Casebook of a Community Internist

Blogs

• 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.
• 7/12/2021

  Pay it forward

  I was in the drive-thru lineup to pay for my McDonald’s burger and shake. “No charge,” the girl said, “the car in front paid for it.” I was confused. I asked my wife; she said it’s called pay-it-forward. I decided to respond in kind.
• 6/21/2021

  Cheers!

  I thought I should share some thoughts about alcohol, that colourless, odourless liquid that, when flavoured with various ketones and esters—becomes part of the national diet.
• 6/15/2021

  Home visits

  I remember when I was very young, our family GP, Dr. Bannister, would come to the house with his black bag. My mother would usher him into our bedroom, and he would sit down on the bed to examine my brother and me. Years later, I learned the true value of the home visit.
• 6/5/2021

  Joy

  Dr. Hector Baillie says at various times, I have heard of something quite wonderful—"Joy in Medicine." More generally speaking, "Joy in Work."
• 5/25/2021

  The Greg Cuthbertson story