When I was a little girl my Bubbie and her sisters, my great Aunties, got me a miniature tea set as a present. It was very special, a full set of dishes made of real china, in the classic Blue Willow pattern. I loved that set, and was only allowed to use it on special occasions and under supervision. I… Read More »Calamity ware: What’s in a plate?
It is one of my favourite sayings that being a family doctor is like having a small but important bit part in many people’s movies. Sometimes, however, it is the patient who plays a small but important role in your movie. It was my husband’s birthday this week and we decided that what he needed for a present was a… Read More »Love stories: Patients as characters in your life
Bubbie! Bubbie! Bubbie! came the excited cries as my three grandchildren rocketed into the house as my husband and I were putting the finishing touches on our Friday night dinner. This was the first time we have been able to have the whole of our Montreal family here together since the beginning of the pandemic. The children were happy to… Read More »The Bubbie business
It has been a hard week for me and for other health professionals as we face what we hope is the peak of the Omicron wave. Last week , a young man who was close to my family died. This tragic death, happening, as it did, near the sixth anniversary of my mother’s death, started me on a spin of… Read More »War stories: O, do not wish one more!
Chocolate cake has always been important to me. Well, in fact, chocolate in general has played a pretty central role in my life. When I was a child my mother, who was generally a terrible cook, had a yummy chocolate cake recipe that she modified from her friend Maytie’s, by swapping out the milk for orange juice. This had the… Read More »Chocolate cake: a medical metaphor
It was Christmas Eve forty years ago. I tucked my baby girl into her crib, placed one last kiss on her downy head, and backed quietly out of the room. I drank a coffee, kissed my husband, and grabbed my medical bag. Outside it was snowing gently in those big fluffy flakes that so often decorate Christmas cards. I got… Read More »House-call horrors: It’s Christmas at the biker bar too
The people who know me, know that teaching doctor-patient communication is my jam. As an author of the Communication Skills Role in both CanMeds 2015 and CanMeds FM 2017, I have thought long and hard about what makes a good communicator in medicine and how to teach it. I have an obsession with direct observation and I insist that the… Read More »Communication skills: I know ‘em when I see ‘em
So up front, I want to say that many names and details have been changed in this story, but sadly, mostly not to protect the innocent. One of the joys of practice when I still did full-service family medicine was to have whole families under my care. I loved seeing parents and children, knowing the grandparents, aunties and uncles. It… Read More »Conflicts of Interest
“Don’t park in the back; park in the Maxi’s lot,” I text my daughter from the restaurant table. “There you are. I can see you through the window. Look a bit to the left!” How many texts like this have I sent? How often have I sent clarifications, instructions, amendments to plans on the fly? I wonder how we ever… Read More »You used to buzz me on my pager
An election is on the horizon. Politicians across the country of every party are trying to appeal to their constituents by promising to improve the healthcare system. They are paraphrasing Freud and declaring to their aides: “Oh God, what do doctors want!” as doctors, burnt out by the COVID crisis, are retiring early or leaving clinical medicine for less stressful… Read More »Dear Politicians: This is What Doctors Want