In 1976, I walked into the McIntyre Medical building at McGill to register for my first year of medical school. In the line I ran into a guy I knew slightly in high school. He looked at me with great surprise. “What are you doing here?” he asked. I explained I’d been working in women’s health for a few years… Read More »The old school dissection room
This story arose from a conversation I had with my friend, James Booth. Jamie Booth is married to my friend and classmate Jane Easdown. They both work in Nashville. Jane is a professor of anesthesiology and Jamie is a professor of moral philosophy. Jamie moonlights in the prison system as a lay minister. He described his group, men who had… Read More »The tricky thing about loving-kindness
“To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born,” – David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Actually, to start before I was even thought of, my parents were a love match that defied the conventions of their time and the desires of my mother’s family. My mother was an architect, one of the first… Read More »A brush with death made a doctor out of me
How can I find a doctor like Maria? One of the problems of getting old is that our doctors tend to get older with us. We know that having a good family doc is the best way to stay healthy and age well, but what will happen to me when my wonderful physician finally retires? I am going to visit… Read More »How do you solve a problem like not having a doctor like Maria
At large family gatherings, like the Passover Seder, people tend to sit in generations. The elders are at the head of the table. Middle-aged people next, where they can stage manage the serving and clearing. Teenagers tend to sit where they can make a quick exit when the meal starts to drag, and young children and their parents are stuck… Read More »In memory of Dr Apostolos Papageorgiou – A teacher who helped me become who I am
Every summer the Cote St. Luc Dramatic Society puts on the Senior’s Summer Play. This play takes a well-known musical and creates a satirical version, usually with a Jewish twist to it. In the past few years my husband, Dave, has joined the group. He was sweet Solly Brown in “Zadies and Ladies,” and the Zaidie in “My Fair Zaidie.”… Read More »Stop, look, listen is our stop, drop and roll
Mrs. Jackson and I have been through a lot together. I learned a lot from her and enjoy seeing her. I first got to know her when I started in St. Henri. Bob, the doctor from whom I had bought the practice, carefully transferred the couple to me. In 1986, it was Mr. Jackson who was the great concern at that… Read More »A preferred death
When Mrs. Jackson came back from Holland after her husband died, she was like a new woman. The stress and strain of taking care of a dying man day and night had taken its toll, but six months vacation in her childhood home had revitalized her. She looked great. Suddenly her blood pressure began to get completely… Read More »A question of pressure
Ok, I admit it, I am going through withdrawal and it’s hard! I have been addicted to this drug for over 40 years. It soothed me, stressed me, shaped my days as I have structured my life around the addiction. I am speaking of the addiction I have to the practice of medicine. This week, I was wandering through the hospital… Read More »Going through withdrawal
My medical career started because I wanted to be a hippie. In the summer of 1969, the hippie movement had arrived in Montreal. I was fascinated by the groups of long-haired fantastically dressed people hanging out in front of Christ Church Cathedral on Ste Catherine St., or around the “Three Bares” fountain on the McGill Campus. So, I would dress… Read More »People knew I was going to medical school before I did