Shez Kassam is a medical student in the class of 2019 at the university of Alberta
Across, eye to eye
Armchair, arm’s length
The heart suffers—pathologic
No monitors or stethoscope to be seen
Reflections
Addicts anonymous
Simraaj Kaur Powar is a Family Medicine Resident at Western University Windsor Campus
Sukhbinderjit (Nikki) Powar is a Family Doctor in Mississauga
The concept of addiction,
Is it science-fact or fiction?
Sex, drugs, or alcohol,
Get involved, and you’ll lose it all.
Face the reality; time to confide and confess.
To get it off your chest or cause you more distress? ...continue reading
The impact of poverty on Canadian children: a call for action
Cal Robinson is a PGY2 Pediatrics resident at McMaster University interested in how social determinants of health impact Canadian children.
On November 22nd, 2018, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government unveiled their planned reforms of provincial social assistance programs, including changing the definition of disability for the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). These announcements have been met with criticism from political and advocacy groups who argue that these represent further cuts to social assistance. Further policy announcements last year included a reduction of the planned 3% increase in social assistance to 1.5% and cancellation of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot, one of the largest minimum income studies ever developed. The Ontario Basic Income Pilot had already enrolled 4,000 low-income individuals across the province. These intended cuts to Ontario’s social assistance programs will have a substantial negative impact on the health of Ontarians, and will particularly threaten the physical, psychological and social wellbeing of Canadian children and their families. ...continue reading
The real doctor
Sarah Silverberg is an R1 in OBGYN at UBC and an intern at St. Paul's Hospital.
Please let me take your history.
I know the triage nurse and the emergency physician already asked you many of these same questions. But humor me -- let me ask them too. After all, I was asked to see you by the emergency doctor who saw you. They knew I would ask you these questions, and felt it was necessary. They referred you to me, and like it or not, you’re now under my care.
I am the resident that was asked to see you. You ask me if you could see the real doctor. Unfortunately, I am the real doctor. At least, I am a doctor; one of the country’s medical institutions has granted me an MD. And while I know what you mean – that you don’t want to see the resident, and that you want to skip ahead directly to the attending – at this moment I can’t make that happen. My attending sent me down to see you because I’m the one on consult service. My staff is in the operating room, or managing the ward, or reviewing the three other consults we’ve been asked to see this evening with other residents and students. You’d be waiting a while longer if I didn’t see you.
A Shipwrecked Midnight
Ashleigh Frayne is a Family Medicine (R1) at the University of British Columbia.”
The pavement darkens as the chill of the night settles
Stretched across the lap of the day, a shadow cat
Moving swiftly down the street, between pools of light
Cast by warm windows, freeing the damp of evening
To reach long fingers down my spine, the sigh of today.
I rub my eyes, crusted with the dread of tomorrow.
Memorial
Courtney Bercan is community health nurse at a clinic in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver
Years later, I still don’t want to think about it, let alone type it out. Three children, babies practically, dead before me. Their parents, dead beside them.
It has now been two years since I was on a Doctors Without Borders search and rescue vessel in the Mediterranean and it’s been a slow path, at times, to finding healing and peace for the things I saw and experienced there. As my life settled into a predictable rhythm, the memories started coming out of the blue and with intensity. They demanded attention. Normally, in Canada, the process of finding closure for a patient’s death, while not always easy, is not usually this difficult. There are mitigating thoughts and phrases to help you along the way:
“They were elderly and had had a good life.”
“We did everything we could.”
“At least now they are out of pain.”
Physician mental health: why we need to share our stories of struggle and success
Sarah Tulk is a family physician in Hamilton, Ontario
Despite earnestly advocating for physician mental health, my own story has remained cloaked in secrecy. As a medical student, I felt far too junior to risk such a revelation. I watched as stigma, perpetuated by the hidden curriculum, kept my peers from seeking mental health care. Still, I kept my head tucked safely in the sand, and swore to break my silence in residency. However, as a resident the fear of jeopardizing job prospects maintained my mutism. I vowed to speak up when I was staff. Unfortunately, early in my staff career my advocacy efforts were smothered by fierce judgment and harsh consequences. I wholeheartedly renewed my vows with the ostrich approach and reconciled to start talking about mental health when I was protected by more seniority. I hated the secrecy and hypocrisy, but at least I was safe. Then I heard of another resident suicide. Then a medical student. Another resident. A staff physician. ...continue reading
egophony, and other sounds
Kacper Niburski is a medical student in the Class of 2021 at McGill University. He is also the CMAJ student humanities blog editor.
murphy’s sign
yellow on the horizon
with a dark more total than
fingers moving in small steps
and smaller spaces
an ambulance is in the distance
your breathe is on my neck
what is this gall
how do you hold me
with all your living
A Song of Mental Health
Abhishek Gupta is a medical sub-intern with CAMH, who graduated from Windsor University School of Medicine.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye
A song of mental health for all,
In dark times and vanishing grace,
Give light and cushion a fall,
Where suffering is hidden,
And discourse forbidden,
Now, to change rules unwritten,
I pray, lend your ears to listen!
Where actions and mood were once controlled,
Now, fits of mania, blues, highs and lows, ...continue reading
Podcast: Med Life with Dr. Horton — CaRMS interviews
In a first "Med Life with Dr. Horton" podcast, Dr. Jillian Horton discusses CaRMS, the Canadian Resident Matching Service. In this episode, she is joined by Dr. Moneeza Walji.
They answer these questions:
- What are some strategies for choosing and ranking programs?
- Should I have a back-up program in my ranking?
- What should I do about conflicting interviews?
- What are interviewers looking for in a candidate?
- What should I do when I can't think of an answer to an interview question?
- Should I change my strategy when being interviewed by a resident versus a program director?
- How does the panel score the interview?
- Should I disclose a mental health diagnosis or personal struggles?
- Should I talk about my partner, kids, or family?
- How do I handle the stress related to CaRMS?
- And more.