Medical Mentors
What a delight to read through The Impact Issue of New Trail and see all of the innovations created by U of A alumni, all focused on making the world a better place. I was also thrilled to see two of my most influential mentors from the U of A in these pages.
When I was in medical school in the mid-1980s, we spent part of an afternoon touring the hospice run by Helen Hays, '71 MD, '14 LLD (Honorary), (page 43) at the Edmonton General Hospital. In that brief exposure, Dr. Hays taught me about the centrality of good pain management and the dignity of human life - a seed she planted that later led to my involvement in the first-ever palliative care service in Kingston, Ont.
Pictured on page 68 was Gordon Lees, '72 BSc(Med), '74 MD. Dr. Lees was my first preceptor on my first rotation as a clinical clerk on the surgical service at the University of Alberta Hospital. He was unfailingly good-natured, patient and generous. My efforts to remain professional when tired and under pressure derive directly from Dr. Lees' example.
These role models' "way of being" had such a major impact on my development and future in medicine. I offer my thanks to Dr. Hays and Dr. Lees, along with a general merci to all my former teachers back at the U of A.
- Ruth E. Dubin, '81 PhD, '85 MD, Kingston, Ont.
Camouflage Faux Pas
I would like to draw your attention to "Study Looks at Soldier Stress in Afghanistan" in which you note Ibolja Cernak's research with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The reader's eye is immediately drawn to the image of the military helmet on the page. I would like to advise you that this is not a CAF camouflage pattern.
I am a nursing officer in the Royal Canadian Medical Service - the medical branch of the CAF - currently posted to 1 Field Ambulance in Edmonton. I deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, where I was a nurse in the NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit, the military hospital on Kandahar Airfield. As both a U of A grad and as a military officer, I found it a bit disappointing to see the magazine mention such valuable research, yet it did not do its research and post a picture of a Canadian military pattern helmet. While this may seem like a small thing, many people receiving the magazine are, or were, serving members of the CAF and may be put off by the magazine's inattention to research and detail.
- Lt. (Navy) Dave MacLean, '07 BScN, Edmonton
Impact Choice Questioned
It is, of course, wonderful to tell the stories of successful alumni, but in the case of the feature story in The Impact Issue of New Trail about Pat Daniel, ['68 BSc(ChemEng), '10 LLD (Honorary)], former CEO of Enbridge, I must take exception. Mr. Daniel may have grown Enbridge into a large and influential multinational corporation, but at what cost? Under Mr. Daniel's leadership, Enbridge displayed time and again a shocking disregard for environmental stewardship and for those affected by Enbridge pipeline spills, exemplified best by the infamous Kalamazoo River [Mich.] spill in 2010.
Although I applaud Mr. Daniel's personal philanthropic efforts, it's a shame those ideals did not penetrate into the psyche of the company he steered for so many years.
- David Ehret, PhD, '73 BSc(Hons), Agassiz, B.C.