2002

Possible mechanisms

I do Third World charitable work and, with a view to organizing and hopefully maximizing physicians’ efforts, I would be grateful to hear from other BC doctors who do charitable work abroad.

Dr Dan MacCarthy, director of Professional Relations at the BCMA, agrees that this organization of our efforts could be advantageous, and he has presented such a proposal to the BCMA Executive.

Dr Purkis’ concerns ("Please fix walk-in problem" [BCMJ 2001;43(2):71]) about the demise of general practice in White Rock are not exaggerated. Our communities of New Westminster and the Tri-Cities are witnessing a similar exit of family physicians from practice with no one to replace them.

Thank you for publishing our appeal to physicians in the January/February 2001 edition[1] and we appreciate Dr Leduc’s response[2] illustrating the main reason too many parking placards are being issued: physicians such as him are not treating these applications “with the same vigilance they apply to other important medical documents.”[3]

I would like to commend Dr Malleson for her informative and practical article[1] addressing the lack of awareness and implementation of emergency contraception among patients and physicians. Perhaps the only questionable move, however, is the choice of cover artwork by Jerry Wong, which depicts an aggressive, grimacing male Viking wielding an intrauterine device (IUD) as a sword.