RESCEDULED TO TUESDAY AUGUST 20: An Evening with Dr. Eugene Lipov

Innovation in medicine often seems to either have a very long thinkubation period*or explode into clinical use almost overnight.

Other effective treatments seem to languish in silos of enthusiastic acceptance by select practitioners, despite positive outcomes for the patients receiving those treatments.

You are invited to spend an evening exploring one of those treatments.

Our guide will be Dr. Eugene Lipov, a pioneer in the use of stellate ganglion block (SGB) to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

His success in doing so has also made him an advocate for changing the language we use in creating labels for our patients’ conditions, as labels have the power to either help or hinder the healing process .He has suggested replacing the term Disorder with the word Injury, to create the treatable condition PTSI. By doing so, he invites the possibility of hope of recovery through a change in our use of language.

You are invited to join us for an exploration of the power of innovative off-label prescribing through the lens of almost two decades of Dr. Lipov’s experience refining a potentially life- altering procedure. As always, your insights are welcomed to enrich the learning experience.

*thinkubation period: the time between inspiration, perspiration and implementation

Wednesday May 22: An Evening with Dr. Adil Shamji

Victoria Day is a good time to start thinking about parks and gardens.

It is also a good time to the think about Queen’s Park, which is named in honour of Queen Victoria.

Given the complexities of the bureaucracies of government can one person make a difference?

You are invited to explore that possibility with our guest for the evening, Dr. Adil Shamji, the only physician sitting in the Ontario Legislature.

The concept of medicine as a calling, or anything being described as a calling can be seen as antiquated.

Yet, every one of of our patients calls us for help.

Sometimes, something bigger calls.

Please join us as Dr. Shamji explains his calling, and hear from your colleagues on their experiences with the power within each of us to move the world in a positive direction.

April 25: An Evening with Dr. Robert Pearl

Medicine is a culture of caring, and it is unlikely that we as physicians can ever be replaced by artificial intelligence or robotics.

If you believe either of those two premises, you are invited to challenge yourself by spending an evening in the Doctors’ Lounge with Dr. Robert Pearl, author of the book Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors & Patients, as well as the upcoming book ChatGPT, MD: How AI-empowered patients and doctors can take back control of American medicine.

In his latest book, Dr. Pearl argues that AI technologies will become as integral and essential to future physicians as the stethoscope was for centuries. The future may see AI serve as a colleague for healthcare professionals and as a source of expertise for patients, empowering both in ways previously unimaginable. Used by doctors and patients together, ChatGPT will be able to improve health, ease demand on physicians, and generate the time clinicians need to restore the doctor-patient relationship. Or, it may become the stuff of dystopian nightmares. You are invited to learn from a professor at the Stanford University Schools of Medicine and Business and share your own insights about the not-too-distant future.