jjablkowski's blog

If you’ve been a Doctors of BC member for a while, chances are the BCMJ has been quietly showing up in your mailbox for years—ten times annually, like clockwork. Some of you read it cover to cover. Others flip through it between patients or leave it on the lunchroom table where it might spark conversation. For many of us, it’s more than a journal—it’s a reflection of who we are as a profession, and where we’re going.

Patients in British Columbia are challenged by access to and availability of timely health care services, while community-based and hospital-based health care providers are experiencing burnout in independent practices. The current health care challenges require novel solutions regarding advocacy for physicians to foster resilience and deliver quality care for British Columbians.

I dedicate the following narrative medicine history to International Hearing Day on 3 March 2025.

When I wake up each morning, I have two surprises. First, that I am still alive in a reasonable shape at my age of over 95 years, and second, that I still have yearnings for an intimate and loving relationship at my age.

My wife died 3 years ago, and in accordance with her wishes, her body was donated to the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine. I received telephone and written thanks for the donation of her body, and a year ago, I received her cremated ashes, again, with many thanks.