On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

[Alastair]

I found this to be a very interesting wee book and here is a wee bit from it...

Instead of commanding confidence and respect, the title of "Dr," excites suspicion and, very generally, contempt; instead of implying literary eminence and Moral recitude, it implies rather ignorance and depravity, combined with impudent assurance and unprincipled recklessness. I doubt very much if the medical profession ever in any country occupied a more humble position in public opinion than it at present occupies in Canada.

If a coroner’s inquest were held on every case of death in this Province, say for the next six months, and if the verdict in every case expressed candidly by public opinion as to the cause of death, in comparatively few cases would the verdict read, "died by the visitation of God" in the great majority it would be, "died by the visitation of the Doctor". The causes of this deplorable state of affairs are mainly two—first, the state of the law, which so far from preventing quackery or providing a rod of punishment for it, Is calculated rather to nurse that evil; and secondly, the low standard of medical education in the Canadian Medical Schools.

This is part of my research into the medical profession and health service in Canada. More work to do but what I have up can be found at http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...alth/index.htm

Alastair

[1938 Observer]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

Hey Alastair,

Maybe you had better check if your doctor has a genuine degree on his/her wall or a "Mail Order" qualification.

Gordon.

[Alastair]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

I think she is genuine as the local newspaper ran a story about her and apparently she's a local girl with a family. She used to be a teacher but decided to move into medicine.

I also found out she worked for my diabetic consultant for a month as part of her studies.

Mind you it will be July before she sees me for a checkup and guess I'll learn more at that time.

Alastair

[Glesgalass]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

I have to say Alastair that I often wonder about what qualifies a person in the USA and Canada to get into the study of medicine. I have to say that I also don't know that about the UK.
In Australia in order to get into studying medicine, law, even vetinary science requires you to graduate with almost a perfect score in your final year at school.

Elda

[sandyc]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

Medical degrees are regarded as post-graduate degrees in NA. Generally speaking you have to have a degree in "something" and then you apply to Medical School and acceptance is driven by how you did in your first degree. Law degrees are similar - one degree first and then apply to Law School.
Most doctors in the UK are not "MD's". However, a person can begin a medical degree straight from High School; overall it takes about 9 years to qualify as a GP and I think that is true in NA as well...

Sandy

[FriedaKateM]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

HI to all...I have a few "rambling" sentences to add to the above discussion. First of all I am a retired nurse. I've worked with not so good docs, & have done so with fairly great docs. Our requirements have already been stated, a full grad degree, then med school, & residentship in hospital. I've seen some of those "residents"/or interns in the ER, having been awake for 24 hrs, or whatever...red rimmed eyes, etc. I myself found I didn't like the "medical" side of nursing, having worked with alcoholics/drug addicts etc., in hospital rehab & detox unit, although I liked it better than working with some other groups. My most favorite job was working as a case manager with seriously mentally ill clients on a daily basis.

Here's another topic, still on topic. My great, great grandfather, a Andrew Henderson Wilson, before the Amer. Civil War, first went out to the Gold Rush as a teen, coming back with a bag of gold, etc. Then, after buying a few sections of land in northern Missouri, he went out with a country doctor on some kind of "apprenticeship", & became a doctor himself. I have read stories of his practicing up in the upper NW corner of Arkansas, & also treating Confederate/Union soldiers, but also some of the outlaw gangs of the era. My thoughts of all this is to take it with "a grain of salt". I had debated over trying to write a book about Andy, but so far, haven't had the inclination. I do very much have a lot of respect for the general medical profession, just not all of them!!! I'm a pretty good judge of character & genuinely kind & good people. Just a few thoughts....Joan

[Alastair]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

What concerns me is the lack of time a doctor can spend with a patient. I decided to do a wee article on my impressions of the health care system in Canada versus the health care system in Scotland. You can see that at http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...mpressions.htm

That article is based entirely on my own experiences and people I've talked to. It may well be an incorrect impression and subsequent research may point in other directions but I thought I'd put it up showing my current state of understanding.

I might add that a book about Andrew Henderson Wilson sounds like a great project! And hey you could serialise it on Electric Scotland <grin>

And from what I understand Elda it does take a lot of very hard work to become a doctor. That period as a resident in hospital and the sometimes 24 hours at a stretch seems to make no sense for me unless it's to train them to be effective even is they lack sleep. However in my view that can be dangerous.

