PARAphrase Fall 2012

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PARAphrase/tribute to Dr. Bryan Ward Bryan Ward 1952-2012 Dr. Trevor Theman, CPSA Registrar [Reprinted from the June 2012 CPSA Messenger, Issue 177 with permission] Bryan died on May 6 after living with brain metastases from melanoma for over a year. This is the column I never wanted to write, but I knew the day would come when it would be time to do so. I met Bryan in 1991 when we were both elected to College Council. He was the country GP from Wainwright and I was the city surgeon from Edmonton. As I remember, we sparred a bit at the beginning over standards for surgical care, including itinerant surgery, in smaller communities. I had no idea at the time that we would become colleagues and friends. In 1993, Bryan was hired as an assistant registrar responsible for the College’s Quality of Care Department, overseeing all of the diagnostic programs. After 6 years as a councillor, I joined the College as staff in 1998 and then began to work with Bryan and to properly appreciate the skills and character he brought to his work. Bryan was modest. It wasn’t hard to figure out that he was brilliant and that he remembered every arcane detail of medicine he’d ever been exposed to, but it was hard to get him to talk about his accomplishments. I want to share a story that demonstrates his clinical skills, his approach to medicine, and the joy he gained from being a physician. When faced with the kind of clinical presentation that would make most physicians groan and lament their lot, Bryan would turn it into a clinical challenge and an intellectual exercise. He had an approach to patients who presented with vague symptoms like ‘I’m weak and dizzy’ or difficult problems like chronic headaches that not only made sure he’d miss nothing important, but also kept him engaged and excited about practicing medicine. The outcome of one such encounter was the admission to a teaching hospital of a patient with an intracranial arteriovenous malformation (AVM). How, asked the attending neurologist to his house staff, did this rural family doctor make the diagnosis? They were stumped. Bryan didn’t have access to a cerebral angiogram (which was the definitive exam in those days), but he did have a stethoscope. An AVM was in Bryan’s differential diagnosis, and he knew that sometimes one can hear the “thrum” of an AVM by placing one’s stethoscope on the eyeballs. I don’t know how many times he did that simple maneuver without finding anything, but on this occasion he’d heard the sound and immediately arranged transfer for surgical care. To Bryan, every patient presentation offered a clinical challenge and that kept him excited about medicine. Bryan wouldn’t let problems stump him. He’d research them, develop a framework, and then tackle what was possible. An example was Government’s directive that all regulatory bodies in Alberta create an infection and prevention program for their members in response to the incidents in Vegreville and Lloydminster. Bryan took the policy that government developed, modified it to make it relevant and practical, and took on what he considered to be the highest risk area of practice outside the hospital setting, that being the reprocessing of equipment. Bryan was also the first person to step up when there was a challenge Dr. Trevor Theman (left) with Dr. Bryan Ward or a major project to address. Bryan led our work in drafting bylaws, regulations, and Standards of Practice in anticipation of coming under the Health Professions Act. In the difficult times of late 2004 and early 2005, when we were shorthanded at the senior level, Bryan took the lead organizing the senior staff, dividing up the work and setting priorities. Bryan is known to many members of the profession in his role supporting our various diagnostic advisory committees. In those settings he was disarmingly personable, always meticulously prepared, and uncanny in his ability to bring order from apparent chaos and to find consensus in the midst of argument. As the Deputy Registrar, Bryan was my confidante, advisor and guardian angel. Always a great listener, Bryan could analyze a situation, identify the critical issues and offer potential actions. He was also consciously contrarian, challenging my thinking with different perspectives, not to disagree but to ensure that we’d carefully thought through the problem and had really considered the alternatives. Many times he saved me from doing something rash or foolish. Bryan was also a great friend, father and grandfather. He and Joanne have a large circle of friends and family, and they entertained crowds of people with good humor