jjablkowski's blog

In 1897, 8-year-old Virginia turned to her father when her friends claimed that there is no Santa Claus. The girl’s father said if New York’s Sun newspaper said there was a Santa, then it was so.

The girl wrote to the Sun, “tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?” and her letter prompted a frequently reprinted editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church, which stated, “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exists, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.” 

Who should be setting priorities for medical research? Historically, individual researchers or industry has done this, without considering the perspectives of patients and clinicians. EpLink, The Epilepsy Research Program of the Ontario Brain Institute, wants to bring these groups together to understand how research can better serve the needs of the epilepsy community. 

In science fiction writer Isaac Asimov’s book, The Naked Sun, the few thousand inhabitants living on an Earth-sized planet never “see” each other. Living alone on huge territories cultivated by millions of robots they detest and abhor physical closeness to other humans. Their only comfortable way of socializing is by “viewing” each other using holograms and other visual techniques.

Doctors of BC introduces the first podcast in a new multimedia series called DocTalks. In the series, featuring podcasts and videos, physicians offer presentations and promote dialogue on timely, relevant topics impacting the BC medical community—and the patients and families cared for by physicians.

Emailed directly to BC family physicians, GP Update, the GPSC’s quarterly newsletter, is also available online at www.gpscbc.ca/news/publications.