Recently I related to a retired doctor an incident that happened to my dad, and he suggested I write to the BC Medical Journal about the situation. My dad was a senior with a brilliant mind and full hearing, but he was blind. He had retinitis pigmentosa. He was night blind at age 14 and totally blind by age 58.
When he went into the hospital for heart surgery he had some experiences that could have been avoided with more thoughtfulness on the part of the staff.
Food would be brought to his bed table and later would be picked up untouched. “Sir, were you not hungry?”
In my previous columns on whiplash-associated disorders (WAD), I have discussed history-taking and the physical examination of the neck, including nonorganic findings. To follow up, I’d like to provide you with some practical tools to help in your assessment and management of ICBC patients.
An incentive payment introduced last year to acknowledge the efforts of family physicians in caring for their mental health patients will soon be complemented by a Practice Support Program (PSP) module offering specialized training and support.
Both the incentive payment and the new module are programs of the joint BCMA–Ministry of Health Services General Practice Services Committee (GPSC). The module, with $2.5 million funding from GPSC, launches in health authorities across the province this June.
As I write this Barack Obama has recently been elected president of the United States. I have never witnessed such excitement and expectation surrounding a new president during my adult lifetime. His inauguration appeared to be a joyful celebration for the whole country.
A few months ago I attended my 30-year medical school reunion. Our class of 65 (University of Calgary, 1978) was notable because half the class was female, a big step for the admissions department at that time. There were a few medical staff members who thought it was a mistake to accept so many females, the main concern being that we might finish medical school and not carry on to pursue careers. How wrong they were! In fact, not only did many of us go on to specialize, but most continued to work while raising families.
