September

When you are looking for information on a clinical or research question, one of the best and most commonly used resources is MEDLINE. It is the world’s largest bibliographic database of biomedical literature, created and maintained by the US National Library of Medicine. 

Two new information tools are available to assist physicians in responding to patient concerns about air pollution and to help interpret public air-quality health messaging. The primer offers essential background on air pollution and its effects on health and provides a series of tips on how to decrease vulnerability to those effects. An appendix provides a guide to interpreting BC air-quality advisories and the new Air Quality Health Index.

I read with interest Dr Pankratz’s article regarding his experience with appendicitis (Appendicitis--a bad experience. BCMJ 2009;51:26-27). Dr Pankratz’s story reminded me of the best medical advice my father (a retired orthopaedic surgeon) passed on to me: “Maggie, get their damned clothes off and examine them!” 

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Clinicians in BC today have a unique opportunity to advance patient care. Thanks to the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, which supports the British Columbia Clinical Genomics Network (BCCGN), physicians are now able to participate actively in extending the boundaries of knowledge and improving patient care at the same time. 

Dr Harold James Charles “Jeremy” Swan was born in the small town of Sligo, Ireland, on 1 June 1922. He was the son of two Catholic doctors in a family of four brothers. 

As a young boy he attended St. Vincent College in Dublin, where his education was interrupted when he lapsed into a coma after being diagnosed with meningitis, a commonly fatal disease in the days before penicillin.