Alastair

[FriedaKateM]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

Alastair...The probs I had about writing a book about my great, great grandfather Andy...was that I wasn't sure HOW he went West, nor very much about the actual details. His father, I believe, had a livery stable. Andy borrowed a "stake" of cash from Dad, went out, got gold, came back & paid back his father. Then bought section/or sections of land. My actual grandfather was born in Hannibal, Missouri. My father did a large genealogy of all the family, but I haven't had time to get into all of it. And my dad didn't have the use of those computer programs for assist. He went to the Mormon stakes, the libraries where all the microfiche records are. One of these days, I'll crack the geneaology. Would like to afford to get a DNA swab to see where we all came from!!! Thanks for your reply. Joan

[Alastair]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

Well we do have a family tree service available Joan so you could use that if you wish. I would however highly recommend that as you add the data you export it to a gedcom file on your computer as a backup. With the gedcom file you can then import it into any other family tree program.

Mind you I'm not one to talk about writing a book but I guess you need to start somewhere. Donna sent me her "Hands" book in chapter by chapter and sent it in for me to put up on the site. She recently went back through it all I updated each chapter for her. I guess it's more write what you remember and then come back to it from time to time as you remember other bits of information.

Alastair

[Rick]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

Health care is pretty much the biggest public issue in Canada, with doctor's accreditation being one component. Former premier Roy Romanow completed a major review in 2002, summarized at this link: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/com/f...recomm-eng.php but I'm not sure that there is the political will to start fixing the system. I have every confidence in the accreditation process for Doctor's and appreciate that they are only human and that not all are cut out for the profession. However the bigger concerns are the economic pressures that require GPs to work like sausage factories, the refusal to accredit foreign-trained doctors, the physical deterioration of hospitals, lack of support staff (including cleaning and maintenance), etc., etc., etc. It's pretty clear that the system is approaching a crisis and is fiscally unsustainable in its present form, so we need to start addressing more cost-effective approaches. The future, I fear, is not bright.

[Alastair]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

This is certainly a very complex area and there are no easy answers given in part the global financial situation and also the fact of the baby boomers now coming up for retirement and all that bodes for the next 30 or 40 years.

Then there is the issue of preventable health care. Like we should be eating better and we should be taking more exercise but we're simply not doing that. I would guess all doctors tell the same story to their patients but it's just not happening. Like that 10 year healthy eating program in Glasgow which is the heart attack capital of the world. After a 10 year program to educate Glasgow folk on eating better their ending survey found that if anything they were worse off that when they started that 10 year program.

Then with those stats I posted the other week saying that some 2 million Canadians don't get enough to eat. That means what they do eat is often bulk foods that fill them up and are not healthy eating. The children are not getting enough exercise but they are not being encouraged to go out and play as their parents want them more supervised. In the old days when I was a youngster my parents weren't particularly bothered where I went as long as I was back in time for my dinner or bed time.

It's all very complex really.

Alastair

[sandyc]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

This is certainly a very complex area and there are no easy answers given in part the global financial situation and also the fact of the baby boomers now coming up for retirement and all that bodes for the next 30 or 40 years.

It's all very complex really.

Alastair

Yes it is very complex. The NHS in the Uk - even though different in the constituent countries - is at the same impasse as Canada.
We have an aging population and reduced budgets.
Of course Independence will solve all our ills.. (not meant as a dig at our member Caledonian). Someone has to pay at some point.

Sandy

[Alastair]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

You know the one thing that always seems to be missing in all the discussions are people that don't have university degrees. It just seems to me that all the reports that are generated simply lack a common sense practical approach and it's always the so called "experts" that write those. I also watched that in BP Chemicals where they decided only to recruit graduates. Most of them had to work with ordinary people in the plant and they just didn't have that practical approach to dealing with them. The only really successful person there was a non graduate and he was stuck in grade because he didn't have a university degree.

More could be said on this of course but there just seems to be a disconnect between graduates and so called experts and "ordinary" people.

Alastair

[1938 Observer]

Re: On The Medical Profession and Medical Education in Canada

Well Alastair.
You know what they say about experts.........

X = The Unknown Factor

and
Spurt = A Drip Under Pressure.




Gordon