It is not often an article really makes one think about changing one’s own life. The Lancet this week has an article that started me thinking about aspirin and while I have not yet decided it is reassuring to know that perhaps some of the old drugs are the best drugs (http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2961720-0/fulltext?elsca1=ETOC-LANCET&elsca2=email&elsca3=Other). At least we know the side effects of this one in comparison to the new compounds. I will wait for the critical appraisal of this article and the flurry of correspondence that is likely to ensue before making my decision.
The problem of whether or not I should take a drug palls into insignificance when one sees that 1.1 billion Chinese don’t have a family doctor. Those that do may be seeing a very different set of health professionals than you might be thinking of. Perhaps a person who is seeing a minimum of 80 patients a day and sometimes 20 per hour. How can we help this country deal with that problem where most diagnoses are made in hospital, and primary care as you would recognize it hardly exists at all. This was the challenge facing the group of department heads and postgraduate directors from across Canada as they attended a two day summit co-hosted by UBC and the Canadian Embassy in Beijing last week. I was there with a team of five from UBC including Gavin Stuart, our dean, and Kendall Ho who runs our E-Office within the Faculty of Medicine. We have good links with a couple of major universities in Shanghai (Fudan University) and Beijing (Capital University) and also with some health authorities. There was no clear outcome as one might expect but several small steps were taken. In terms of our global strategy China is very much one of our targets for providing support in terms of the development of an infrastructure to start to teach primary care. What we will do on the ground is yet to be determined.
It was interesting to see the response of the Chinese Universities to the Times Higher Education rankings of Universities. UBC has moved from 30th to 22nd (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html). This enormous leap was mentioned and many more students, both graduate and undergraduate, were expressing interest in coming to visit. That sort of success breeds further success as bright hard working students visit us and work with us. It is a reflection of your academic success that has pushed us up the ratings so thank you to all of you and many congratulations.
Martin