jjablkowski's blog

ABSTRACT: On 16 April 2022, the province of British Columbia will enter its 7th year of the public health overdose emergency. An increasingly toxic drug supply coupled with stigma toward people who use drugs continues to contribute to unprecedented increases in overdoses and overdose deaths. The Interior Health Authority, which serves medium and small communities in British Columbia, initiated a project to address stigma in the midst of both the overdose and COVID-19 public health emergencies.

Do you know a colleague, mentor, or teacher who has gone above and beyond in their contributions to medicine or health care? Someone who serves as an inspiration to others and is a pillar of excellence in their medical community and the medical profession? If so, nominate them now for a Doctors of BC award and give them the recognition they deserve.

Nominations are now being accepted for the following 2022 awards:

The UBC Medicine Spring Gala is a yearly celebration of the visual and performing arts where UBC medical students come together to showcase their talents and passions outside the medical realm. It is a beloved event that brings together the entire medical community and promotes connection, healing, and shared appreciation of creative expression. 

I recently came across a Medscape Medical News item from July 2020 about a medical student’s complaint, on Twitter, about an inappropriate description of Cushing disease in a popular textbook, Dr Pestana’s Surgery Notes, printed in 2020.

Since Sir William Osler’s call for “bedside medicine,” emphasizing compassion for patients, we have been urged to achieve the practice through “evidence-based medicine,” “evolutionary medicine,” and more recently “narrative medicine.” Now an article in the European Journal of Internal Medicine proposes “dediagnosing,” a practice framework for making people feel less ill.