"The vaccines scare us because the diseases don't. And they don't because of the vaccines."

One of the most compelling paragraphs I've read in support of vaccinations (read the entire outstanding article at http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/03/correlation_causation_vaccinat.php).

Leaving children unvaccinated means going back to:

• Leg braces and iron lungs for people with polio (57,628 cases in 1952)
• Encephalitis and sterility for people with mumps (200,000 cases a year in the 1960s)
• Congenital rubella syndrome for children whose mothers contracted the illness during pregnancy.
• Blindness, pneumonia, encephalitis, and death--one per thousand--for people wth measles (nearly 1 million cases a year in the US before vaccines).
• Encephalitis and pulmonary hypertension for people with whooping cough--thanks to people who don't vaccinate their kids, in 2001, 17 people, mostly infants, died of pertussis (200,000 cases in 1940).
• Cardiac arrest and paralysis for people with diptheria (207,000 cases and about 15,000 deaths in 1920).

The vaccines scare us because the diseases don't. And they don't because of the vaccines.

In class we had a professor tell us that we will encounter parents not interested in vaccination. I know some personally, so this was no surprise, but believe it or not this was news to some of the medical students in my class.

"Some of them you can reason with," the professor explained, "but you will have some parents that simply won't change their minds. For them, you can argue 'till you're blue in the face, but they just won't change their opinion. From personal experience, I've found that it's just simply not worth the time to try to change their minds - they just won't budge."

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Is there anything in your life causing you stress?

The reason for the patient's visit only said "difficulty sleeping," and the inexperienced first-year medical student had been sent in to take a preliminary interview.

It was going well, as usual. The patient was asking about work stress, home stress, and the like, and the patient kept responding that there wasn't any stress in those areas.

"Is there anything else that could be causing you stress right now?" the student asked.

The patient replied, "Well, nothing, other than my trial."

"Your trial? Are you a lawyer?"

"No," replied the patient. "I'm currently on bail, but I have a trial date coming up next month. I have to go on trial because I murdered my boss."

Note the patient didn't say "on suspicion of murder." The patient flat out admitted that he was on trial "BECAUSE I murdered my boss."

Apparently the doctor knew about this rather unsettling part of the patient's history, but sent the student in unaware... just to teach the student that you should never make assumptions about your patient.

Lesson learned? I'd say.

I am so glad that my family practice supervising doctors never put me in a situation like this.

Oh, and yes, while identifying details have been changed, this is a true story.

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Words I'd use to describe med school: Collegial

Medical school has provided me with the opportunity to meet some incredible people. I've already used the word Honour to describe medical school, and now I'll explain why I feel medical school could be described as Collegial as well. From inspiring classmates to amazing physicians, I've been inspired by so many of the people I have met, and how much I feel a part of a profession that works together to provide patient care.

I've written about some of my amazing classmates (more than once), but not yet about the amazing doctors I've met. Based on my experiences with doctors ranging from the high-profile leaders to the average family physician, being part of med school has made me feel as though I am a part - not just an observer - of a collegial body of professionals.

By the time this year is over, I will have had the opportunity to meet the president of the Canadian Medical Association and my province's medical association multiple times, at both conferences and events held specifically for my school's medical students. These individuals are frequently in the media and it's a great opportunity to be able to speak with them in person.

As well, I had the chance to sit as the student representative for a board of director's meeting for my province's medical association. I was surprised that I had already met or knew of many of the physician representatives there, either through shadowing, at conferences, through initiatives I've worked on or because their children are in medical school, and how many more of the doctors that I didn't know who were willing to get to know me and make sure I didn't feel left out.

Finally, some of the doctors I've been most inspired by are those who don't have fancy titles or national profiles. At conferences, society dinners or through shadowing experiences, I've had so many experiences where the phyisicans have been willing to approach the medical students and make us feel welcome and at home. Rural doctors especially are always trying hard to show us how much they love their jobs, and how well they can balance their lives and professions. And they tell great stories - from what it's like to be a rural doctor, to, well, stories that end like this (best told in a Scottish accent): "So there he is, pants at his ankles, nekkid from the waist down, nurses watching, singing 'Away in a Manger' in Portuguese...with a sigmoidoscope up his arse!"

