November

I read with interest and enthusiastic support Dr Oppel’s first letter condemning CME credits for what I like to call “so-called alternative medicine” (or SCAM.) I couldn’t agree with him more. I think it is reprehensible that outright quackery can be considered legitimate education for physicians. His response to the “woo woo” thinking of Dr Stephen Faulkner was also right on the money.

Motor vehicle collisions represent one of the most significant causes of injuries and fatalities in British Columbia, particularly for youth. [1] The vast majority of these crashes are not unpredictable or inevitable but are the result of risky decisions and actions by drivers. For a number of years, ICBC has been conducting research on risk-taking behaviors with the aim of reducing the frequency and severity of such crashes and to develop effective intervention strategies.

References

Last May’s kick-off workshops for the new Practice Support Program (PSP)—launching an 18-month intensive educational opportunity for BC’s family physicians—attracted 1778 GPs and 1900 medical office assistants and health authority representatives in 20 locations around the province. The workshops constituted phase one of the PSP, a joint undertaking of the BCMA and Ministry of Health (MOH) aimed at helping family physicians better manage their practice while improving patient care.

Has everyone heard about the two fad endocrine diagnoses making the rounds—Wilson’s syndrome and adrenal fatigue? In the past few months I seem to have been bombarded by patients requesting treatment for this supposedly underdiagnosed thyroid condition, or testing for adrenal fatigue.

References

I’m surprised to have found myself comfortable working in the corporate world for the past few years. After toiling for many years exclusively in the publicly funded health care system and totally unaware of what keeps business people happy (other than big profits), I am gradually developing an understanding of what it takes to be successful in business.