By: Peter V. Richards, MB
Memorialize dying practices?
Issue: BCMJ,
vol. 43, No. 6, July August 2001,
Page 318 Letters
Daily, we hear of physicians leaving practices in our community, both to retire, go abroad, go south to greener pastures, or even to abandon the profession for other endeavors. Politicians, who are elected for very short terms in the grand scheme of things (how many health ministers have we had during my practice lifetime?), seem to be ignoring this very high wastage rate.
The press do report high-profile defections. However one gets the sense that they are insensitive to the continued loss of medical talent from the province.
My suggestion is to have a section in the BCMJ, much as we do with obituaries, which records physicians who are abandoning their practices without replacement. Maybe a colleague could be invited to provide a summary of the physician’s contribution to the medical community and other attributes. All too often, we read about these personal details after death. Too late to express an appreciative word or remembrance. Perhaps too, once these were officially recorded and circulated, someone somewhere might finally sit up and take notice.
—Peter Richards, MD
North Vancouver