No group of people is perfect, and I do hear of the disparity in perspectives of the specialists association and the family practitioners association, especially on issues such as fee distribution. But personally I've felt overwhelmed at the feeling of acceptance that I've experienced, and I genuinely feel that two years ago I wasn't just accepted to medical school - I was accepted into the medical profession.

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Canada needs more doctors.

Please visit

www.moredoctors.ca

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This memorial service is unique in that it is so much more.

"You'll never see this again in your career," the anatomy prof warned us.

This week's anatomy lab, our last, was a particularly unsettling one for me.

Even though we have done a number of dissections of every part of the body, most of them have retained the semblance of normal anatomy - while we've dissected the entire abdomen and thorax and arms and legs, we haven't removed limbs or anything.

So when the anatomy professors showed us an incredible way to visualize the neck components from the back of the mouth to visualize the epiglottis, trachea, larynx, and then demonstrated the technique, I had a bit of trouble watching.

That's because the dissection technique, shown to us by the anatomy instructor on the demonstration cadaver, involved dissecting through the back of the neck... to the point where the heads of our cadavers were rolled forward and almost entirely removed from the bodies.

It was true - the technique provide a fantastic way to understand the anatomy, and I learned a lot from it.

But seeing a person's body with the head nearly removed, even though I have seen them dissected in every other region, was just a bit much. I was reminded again about how these "specimens" are actually human beings who at one point cared about us and our future patients enough to donate their bodies to our anatomy program.

I don't get the chance to thank the people our cadavers once were, and sometimes I wish I could. But because I can't, I decided to post a speech I gave at the memorial service our school held for the families of the body donors...a tribute of gratefulness, in memoriam.

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Welcome, medical faculty, the students of medicine, dentistry and rehabilitation sciences; and most of all, we would like to extend the warmest welcome and deepest gratitude to the families of those in whose memories we gather. Thank you for coming.

My name is Vitum Medicinus, and I'm a representative of the second-year medical class. I've been asked to welcome you here and to convey the feelings, experiences and, most of all, the appreciation of the students who have the incredible privilege of learning anatomy in the best way possible thanks to the incredible gift your loved ones have given us, through the anatomy program at our medical school.

This ceremony is a unique one. Many memorial services focus on celebrating the life of the individual being remembered. In that sense, this service is no different.

But this one is unique in that it is much more than that - it is a service of admiration and gratitude, in memoriam of those who have given so much of themselves, and in doing so, have taught us so much about the intricacies of science, using so few words.

Every student in these faculties would tell you that no textbook could ever equip us to understand and aid our patients in the way the donors have. The anatomy program is an educational privilege that none of us could ever take for granted.

And yet, beyond the lessons of science, through their actions the donors have taught us many more lessons.

For example, they have taught us about bravery. Thinking ahead to one's own final moments is not always a comfortable thing to do.

And they have taught us about selflessness and altruism. They have given as much of themselves as they could, to ensure that we, as tomorrow’s health care practitioners, will have the best possible preparation for tending to those who need our help.

Through their generosity, the donors have indeed set a high standard for us, in demonstrating the qualities that we future dentists, doctors, and therapists, should all hold dear when we treat of our future patients.

And so we thank them, and wish we could share with them, tell them how much we appreciate their decision.

While they have taught us so much with so few words, it would take all the words in the world for us to begin to show them our thankfulness, which is what we will try to begin to do today.

The students you see here have put together this service in its entirety in an effort to show our respect and appreciation, and in memoriam of the contributions of these generous individuals.

All parts of this service - the candlelight procession, readings and musical performances, are dedicated to the memory of those whom we have come to pay our respects and gratitude to today.

(Read more about last year's service...)

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