It was with great interest and agreement that I read your editorial “Choosing the right resident” (BCMJ 2011;53:63-64 [10]). The old way had many advantages not present with the newer, shortsighted one.

My husband and I practised several years in Saskatchewan when num­erous small towns each had their own 12-bed hospitals. There we met and treated the local people and saw life first-hand. 

Four years later we headed to Kan­sas where my husband entered psychiatry. It was he who recognized that several people there were not mentally ill but had treatable organic conditions. This would not have been so without his experience in general practice.

Another value in someone having the choice to enter a specialty after experiencing general practice is that they now have a much clearer idea of the specialty which they would choose.

Let’s reinstitute the old way and scrap the new.
—Dorothy M. Goresky, MD
Vancouver