Address changes

[Guest Edwarder]

I am hoping to study at another university in May and June. How should I go about letting schools know about my change of address? Should I email or mail them? Also, for Ontario schools, should I contact OMSAS or the individual schools.

 

Thanks

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<threadtitle>Abortion!</threadtitle>

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<username>Future MSFer</username>

<dateline>1116962580</dateline>

<title>Abortion!</title>

<pagetext>I hear some people get asked about their opinion about abortion, when they should occur ect. and I was wondering what your opinion is on the subject. Please present it in a scientific or ethical point of view. Although I respect religious people and their own opinions and beliefs, I don't think that saying abortion is bad “because God/ Allah/ Yave /ect… said so” is a very strong argument. If you want to talk about religions view on the subject feel free to start an other discussion thread.

[Guest Ollie]

There was recently a thread on this that you could take a look through.

p084.ezboard.com/fpremed1...=1&stop=20

[Guest UWOmalestudent]

Abortion = murder

 

No matter how you look at it, it is the termination of human life.

 

Period. Done. Over.

 

Any medical school that forces you to do one, should have a nice lawsuit slapped on them.

[Guest physiology]

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[Guest canmic]

Hmm.. maybe it's just me, but...

 

Even if you take the hard-core stance that abortion = killing a human being, can you make the leap from that to saying that it is absolutely always wrong?

 

Would you condemn the policeman that shoots the bank robber who is shooting at him first? Isn't he also 'killing' ?

 

So, what about the case of an abortion to save a mother's life? What about a pregnant woman who needs chemo for cancer, do you just let her die because you don't want to kill the fetus?

 

What about the fetus that is so severely abnormal that it will not go to term, or if it does, will not live more than a few weeks/months?

 

Is medicine really the career for someone who believes in such strict absolutes with no room for judgement and situational ethics?

 

I think that saying that abortion is NEVER ok because it is sometimes abused or done inappropriately is similar to saying that giving morphine for pain is never ok because it is sometimes abused or done inappropriately.. what about those people who actually DO need it?

 

My own personal stance is pro-choice, but I'm not even going that far here.. I'm saying that SOMETIMES abortion is either necessary or the best possible alternative in a bad situation. Should it be totally discounted in those situations as well?

 

As far as a med school forcing a student to PERFORM an abortion, I've never seen such a case. I've never seen a case where a med student, a resident or a doctor is FORCED to perform ANY procedure. However, when a resident or a doctor has assumed the responsibility of caring for a patient, they must ensure that the care that patient receives is the best possible care and meets the established standard of care for the situation. If they can't or won't do what needs to be done themselves, it is their responsibility to get someone who can or will do it to take over the care of that patient. If they don't, it is the patient who is going to be doing the suing and it is the resident or doctor who is going to be sued, the legal precedents are all there..

 

Any surgeon etc can walk away from any procedure just by saying that his hands feel 'shaky' today and he isn't comfortable doing the procedure (for example). No one can force him. BUT he does have the responsibility to make sure that SOMEONE takes care of the patient if he can't or won't do so..

[Guest satsumargirl]

If an interview panel asked this question, I don't think there would be a right or wrong position, as long as you had good arguments for your view.

 

I think that having an abortion is an extremely personal choice. I understand that some people hold the belief that abortion is killing a human life, and I respect their right to have this view and wouldn't force anyone to have an abortion. But there are also many who do not view abortion as killing, and these individuals should have the right to choose and not have others' religious beliefs forced upon them. So I would say I am pro choice.

 

In terms of an MD refusing to do one because it is against his/her religious beliefs, well I think that is not acceptable. Personally, I don't feel I go to my MD so he/she can make my moral and ethical decisions for me. I think I should have the right to make those decisions myself. I do go to my MD for medical care, and expect to get equal quality care no matter which MD I go to. If the procedure is not illegal then people should have access to those services. Perhaps in bigger centres it wouldn't be a big issue if you were denied an abortion by 1 physician because there would be others that would do it. But in rural areas that may not be the case.

 

(I just thought....what if there was an MD who was a Jehovah's Witness, would they not be required to do blood transfusions?)

 

Anyway, I know of a person who needed the morning after pill (broken condom and just wanted to be on the safe side) on the weekend and the MD at the only walk-in clinic that was open refused to prescribe it. She was very upset and worried, especially since there is a time frame in which you have to take the pills. (48 hrs after or something??) So she went to her school clinic on Mon and they gave it to her but warned that because it was pushing the time limit they may not be effective. What did that MDs refusal accomplish?? Nothing, she still got them and she just had to undergo alot more stress because of it.

 

And here is a story I read in MacLeans once....

 

A young woman in rural Saskatchewan went to her MD to get the morning after pill (broken condom or something) and he refused. She found an MD who would prescribe it and went to the pharmacist. The pharmacist refused to fill the prescription because it was against his religious beliefs. There was no other nearby pharmacy and she had no car. She could have taken the bus to the next nearest pharmacy but by the time she got there, it would have been closed. So she was out of luck. Now it wasn't a matter of the morning after pill, but a matter of needing an abortion. She was not able to get this procedure done where she was. She ended up having to make a trip to Saskatoon to get it done. I believe she was a waitress (so not a really steady good income) and she couldn't really afford the expense of the trip. She also ended up losing her job because she had to ask for time off. It angers me that something like this could happen in Canada. And again, refusing the pill or even the abortion in her home town didn't change the outcome. She still did not have the baby and the system just turned her life upside down in the process.

 

Refusing a legal procedure to a patient because of personal religious beliefs is hardly patient-focused care!

