September

This issue of the BCMJ includes a series of essays on the important yet disappearing teaching tool of mentoring. To ensure BC has a sustainable and vibrant health care system, our aspiring young doctors require role models and guidance. This has never been more true than it is today with our dwindling supply of physicians, fewer medical students choosing family practice, and doctors opting out of the field altogether to work in allied industries.

I read with considerable sympathy Dr Manes’ letter (BCMJ 2004;[4]:168-169). Later in the day I read the two-page spread in the Vancouver Sun (28 May 2004) entitled “Family Doctors Squeezed Out,” which detailed the same glaring problem. It is a problem which must be addressed without delay.

I read the article “Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in the management of plantar fasciitis” with interest (BCMJ 2004;46[4]:174-178). I am a plastic surgeon in New Westminster and for approximately the last 25 years have been using ultrasound as my main management of plantar fasciitis.

BC Medical Journal: What gives you the most professional satisfaction?