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Editorial 0 Comment d. W Canadian Stattsmau August 3,1994 Future Doctor Learns About Small Town Medicine by Lorraine Manfredo A fourth-year medical student from Toronto has been making the rounds at Bowmanville Memorial Hospital for the past two weeks under under the guidance of Dr. Howard Bulk, family medical practitioner. Fan-Wah Mang chose to study under Dr. Bink, a family friend, in order to get a feel for what family practice in a small community is all about. For the next few weeks, she will be getting a practical education, seeing seeing patients in the emergency ward and in the clinic on Church Street "For the first three years of medical medical school we spend our time going to lectures, studying from books and we spend very little time in practical study with patients," she said. One of the highlights for Fan- Wah so far has been the delivery of twins, but she finds every aspect of her training at this stage fascinating. She sees her month-long posting at Memorial as a balance between working and learning, which is how she intends to continue throughout her career. Before entering medical school Fan-Wah had hoped to be a teacher. teacher. But after thinking deeply about her future, she realized she was only seeing the pluses in teaching and not the minuses. She admits medicine has its drawbacks as well. "You can't solve all the problems," problems," she says. "You realize doctors doctors aren't saviors and that we can't take away disease. We can't erase things that happen to people. All we can do is make the road a little easier." easier." For his part, Dr. Howard Burk is pleased to be Fan-Wah's guide to small-town family practice. "Teaching keeps you honest," he says. "You can't just accept certain things and simply do them. Students want to know why, so you have to stop and question yourself." Before coming to Memorial Hospital Hospital in Bowmanville, Dr. Burk was at Wellesley Hospital in Toronto. It's easier to get shoved into one area of health in an urban centre, he says. In a smaller centre, a doctor deals with everything from delivering delivering babies to treating heart attack patients. It was through electives in Thunder Thunder Bay, Sioux Lockout and Midland Midland that Dr. Burk decided he wanted wanted to practise in a small town. With her limited experience, Fan- Wah can't say whether she wants to be a city doctor or a country doctor. Next month, she has accepted a posting at a family practice in downtown downtown Toronto. "I. want to compare urban and rural medicine," she says. In a way, that decision may be made for her, she adds. It may depend depend on whether she chooses a specialty specialty such as neurosurgery or general general internist, which would mean she would wind up in an urban setting. setting. Dr. Burk hopes to welcome another another family practice resident to Bowmanville next April. W Got a question about your child's ear infection? Worried about too much caffeine, or not enough folic acid in your diet? The expert to ask is your doctor, of course. But the computer at the library library can be a tremendous help too. "The Health Reference Centre is a one-stop source for any health- related information," says Jo-Anne Westerby, Co-ordinator of Public Service at the Bowmanville branch. As she keys in the commands, the Info Trac program springs to life. "It's up to date, which a lot of books aren't, and it's a nice way to fill in the gaps." Often, people want more background background about a subject than their doctor has time to explain, Westerby Westerby notes. "Most people come in after they've been diagnosed and want more information." The system is also a great help for forming questions to ask at your next doctor's appointment, she adds. Right now, the data base contains articles from magazines (everything from Glamour to the Journals of Gerontology), Gerontology), newspapers, pamphlets Visitors to the Bowmanville library appreciate the Health Reference Reference Centre because it's up-to-date, confidential and easy-to-use, says Jo-Anne Westerby, co-ordinator of Public Service. The database database contains four years of health-related information from over 100 popular magazines and professional journals, more than 500 education education pamphlets, as well as the full text of five leading medical reference reference books. The system is updated monthly. and reference material published between between May 1991 and May 1994 Every month, newer issues are added and the oldest months are dropped to keep the system constantly constantly updated. A sampling of topics includes alcohol alcohol and drug use, sports medicine and training, coping with chronic disease, nutrition, pregnancy and childbirth, law and medicine, occupational occupational health and safety, AIDS, cancer, lupus and heart conditions. Westerby says the Health Reference Reference Centre is especially useful for subjects such as pregnancy and diseases diseases such as lupus which are undergoing undergoing a wave of current research. The first thing that the user gets is a dictionary definition of the topic chosen. Then, he or she can select from a number of articles related to the subject and even cross reference two subjects, such as "nutrition" and "pregnancy". Users can read articles on the screen, scan summaries, or print out the entire text of an article. (The first ten pages are free. After that, it's 20 cents per page.) The push in the medical community community is to get patients to be more responsible responsible for knowing about their own health, Westerby notes. "But we stress that the program be used in conjunction with visits to. the doctor and not be used for self- diagnosing." The public has responded well to the program, now in its fourth year at the Bowmanville branch, Westerby Westerby says. In fact, the library is now considering the purchase of a similar similar system for general interest topics. topics. When Dr. Howard Burk was asked if he would take a medical student student from the University of Toronto under his tutorage this summer he jumped at the chance. The Bowmanville family physician was pleased to introduce Fan-Wah Mang to general practice in a small community. Mang assists at the doctor's clinic on Church Street and in Memorial's emergency ward. Dear Editor: For the record. I do all my own letters and columns columns at home on my Macintosh Power Book 140. I print everything at home too, on my Apple StyleWrit- er. Both these items are portable and weigh very little. I have spell check but unfortunately it doesn't pick up when I put Sheppard in with two P's. I must be more careful in the future. I have the programs that probably would allow me to produce a small newspaper, within the confines of my home, but don't intend to do that. I also have "Grammatic" which I never use because it demands a better performance every time I put some-' thing in for the program to check. I don't have the time for this. Speaking of "other talents" I am sure Rick, as a dog lover, you would be pleased to know that back in England England I bred and trained Scotch Border Collies. In 1949 my dog "Cap", out of my finest bitch "Nell", and I were picked to represent Southern England in the English Sheep Dog Trails. I didn't win anything but it was something 1 still remember and treasure. That op portunity didn't come- very often. "Cap" was one of those dogs that come along once in a lifetime. He was human. We didn't win anything 1 at the Trails for good reason. First, the area picked was adjacent to a railway railway line. "Cap" always on the farm had never seen or heard a train. When my turn came to start I sent "Cap" off to gather in the dozen sheep released about a mile away. He gathered them, and was bringing them down towards me for the separation separation portion of the Trails when a train came along. The train driver blew the whistle and "Cap" just took off. I eventually sold "Cap" to realize his full potential, to the world famous sheep-dog trainer from Scotland, Ian Wallace. When I left to come to Canada Canada in 1957 "Cap" had already won the International Sheep Dog Trails in Carlisle two years in a row. Regards to you, Gord P.S. I'm not that good a typist but a fair key-board operator. R.A.J. -- n My dog's bigger than your doe, my dog's bigger than