[Guest rabbit]

As far as I understand, Canadian medical schools interviewers typically avoid initiating questions regarding political or religious beliefs, gender issues, moral stands or opinions (i.e. defending or arguing against abortion). Based on extensive web searching, this seems more likely to happen at American medical school interviews.

 

A more likely scenario, is one which incorporates an ethical dilemma. For example, such a scenario might incorporate a woman seeking an abortion in third trimester (say for chemotherapy for newly diagnosed leukemia) and would require you to describe how you would handle it. So, if you feel you would be uncomfortable, you can describe that the appropriate course of action is to explain this to the patient and provide a referral to someone else. It is acceptable to refuse a procedure based on your own religious beliefs. In fact the CMA guidelines state that "a physician whose moral or religious beliefs prevent him or her from recommending or performing an abortion should inform the patient of this so that she may consult another physician".

 

Alternatively, you might want to mention the current CMA guidelines regarding abortion in which it is described as the "active termination of a pregnancy before viability". It also states that "elective termination of pregnancy after fetal viability may be indicated under exceptional circumstances". In the current scenario, the exceptional circumstances are chemotherpeutic interventions required to save the woman's life and you may feel that a third trimester abortion is meets the criteria set out in the CMA guidelines for termination of pregnancy after viability. At this point in your discussion, you might also describe the benefit of approaching colleagues and bioethics professionals for guidance.

[Guest FrancophoneRN]

"Only the dark side thinks in absolutes."

 

- Obi Wan Kenobi

[Guest canmic]

By the way, that woman in Sask sued and is now quite rich.

[Guest caliente]

Who exactly did she sue? And who ended up paying?

[Guest satsumargirl]

In fact the CMA guidelines state that "a physician whose moral or religious beliefs prevent him or her from recommending or performing an abortion should inform the patient of this so that she may consult another physician".

 

I understand this, but what if there is no other physician to consult? I just think that sometimes as professionals it is necessary to do things you might not agree with when it's in the best interest of the pt. Perhaps the guideline should state something like... "where another willing physician is reasonably accessible a physician whose moral or religious beliefs etc..."

 

I had no idea that woman in Sask had sued ...I would be interested in what person/people she sued. While I don't think it is right, the MDs who refused the morning after pill and abortion did not do anything wrong I don' t think (according to those guidelines) and pharmacists have the same guidelines, so I'm surprised she sued and was successful. Good for her! Did she sue the medical professionals involved or her place of employment for firing her?

[Guest UWOmalestudent]

"Hmm.. maybe it's just me, but...

 

Even if you take the hard-core stance that abortion = killing a human being, can you make the leap from that to saying that it is absolutely always wrong?

 

Would you condemn the policeman that shoots the bank robber who is shooting at him first? Isn't he also 'killing' ?

 

So, what about the case of an abortion to save a mother's life? What about a pregnant woman who needs chemo for cancer, do you just let her die because you don't want to kill the fetus?

 

What about the fetus that is so severely abnormal that it will not go to term, or if it does, will not live more than a few weeks/months?

 

Is medicine really the career for someone who believes in such strict absolutes with no room for judgement and situational ethics?

 

I think that saying that abortion is NEVER ok because it is sometimes abused or done inappropriately is similar to saying that giving morphine for pain is never ok because it is sometimes abused or done inappropriately.. what about those people who actually DO need it?"

 

Your scenarios represent at most, 1% of the abortions that are done.

 

The other 99% are sluts who want to have sex, but don't want the responsibility of raising a child.

 

Bottom line: you dropped your pants, now deal with it.

[Guest canmic]

You'd think they'd ban users on here for posts like that... maybe they will?

 

To answer the intelligent questions asked, she sued both the pharm who didn't give her the morning after pill (which the pharmacy had in stock) and also the doc who wouldn't perform or refer her for an abortion.

 

She was successful in both cases, the reason she won out against the doc is that the provincial health folks wouldn't pay for her transport to wherever it was that the abortion could be done without her doc referring it, but he refused to refer it. The court ruled that he had therefore imposed a barrier on her legal right to access to healthcare and was liable.

 

For the pharm, the court ruled that since the pharmacy stocked the pills, but that pharm refused to fill the scrip for them then he was also guilty of violating her rights under the CHA, and also discriminating against her by refusing to fill the scrip for her when the same store did fill it for others.

 

So, simply stated, if you get in the way of someone's access to the accepted standard of care, you're gonna get sued and you're gonna lose.

[Guest UWOmalestudent]

^ I find your post extremely offensive.

 

You should be banned for that.

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<username>medeng</username>

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<title>Waiting lists</title>

<pagetext>a propos the wait times in ERs, this was released recently:

 

www.cma.ca/multimedia/CMA...e_wait.pdf

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<username>

 

Unknown

 

 

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<threadtitle>Tell me about yourself</threadtitle>

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<username>MDHopeful04</username>

<dateline>1077636060</dateline>

<title>Tell me about yourself</title>

<pagetext>It seems like this question is often asked during any interview and for the purposes of a medical school interview, would any of you have insight on what exactly the ad com may be looking for?

 

I'm under the impression that the interviewers may ask this question simply b/c they haven't had the chance to carefully look over our profile before the actual interview. By asking this question, I believe they hope that the candidate highlights some of their more important aspects/achievements, such that they will have a few topics to begin discussion.

 

Or am I completely off track with this? Is this question implicitly asking "what are your strengths and weaknesses?" or "why do you want to go into medicine?" or any other question for that matter?

 

Would highlighting my educational background, work/research experiences, travels, and achievements be suitable when answering this question?

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks.

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