and grace. At the Ward residence, you almost certainly participated in a game of billiards or darts or shuffleboard. Bryan loved his summer holidays in Osoyoos and his fishing trips, especially with his sons-in-law. And he loved spoiling his grandkids, to whom he was “Papa”. In dealing with his illness, Bryan showed amazing resolve and tolerance to the effects of the cancer and the treatment. As he became physically less able, he maintained his wit and his interest in the work of the College. Until near the end he remained a resource for us. Sometimes it would take him a little longer to come up with the answer to our question, but, as he explained, it took a little more effort on his part to route the neural pathways around the tumors in his brain. I can’t write about Bryan without saying some words about his wife, Joanne. Joanne is a nurse and a darn good one. She managed having Bryan at home for months with the help of family and friends. For 14 months she knew that Bryan was going to die, but she kept up her spirits, tolerated the times when Bryan was being difficult with gentleness and humor, and shared her love for Bryan with all of us. She is a treasure. Bryan was the best of us. I miss him greatly. ? 29 PARAphrase | volume 29 fall 2012
PARAphrase/PARA calendar of events PARA Calendar of Events 2012/2013 September 10 PARA Board of Directors' Meeting (Calgary) September 30 CIBC Run for the Cure (PARA-sponsored resident physician participants) November 2 Halloween PARAlyzer November 18 PARA Yoga Afternoon December 1 & 2 PARA Leadership Training Weekend (Edmonton) December 3 PARA Board of Directors' & Annual General Meeting (Edmonton) December 7 & 8 Edmonton Oil Kings/Calgary Hitman Hockey Game January 13 Jubilations Holiday Social February 19 Resident Physician Awareness Day February 25 PARA Board of Directors' Meeting (Calgary) March 13 PARA Movie Night April 11 PARA Yoga Afternoon April 25 Administrative Professionals’ Day April/May (date TBA) PARA Resident Physicians in the Legislature May 12 International Nurses’ Day May 13 Mother’s Day Run and Walk (PARA-sponsored resident physician participants) May 19-25 Resident Physician Wellness Week (May 23 is Resident Physician Wellness Day) May (date TBA) PARA Movie Night May (date TBA) PARA Yoga Afternoon May 24 PARAlyzer May 25 PARA Family Recreation Afternoon May 27 PARA Board of Directors' Meeting (Edmonton) June 1-3 PARA Executive Retreat June (date TBA) PARAtreat on the Patio 2012 /13 Statutory Holidays 2012 Thanksgiving Day Monday, October 8 Remembrance Day Monday, November 12 Christmas Day Tuesday, December 25 Boxing Day Wednesday, December 26 2013 New Year’s Day Tuesday, January 1 Family Day Monday, February 18 Good Friday Friday, March 29 Victoria Day Monday, May 20 Canada Day Monday, July 1 Family Day Monday, August 5 Labour Day Monday, September 2 ? Flex & Float Days: Did you know you are contracted to receive three Flex Days and one Float Day during each year of your residency? The Float Day is meant to be an extra named holiday so you have a total of 12, but, where the other 11 are based on Statutory Holidays, the float day can be scheduled at your convenience. Flex Days are similarly scheduled, but emerged out of negotiations as a means to recognize that resident physicians who are scheduled to be on call the day before a Named Holiday provide service that carries over well into the post-call holiday. Instead of the day in lieu for each call worked the night before a named holiday, all resident physicians receive the flexibility of three additional days off for the contract year. The scheduling of PARA Flex and Float Days should be in the same spirit in which they were negotiated – to extend a weekend or to allow for a personal day off service; they should be scheduled with advanced notice and documented with your home service. www.para-ab.ca | volume 29 fall 2012 30
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Page 3 and 4: PARAphrase/about What exactly does
Page 5 and 6: PARAphrase/executive committee Vice
Page 7 and 8: PARAphrase/past president's message
Page 9 and 10: { Times, they are a changing PARAph
Page 11 and 12: PARAphrase/PARA medical education a
Page 13 and 14: Resident Physicians May Come and Go
Page 15 and 16: [ ] THE POWER OF COOPERATION IN TRI
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Page 19 and 20: PARAphrase/AMA matters Dr. Khalil J
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Page 25 and 26: PARA SOCIALS PARAphrase/PARA social
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Page 29: PARAphrase/CPSA considerations Seek

PARAphrase Fall 2012

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