine scheduling and the British Government clarifies its position.

Laura Gilchrist’s fortnight of dolphins, salsa, sunsets and sign language. Practicing jungle medicine aboard the Amazon Hope.

Sav Wijesingha’s video of the AAGBI Safer Anaesthesia From Education (SAFE) course in Madagascar this year.

This month, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs will consider imposing tighter restrictions on ketamine, with a huge potential impact on the safety of developing world anaesthesia.