Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

New Osler Book

Mike LaCombe and I would like to invite you to join us at the Osler Library in Montreal for the launch of Osler's Bedside Library:  Great writers who inspired a great physician.

OBL is a compendium of the world's great literature as recommended by William Osler.   We have enlisted the energy and insights from thirty-three scholars in the humanities to produce this tome that will introduce you to these "Realms of Gold."  

OBL was published by American College of Physicians Press on October 1, 2009 and is available in both hard- and softcover.   It addresses "the higher education so much needed today that is not given in the school, is not to be bought in the market place, but has to be wrought out in each of us by himself..."  Osler, "Books and Men"

This book will enable you to pursue your personal continuous education.

Click here for Mike LaCombe's promotional letter: Download Letter to humanists  

Marginal Notes: A Socratic dialog on health care reform (V)

After leaving the pharmacy of Apothos, Socrates finds himself pursued by Litigius the solicitor. >>more

The fifth in a series of Socratic dialogs on health care reform.  Apropos of these discussions, interested readers may wish to peruse previous conversations with Aeschylus, Plato, Aesculapius and Apothos.

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

A Block in the Finger is worth Five in the Vein

by Richard Ratzan

for Miriam Aschkenasy

A table saw did it! ZZZip!
Then off went half
his left middle finger  

Not a pretty sight Nor on
the x-ray which is after all
a two dimensional template
for 3D emotion...  

read on: Download A Block in the Finger is worth Five in the Vein

Rich Ratzan is a poet, classical scholar, ER doc and much more.  He can be reached at:  [email protected]

Marginal Notes: A Socratic dialog on health care reform (IV)

The philosopher Socrates seeks advice from Apothos the sorcerer for a potion or pill to dampen the discomfort in the wound on his foot and learns a bit about standards of practice in the pharmaceutical industry.  >>more

 

The fourth in a series of Socratic dialogs on health care reform.  Apropos of these discussions, interested readers may wish to peruse previous conversations with Aeschylus, Plato and Aesculapius.

 

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

 

 

A Teenager Accompanies Grand-pere to Yellowknife

14 year-old Kate Jackson from Ottawa, Ontario accompanied Cell 2 Soul member Dr. Robert Jackson on a journey to Yellowknife, NWT, Canada.  Dr. Jackson asked her to write a brief summary of their trip.  Attached, you will find a teenager's impressions of her travels to an exotic place with her grandfather.

" One would think that a highlight of a trip to Yellowknife would be the midnight sun or perhaps all the diamonds. However, as much as these sights did excite me, I found that one of my favourite components to my trip, was not a well-known attraction, but a dessert. If it wasn’t for my grandfather inviting my mum and me to Yellowknife for the International Congress on Circumpolar Health, I would have never come across a rich chocolate torte, accompanied by splashes of colour from fresh fruit, meringue, a sugar cage, handmade chocolate straws and celery leaves."  To read more: Download YellowknifeKate2009

Please email comments to Kate.

Chef Bernard's memorable creations and Kate's favourite eatery.

 

Marginal Notes: A Socratic dialog on health care reform (III)

Socrates consults the general practitioner of medicine Aesculapius to ask both his opinion on the Athenian health care system and a favor as well. >>more

The third in a series of Socratic dialogs on health care reform. Apropos of these discussions, readers may wish to peruse previous conversations with Aeschylus and Plato here and here.

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

Voices on Health Care

On Wednesday, September 9, there was a fine editorial in the Times by Anna Deavere Smith, an actress and playwright who is also a professor at New York University.

"Over the last few years, in preparation for a new play, I interviewed doctors, patients and healers about the human body, its resilience and its vulnerability. Although our conversations were not primarily about the health care debate, they do reveal many of the feelings and thoughts of the people in the audience President Obama will address tonight.

The unruliness that now animates the conversation stems from our passions, hopes and discomforts — about life, death, who should (or should not) take care of us and whom we should take care of. The president’s audience has a million and one perspectives, some of them clumping together like blood platelets under one political roof or another. The following excerpts (not all of which are in my play) reflect the range of views.

Obama's Audience Speaks. This Op-Ed piece is stimulating and important.

Run, HIke, Blog

from the New Yorker (September 2009)

Advice for Returning Students

On Sunday, September 6, 2009, the Times had a helpful column offering advice to returning students.  The authors are seasoned professors with national and international reputations. Perhaps most helpful for incoming college freshman, these brief homolies will be helpful to all students, and, indeed, to those of us who remain students but have left the formal academes years or even decades ago.

College Advice, From  People Who Have Been there Awhile.

Educators give some helpful advice to young adults entering school this fall.

Authors and Topics Addressed:

The Hunt for a Good Teacher
By STANLEY FISH

An Argument Worth Having
By GERALD GRAFF

By HAROLD BLOOM
Get Lost. In Books

By CAROL BERKIN
Once in class, participate.

Play Politics
By GARRY WILLS

A good newspaper; will be your path to the world
By JAMES MacGREGOR BURNS

My Crush on DNA
By NANCY HOPKINS

College is never what one expects.
By STEVEN WEINBERG

Think about life, not just a job.
By MARTHA NUSSBAUM

Marginal Notes: A Socratic dialog on health care reform (II)

After speaking with the tragedian Aeschylus, Socrates encounters his former political science student Plato, who relates the latest debates in the Senate and explains the Athenian health care system from his perspective. >>more

The second in a series of Socratic dialogs on health care reform.  Interested readers may access the first conversation here.

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."