Cells Are Awesome

As evidenced by the video below:

CaRMS is Scary

And kind of exciting. Yesterday was match day for Canadian med students graduating in 2009. That will be my match day in three years, and I'm realising that that time will go by quickly, and that on the day I'll have my future career determined to a great extent.

Best to focus on the present, though. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. Surgery is interesting, areas of internal could be good. What do I want in terms of lifestyle, practice, and location? What *can* I get? It's hard to say. Fortunately I have lots of opportunities to try things out. But that CaRMS match day, though seemingly far off, requires preparation and lots of thought. Maybe it's best not to think about it too much, but I still seem to be (it's a decent enough way to avoid studying at least!).

Update: Ahem. CaRMS = Canadian Resident Matching Service.

Google Lies

Well, probably not intentionally. But don't trust Google Maps implicitly, for you might end up with something like this:


View Larger Map

Note the portion of Dalhousie University located at right, and you'll notice something called the Halifax Infirmary. Sounds like a hospital, right? Well, it was, until it was replaced and later demolished... in 2005. In fact, the original building has been vacant since 1998, as the "New" Halifax Infirmary opened in 1996. What's notable about this? Well, Google didn't exist until Sept. 1998, and Google Maps didn't appear until Feb. 2005, admittedly a few months before the old Infirmary was torn down. Though it had been vacant for some seven years before that.

The question remains - why is the HI still appearing on Google Maps in a location which for three-and-half years has existed as a vacant patch of gravel next to a pay parking lot?

Naturopathy in BC?

I'm not surprised this is happening in British Columbia:

Naturopathic doctors in B.C. could soon be allowed to prescribe medications if the provincial government goes ahead with plans to change its health profession regulations.

The changes would make B.C. the first province in Canada to grant naturopathic doctors the authority to prescribe drugs such as antibiotics, painkillers, and antidepressants.

But the B.C. Medical Association is concerned about the potential move, arguing patient safety will be put at risk if the changes are allowed.

In a letter written last month to the province's medical doctors, BCMA president Bill Mackie said the association "is significantly concerned with the expansion of scope proposed for naturopaths... "

Thoughts on this? The College of Physicans and Surgeons of BC is very opposed, mainly on the grounds of patient safety (which are quite well founded - to start with, naturopaths don't have remotely equivalent training to physicians of any kind, much less nurses or pharmacists, when it comes to prescribing drugs, ordering diagnostic tests, or, well, making diagnoses of any kind.

And isn't it kinda ironic that naturopaths - who disdain pharmaceuticals as part of their MO - want to be able to prescribe them? (I'm not into the whole "holistic" versus "reductionist" argument either. There is a way based on evidence and science and another based on an odd mix of traditional/folk techniques (some with actual benefits) and wonky homeopathy.)

Plus, when I think of naturopathic "medicine", I am always reminded of this:

TOR: No. You know, I am not a business man. I'm a holistic healer. It's a calling, it's a gift. You see, it's in the best interest of the medical profession that you remain sick. You see, that insures good business. You're not a patient. You're a customer.

JERRY: (He thinks this, the audience can hear his thoughts) And you're not a doctor, but you play one in real life.

Just because naturopaths call themselves doctors and stick "ND" after their name like it's a university degree (it isn't, at least not in Canada) doesn't make them such or qualified to pretend that they are.

Rick Mercer Explains Politics

And it's not really that complicated: Canada Explained

Endoscopy is Cool

Gastroenterology is very procedure-based. I saw one of these today.



Down the esophagus, through the lower esophageal sphincter, through the body of the stomach, down the antrum, and out through the pylorus into the duodenum.

New name!

I think it's about time I rechristened this blog, particularly since I'm no longer living in Waterloo and unlikely to return there that soon (and certainly not to live). It is very wintry in Halifax, though, so I might consider going with "Habitating in Halifax" - nice and alliterative. That's perhaps a bit silly, though, so I might have to think of something else. I might change the template too. We shall see! I'm welcome to any suggestions of course.