ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR
- 6/27/2012
Considering nursing home work? Here's a preview
I find that by visiting the nursing home three times a week for a few hours, the job is much easier and I nip problems in the bud. The staff, patients and their families love it and I have one of the fewest rates of emergency department transfers in our area of 35 homes. - 6/20/2012
The art of treating depression
Depression is so hard to treat because it often comes disguised as organic disease. Anyone with unexplained pain, fatigue or weight loss who has a normal history and physical, lab (CBC and STSH, electrolytes, blood sugar) and imaging should be suspected. Refer the patient to a specialist if you (or they) are unsure about the diagnosis. - 6/11/2012
Discharging patients from the hospital: a thankless task
I work as a medical consultant on emergency wait times for eight hours of my week. A huge factor in emergency flow is backup of patients from the wards into the ER. There is little incentive to send patients home and huge disincentives. - 5/24/2012
Tricks of the trade: lessons from 38 years in medicine
Here are some things I have learned (some the hard way) over the last 38 years of emergency medicine and general practice. - 5/17/2012
Would you fire your patient for non-compliance?
I recently read where a pediatrician fired a family for refusing immunizations. Also, a few years ago I read of a patient in Western Canada who was fired for smoking. - 4/26/2012
My best and worst educational experiences ever
I went to a talk last week and it was the best CME I've done in my 42 years as a medical student and doctor. The week before I had my worst one. What was the difference? - 4/19/2012
How two rite good
Stephen King wrote a great book on how to be an author and he makes the very good point that it is a job like any other—you have to devote time and concentration to it. - 4/12/2012
Attention hoarders! Tips for spring cleaning your office
How to get past "What if I need this 1924 phone bill?" and other cleanup excuses. - 3/28/2012
Do you 'Evel Knievel' your vacations?
Evel Knievel was a motorcycle riding daredevil who used to jump a line of parked buses by driving up a ramp and becoming airborne until he hit the down ramp on the other side. That's what I feel like when I try to take a vacation. - 3/22/2012
Doorstep diagnoses: when friends and neighbours want medical advice
The cottage season will be coming soon and I will have lots of people on my doorstep looking for advice or treatment, and wanting to avoid the long drive into town and the even longer wait in our northern Ontario emergency department.