December 14 : An Evening With Dr. David Goldbloom

 “Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.”  -E. B. White

 As we wrap up 2020/21 (the longest year in recent medical history), The Doctors’ Lounge invites you to exit laughing.

Or at least consider the possibility.

Medicine has a long historical connection to the “humors.”

Some would argue that laughter is the best medicine (when all else fails).

Others might argue that laughter is the test medicine, as sincerely laughing with a patient can be an indication of the foundation for a successful therapeutic alliance.

On the other hand, if you have to end your attempt at humour with a “just kidding,” serious trouble can ensue.

Does humour belong in the clinical encounter?

Please join us for an evening of exploration of this question with our guide, psychiatrist Dr. David Goldbloom.

November 11: Annual Remembrance Day Program with Dr. David Livingstone Smith

 The Doctors’ Lounge is pleased to welcome a distinguished guest, Dr. David Livingstone Smith to help us explore a core issue of our time: dehumanization.

David has written or edited ten books. His 2011 Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave and Exterminate Others won the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf award for nonfiction. David’s most recent book Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization will be published by Harvard University Press in November.

David was described in the Times Literary Supplement as “a philosopher seeking not just to interpret the world but to change it." His book On Inhumanity is praised by Harvard University philosopher Cornel West, as “a philosophically sophisticated and prophetically courageous treatment of dehumanization, especially in regard to race,” and by Yale University historian Timothy Snyder as “firm but gentle, wise but accessible.” and University of Pennsylvania law professor Dorothy Roberts says that “On Inhumanity brilliantly provides a chilling warning of repeating the past and a hopeful call to create a more humane future," and science journalist Angela Saini calls it "A chilling, comprehensive and passionate account of dehumanization,” and adds that “Smith offers a devastating reminder of the capacity of every human to treat other humans as lesser."

David is an interdisciplinary scholar, whose publications are cited not only by other philosophers, but also by historians, legal scholars, psychologists, and anthropologists.

Please join us for a thought provoking evening to honour the day.

You can follow his writings here: https://davidlivingstonesmith.substack.com/

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE TO OCTOBER 20: An Evening with Dr. David Rosmarin

 Thanksgiving brings with it a spirit of renewal for gratitude, awe, appreciation, compassion and hope.

You are invited to carry that spirit forward into your daily life by exploring whether spirituality has any place in the clinical encounter.

Our guide for the evening will be Dr. David Rosmarin, Director of the Spirituality & Mental Health Program of the Harvard affiliated Mclean Hospital.

Thanksgiving is associated with celebrating the bounty of a successful harvest, and while, we cannot provide you with any delectable treats over the internet, we can offer you this mental appetizer.

Please join us.

Further resources:

Psychotherapy Tools

Full Access

Spiritual Psychotherapy for Inpatient, Residential, and Intensive Treatment

David H. Rosmarin

, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., 

Sarah Salcone

, B.A., 

David Harper

, Ph.D., 

Brent P. Forester

, M.D., M.Sc.

Published Online:19 Sep 2019https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20180046

The handouts referred to: https://psychotherapy.psychiatryonline.org/doi/suppl/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20180046/suppl_file/appi.psychotherapy.20180046.ds001.pdf

MAY 10: An Exploration of The Semmelweis Reflex Within The Context Of COVID-19

 The Semmelweis Reflex stretches further back in medical history than even Semmelweis’ experience with it.

COVID-19 has shown that this phenomenon is alive and well in the medical community today.

Fueled by the HCQ debacle where science was Trumped by politics, observational evidence and even RCTs aimed at introducing COVID treatment into the community have precipitated emotional storms where civilized discourse should prevail.

You are invited to hear three speakers try to explain to you how their proposed treatments for COVID in the community should be deployed, and, most importantly, you are invited to give them feedback as to why their pitches don’t resonate with you if they activate your Semmelweis Reflex.

But first you have to hear their pitches.

Our guests are:

Steve Kirsch, CEO of the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund, advocate for fluvoxamine as a treatment as seen recently on 60 Minutes.

Dr. Pierre Kory, ivermectin advocate, President and Chief Medical Officer of FLCCC.

See recent paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8088823/

Dr. Richard Neel MD, MPH, COL (Retd.) USAF, community physician, advocate for high dose melatonin, recently recognized by the Castroville, Texas COC as “Citizen of the Year” for helping to keep his fellow citizens out of hospital during the pandemic. He has treated over 1000 COVID patients successfully in the community over the past year.

Please join us in the District 11 Doctors’ Lounge for another evening of collegiality, because “we are all in this together.”

COVID 19: RESOURCES ON TREATMENT WITH MELATONIN

 

See here for the symposium: COVID-19: Paradigm Shifting Into 2021 with the Benefit of 2020 Hindsight (treating C19 in the community with high dose melatonin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_4JeOj1JLc  

You can watch this at 2x speed in the interest of time. Dr. Neel's presentation on his pioneering experience with treatment in the community starts about the 15 minute mark.

Dr Neel presented an update in May. His presentation is here at the 38:15 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljNlg6DJ4AU

Further readings:

Feb 2022: https://t.co/laVOM5uXXK

January 2022 articles:

https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024320522000686?via%3Dihub… https://mdpi.com/2076-3921/11/1/140/htm… https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35032042/

Recent article with colleagues: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8482145/

Click here to view the key article that initiated the discussion on using melatonin to treat COVID, from March 23 Life Sciences, COVID-19: Melatonin as a potential adjuvant treatment.

The June 2020 edition of Melatonin Research is entirely devoted to exploring the role of melatonin & COVID-19.

An article describing melatonin as a “silver bullet” with regards to treating COVID.

From early April - a nice overall perspective 

The Semmelweis Reflex

Clinical trials underway here 

FIASMAs for the COVID-19 miasma: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpt.13390?af=R

Please note: melatonin can have side effects that are not commonly described but might not be that uncommon: https://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2012/04/16/cmaj.111765/tab-e-letters?versioned=true

Looking forward to the realization of Willard Wigan's depiction of the end of COVID through vaccination :

If you are suffering from a lack of awesome in your life, go to https://www.willardwiganmbe.com/

June 21 :PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE: An Evening with Angela Chen

PJune brings with it fresh bursts of colour, including the colours of the rainbow flag representing Toronto’s Pride Month.

 You are invited to spend an evening contemplating the purple end of that flag (purple being one of the colours of the asexual community) with Angela Chen, the author of Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex.

What does it mean to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction?

What can the asexual perspective can teach all of us about desire and pleasure and intimacy?
What does asexuality reveal about gender roles, about romance and consent, and the pressures of society?

What is the difference between asexuality and sexual dysfunction?

As a physician, how comfortable are you when patients raise the possibility that they are asexual? Do you rush to do blood work, or help them reflect on their personal values?

What biases do you bring into your interactions with members of the asexual community?

 Please join us for a thought-provoking evening exploring these and other questions in the Virtual Doctors’ Lounge.

May 27: An Evening with Dr. Shawn Whatley

Dignity.

Whatever happened to that concept as being at the core of patient care?

Where does clinical judgement and respect for autonomy fit into a bureaucracy driven health care system that is primarily interested in the optics of maintaining a health care system whose objective is creating an identity of a caring society?

You are invited to explore these questions in the Doctors’ Lounge series with former OMA President Shawn Whatley, as we explore the premise behind his latest book, When Politics Comes Before Patients - Why and How Canadian Medicare is Failing.

Please join us as we explore the future of medical care with one of our profession’s thought leaders.