November

During one of my recent clinics I saw a patient, “Joe,” in follow-up several months after a lung transplant. I had been involved in his care for the better part of 15 years, watching the inevitable progression of the underlying disease as he made the gradual transition from employed, active individual to oxygen-dependent, severely disabled, respiratory cripple. Several times over the years I had raised the question of transplant only to be told that it “wasn’t my time yet.” Then, after a particularly severe life-threatening exacerbation, Joe agreed to enter the transplant process.

A mid-term review recently con­ducted for the Practice Support Program (PSP) provides excellent guidance for further PSP development and improvement, ac­cord­ing to the program’s BCMA and Ministry of Health Services co-leads. 

Canadians are concerned about their personal information. In fact, according to a 2007 survey conducted on behalf of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 60% of Canadians think that health information is one of the most important types of personal information that need protection through privacy laws. Further, Canadians fear that their personal information isn’t as safe as it used to be. According to that same survey, seven of 10 Canadians feel they have less protection of their personal information than they did 10 years ago.

I noticed that senior BC civil servants were recently given substantial raises to make their salaries competitive. This logic brings to mind one issue that has not been mentioned in discussions about deficiencies in our health care system, namely executive compensation. CEOs of public hospitals are paid a pittance in comparison with their colleagues in the private sector.

As a graduate of the first class in medicine at UBC in 1954, I found it most interesting to read the various articles in your September issue about the expansion and technical changes that have taken place in the last four years in that faculty. I particularly enjoyed reading the various comments made by the medical students who submitted their opinions about being the first ones to enter into the new system of teaching for three geographically separate learning areas. These students were obviously pleased to be the pioneers in this system.