Author profile
George Szasz, CM, MD
The desperate requests for ventilators in today’s treatment of patients in the grasp of the novel coronavirus brought to mind my encounter with breathing machines in the early 1950s polio epidemic, when I signed up as a... Read More
Staying away from each other has become crucial to slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Public health officials have instructed us to practise social distancing, stay home, avoid crowds, and refraining from touching... Read More
In 165 AD an unknown condition (possibly small pox or measles) killed over 5 million people in Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, and Italy. Roman soldiers brought the disease back to Rome and the Roman army itself was also... Read More
What does Dr Jim McEwen, a Winnipeg-born, UBC-schooled biomedical engineer have in common with Alfred Nobel, Hedy Lamarr, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Frank Zamboni, Frederick Banting, and Charles Best? They all are... Read More
When British and American forces entered the German concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in April 1945, Dr Jack McCreary was a 35-year-old wing commander in the Canadian Air Force. He was assigned to the Supreme... Read More
On 14 February we celebrate romance, often by exchanging Valentine’s cards decorated with heart symbols. Legend has it that in the 3rd century AD a Roman priest, Valentine, (now Saint Valentine) was executed for helping... Read More
Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy, on 12 May 1820, the second child of affluent British parents. She was raised on the family estate in Derbyshire, where she was provided with a classical education—... Read More
Dr Elliott’s blog post about correcting BC physicians’ income inequality brought back memories from 1951. In my first year of medicine we had a brief course that focused on vital statistics and for some reason, in... Read More
In February 1997 the members of the Canadian rock trio Rush were invested as officers of the Order of Canada. The trio’s extraordinary drummer and lyricist Neil Peart was renowned for his technical proficiency, energy,... Read More
The top 10 medical innovations that may make a significant difference in medical care in 2020 were recently announced at the Cleveland Clinic’s 2019 Medical Innovation Summit. The yearly meeting, now in its 17th year,... Read More