jjablkowski's blog

Cosmetic surgery: Is it empowering our patients’ confidence or hurting it? 

This is one of the biggest debates I’m hearing discussed in the health care sector, and I find the answer isn’t black and white. Cosmetic procedures have become increasingly popular and celebrated among today’s female patients. But what about male patients? 

Infertility impacts one in six Canadians of reproductive age. As doctors, we have the opportunity to raise awareness, promote education, and reduce the stigma surrounding this issue. Infertility Awareness Week in Canada is an annual campaign that takes place every April, aimed at shedding light on this often misunderstood and underdiscussed subject.

Matrescence is a concept introduced in the 1970s by anthropologist Dana Raphael in her book Being Female: Reproduction, Power and Change. She described the complex transitions that take place in a woman’s life as she becomes a mother. In a sense, like the term adolescence, matrescence refers to a healthy but demanding change. A mother-to-be experiences dramatic physical, hormonal, and emotional changes as well as changes in her body shape and in her social identity.

The UBC Medicine Spring Gala is a yearly celebration of the visual and performing arts where UBC medical students from all four years can come together to showcase their talents and passions from 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 became the honorary great-grandfather to a baby boy, and his mom let me hold this beautiful new infant in my arms. The beauty of new life—the well-formed tiny hands and feet and the prospects for this new human’s future got to me. Tears started to roll down my cheeks. Then my doctor mind clicked on and I marveled at the biology behind the process of sexual reproduction.