Yesterday, at 11 am, as Canadians began the 2 minutes of silence to mark Remembrance Day, I found myself contemplating what it must have been like for all those at the front line when they learned that the war was over. I contemplated the members of the Medical Corps in particular. I could imagine them …
At least once a week, a parent will express concern to me that their child has an “internet addiction”. When you consider how rare it is to see an adolescent without a smart phone, this certainly seems like a reasonable worry. However, one could just as easily wonder how many adults have an internet addiction, …
Yesterday I was interviewed by Craig Oliver for his TV Program Challenges and Change on the topic of Mental Health. One of his questions to me was, “How do you help a child to develop resilience?” I wasn’t especially happy with my answer, but I thought about this question and did some research. I can …
My weeks in the middle of October are crowded with patients – often patients I am not supposed to see since they are over 18 and my program does not extend beyond 18 years. These patients, however, know me and I know them. They turn first to someone they know, and I have told them …
It is forty years since I graduated from McGill Medical School in 1978. Forty-four years since I first walked into the Pine Avenue entrance of the McIntyre Medical Sciences Building. It was a bright, warm September morning. I remember that the auditorium was already dark when I entered, and steep-pitched. I took a seat on …
About a week ago, while on holiday, I received an email from my son reporting on the damage caused by tornados that touched down in the Ottawa area on Friday, September 21. Environment Canada reports that six tornados touched down in total although two were responsible for the bulk of the damage. While my own …
College and university students and their parents are likely wondering how the legalization of cannabis will affect campus life. Cannabis will be legal as of October 17, 2018 in Canada and, even if there are no cannabis outlets on campus, it doesn’t take a lot of marketing ingenuity to decide that an outlet close to …
Last week, I spoke at the Central Asian Regional Congress of Medical Women’s International Association on the topic From Texting to Talking: 3 Proven Strategies for Connecting With Your Teen. After the talk and over the course of several days, participants approached me with their questions and concerns. Thailand is completely on the other side …
I am having an experience that I find extremely anxiety-provoking. I am giving a presentation in Thailand to a large group who do not speak English as a first language on a topic that I think is very straightforward. I know from experience that this could go very badly. In the past at times like …
Every weekday at noon, I grab a cup of tea and a pile of charts and cozy up to my speaker phone. Thus prepared, I begin to call the family doctors who have referred patients to me. I speak with about 15 family doctors in the two hours between noon and 2 p.m., reviewing assessment …
