What lies within us

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 64, No. 1, January February 2022, Page 7 President's Comment
By: Ramneek Dosanjh, MD
Dr Ramneek Dosanjh
Dr Ramneek Dosanjh

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

Often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, these words do not serve to diminish history, ignore what we endure, or dismiss the challenges of the future; rather, they are a reminder that what we are capable of—what humanity is capable of—is powerful beyond measure.

There is heightened awareness of the human condition in the air today. A palpable shift. A recognition of the world reflecting and becoming more conscious of its purpose and presence.

Unequivocally, humanity overcomes the greatest challenges with remarkable resilience and endurance. Our journey, irrespective of how arduous it may be at times, is a powerful feat. Cultivating resilience and patience is not without cost or pain to the human spirit, yet within the embrace of this learning we are reminded again who we truly are. We will no longer hide our pain; rather, we accept it as the flames of our revival, the light of our lived and learned experience, the driver of our advocacy, the fuel of our hope.

While plagued by the uncertainty and inequity of our current world, I am reassured by the courage from the actions and the power of all of you; you are a shining testament to the human condition.

The whole world is living and navigating its way through a global pandemic. Throughout this time, and closer to home, we also face ongoing discoveries of the lost lives of Indigenous children, an opioid crisis that continues to take lives, climate change like we’ve never seen before, and health care disparities and systemic inequities that marginalize our most vulnerable populations and rake at the souls of our medical professionals.

While acknowledging the hardships you have faced, I also recognize what you are made of: compassion, grit, valor, and leadership. I see you and the world sees you, your commitment, your humility, and your strength. You give us hope in what may seem the most hopeless of times. You are extraordinary. You make the world a better place.

As we embark on a new year, I urge you to take time to pause, to take that deep breath, and to marvel at the journey that has brought you here. Remember who you are and your reason for being. Now is the time for us to use our collective wisdom and our voices to speak up and challenge the world around us as we continue to lead in demanding times. Together we can harness our energy reserves and overcome impossible hurdles to advance a culture change in medicine never seen before, and to continue to create a profession of diversity and equity while prioritizing our health, well-being, and autonomy.

I am filled with optimism for what we can create, change, and innovate because I am surrounded by exceptional humans who have shown the world exactly what is possible.

I am grateful and humbled to have the honor of representing you this year as your president.
—Ramneek Dosanjh, MD
Doctors of BC President

hidden

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Ramneek Dosanjh, MD. What lies within us. BCMJ, Vol. 64, No. 1, January, February, 2022, Page(s) 7 - President's Comment.


Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply