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The Economist just came out with this great article about a study that just came out in the New England Journal of Medicine. The article illustrates how an improvement in environment (specifically connected to availability of fresh food) translated into a lower rate of chronic diet-based disease in a group of low-income women. I would say more but I have to go read about the deportation of young Slovakian women to death camps in WWII.
Went to the opening of this at the CCA. It was great, as things at the CCA usually are. Also, I think urban planners have a really great perspective on things. I’m beginning to like university more as time goes on and I start talking to people who are engaging their curiosity and their ingenuity in questions about justice, health, and dealing with reality. The originality and creativity I sometimes am privy to makes me want to go farther, dig deeper, and drink more beer with more people who are passionate about their ideas and projects.
And profs are a part of this, too. All of my professors this semester are vibrant, intelligent people who I’m lucky to be taught by and speak with. These days the Academy is looking more and more interesting to me as a place in which to make my work a home. A happy realization.
A few days ago, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unanimously to grant an exemption to Insite, Vancouver’s safe injection site. The CPHA is happy.
Just finished reading a book about Joseph Goldberger, an American public health hero of the early twentieth century. He discovered the nature and cure to pellagra—a major disease in the States at the time and one that had evaded understanding for two centuries in America and Europe. He was a physician and researcher, but in the end realized that all of his medical breakthroughs were not what ailed pellagrins; it was the economic, political, and social circumstances creating poverty that led to deadly malnutrition. Time and time again, he came upon the stark realization that it was not medicine that was the limiting element in treating the scourge of the South, but the vested interests in maximized profits of cotton production in the region. As Golberger would explain, “pellagra is only ignorance; pellagra is only poverty.” In his lifetime and in his work, Goldberger experienced the shift between what characterized public health a century ago, namely infectious disease, and the chronic, lifestyle-based concerns that are at the heart of public health in developed countries today. He also happened upon the crucial junction between health and society, which is the most difficult obstacle to address. Public health implies a distinct socialist tendency, something the States is allergic to, and something that must be strenuously worked for in our globalized, capitalistic economies. (On a tangent, given the difficulty posed in sustaining Canada’s nationalized health system, some hard questions need to be asked, and answered with equal candour. Or maybe it just boils down to values, or what is adaptive to our monkey selves—dammit!)
“All knowledge is sterile not translated into service.”
Naturally, I liked the story of his life, and the simple strategy by which he became a hero: start with principles of honesty and concern for the public good, then do your homework, be precise, and work tirelessly. On the other hand, it’s important to note how Goldberg sacrificed his family life, including the happiness of his wife and children, to attain what he achieved in the name of science, and of the thousands of lives he saved. Une décision à prendre.
I read this article when it came out last month and I still can’t get over it. Today I read it to my mom, who was even more shocked. This is why global public health is needed.
Wondering what topics I’d be interested in getting into. Obesity (nutrition, exercise), breastfeeding, food, mental health? (How about the epidemiology of obesity or chronic preventable non-infectious diseases?) Do I want to be involved with a certain group, such as children or immigrants? What sort of programs can actually effect change in health behaviours and which are a waste of time and resources?
Should I be volunteering at a hospital? At a Baby-Friendly CLSC? Should I ask the people at the Social Studies of Medicine this?
Details on SSOM grad programs
Volunteer opportunity cuddling premature infants at the MUHC
Dalla Lana programs at UofT
After snooping around a bit, this last link at least gives me an idea of what fields of interest I could investigate to find out what I’m interested in.
Part of the problem I’m having is that I have no idea where it is I’m looking to get to, and thus have little clue what path to take. What job do I want? Do I want to be a practitioner or researcher? Do I want to work for the government?
All I know is I like the idea of spending 3-4 hours cuddling premies every week.
Update: I should go talk to Career Counselling at school and check out where Richard Lessard has been, too.
And only a bit unrelated, a tool for finding out what’s in season locally
