The conference face-off

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post. Thanks for checking faithfully and putting up with my sporadic blog contributions.

I just got back last night from a conference in Ottawa on Palliative Care. I also went to a conference a few weeks ago on family medicine in Vancouver. It seems that all the conferences are in a clump in the fall for some reason. Anyway, the family medicine forum in Vancouver was MASSIVE with 2800 people in attendance and many many sessions scattered throughout the day. It was good with lots of useful sessions. But it was the palliative care conference where I really felt at home - just the right mix of head & heart sessions. Sessions like "Top pharmacolgy tips for palliative care" and "Exploring the mystery at the end of life" touch on some of the variety. Also there was a keynote from a lawyer discussing some of the ethical issues currently being debated in Quebec re physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. I got to say hi to a couple of BC folks that I recognized and to have a quick but useful chat with the woman who will decide whether I get into palliative care at UBC for a third year of training. I thought it was somewhat funny that she mentioned someone with a similar name as me was very keen a few years ago but then had a baby - she then said "So don't get pregnant." Definitely a comment that only a woman could get away with.

I'm currently doing a geriatrics rotation and it's pretty good but not so much focused on learning rather a lot of work, so I'm going to try to maximize my learning in the next 2 weeks as it comes to a close.

Well, I think that's all the thoughts I have in my head for now. I'll see what I can do to come up with some more reflection and useful contributions in the next few days. thanks for checking in!