Casebook of a Community Internist
Blogs
- 1/23/2022
Trust me, I'm a doctor
You don't have to look too far to see the erosion of trust. The most frightening example is the COVID anti-vaxxer. I have spoken to a few: I try not to argue, just engage in respectful conversation. . . and find myself biting my tongue. - 12/31/2021
All in the family
My daughter had spent some time in Central America. The day she came home, she wasn’t her usual buoyant self. “I’m not hungry," she said, "and I have a sore tummy.” I learned that no parent should be in the position of being father and doctor to his adolescent child. - 12/20/2021
It's a dog's life
At the end of my career, I gravitated towards heart failure work and spent 11 years running a heart-function clinic. And jings crivens, would you believe it? My dog, Cassie, gets a check-up and the chest X-ray shows a huge cardiac silhouette. - 11/25/2021
My experiences of dying
The death of one of our patients is often considered a failure to maintain longevity. It’s not a topic for discussion at the dinner table, or in the office. But, sometimes we need to go to difficult places. - 11/5/2021
Thoughts on the Triple Aim
We think we are doing a great job, but quite honestly, we should be investing in the root causes of ill-health and focusing on population as well as individual health. - 10/19/2021
I’ve got pneumonia—pass the Gravol!
Do the pharmacy colleges see the importance of packaging and information transfer, in times when we are dealing with an aging population? What can be done to address this? - 10/7/2021
Isolation and the elderly
It is not surprising that almost half of all seniors living in long-term care have been diagnosed with depression. How should we, as physician caregivers, respond? - 9/25/2021
Alternative medicine
I tell my patient, “I can’t vouch for the efficacy or safety of your supplement, but if it doesn’t harm you. . . the worst it can do is lighten your wallet.” There is a pause at the end of the line. - 9/9/2021
Unusual cases
Someone once told me, “If you don’t put a rare disease on your differential diagnosis, you will never see one,” and he was right. - 8/24/2021
Storytelling in medicine
We are all listeners, information gatherers, processors, and do-ers. We establish a connection, extract meaningful data, and formulate a problem set. With the tools we have, we propose and enact a remedial action. And we move on. - 8/11/2021
Physician immunizer
It all started when I was complaining about Canada’s slow vaccine roll-out. “Ten million doses—maybe by Christmas.” But then I felt I should stop complaining, and DO something useful. - 7/28/2021
The distribution of care
Look at Canada's primary care landscape, there are too many doctors set to retire and not enough coming out of universities to replace them. But there are a number of solutions to consider.