Not winning is good for you.

Abstract

While we will all have personal experience of losing, the increasing use of awards has raised concerns that the beneficial effects both of winning and of losing may be diluted. I will explore background concepts of both winning and losing, considering the potential advantages of awards when delivered via a competitive and just structure. Great advantages can come from losing, which are often more significant than those obtained merely through winning. I illustrate this point with my own background and that of the distance learning clinical neurology course that I help run at Queen Square. Finally, I use the example of our course as a way that some challenges currently facing medicine in the matter of neurology numbers can be tackled.