If you are a doctor with strongly held views about contraception and the sanctity of life, how should you treat a patient who comes to you requesting contraception or an abortion? Continue reading →
JohnOyston
Trees in winter
If you are trying to learn how to identify trees in winter, one good place to start is to look for trees which still have their dried leaves attached. In Ontario and most of the northeast USA these will be either beech trees or oaks. The phenomenon of retaining dead leaves in winter is called marcescence. Continue reading →
This is where I will post some stuff intended mainly for friends and family. Some parts may be password protected. If you think you should have access to something here, email me at johnpoyston@gmail.com. Thanks!
This is where I will put posts on a variety of usually topical issues.
Usually they will relate to politics, security from surveillance, environmental issues and the internet.
We all have our heroes – people we admire for what they have achieved, how they behave, or simply who they are.
Some of mine are:
- George Monbiot, author and Guardian columnist
- Atul Gawande, surgeon, researcher, writer
- Douglas Tallamy, biologist and author of Bringing Nature Home
- Carol Pasternak, the Monarch crusader
- Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada
This category is about why nature is important in our lives and for our mental health,and in particular, why children should spend more time in natural environments and less time in front of screens.
It will also be about some things I find interesting in nature, such as this article on how to grow Kentucky coffeetrees from seed.
Cuba
Cuba Cruise In December 2014 Meg, Kate and I did a cruise around Cuba. We had a few hours to explore Havana, which had some fine old buildings: …. and some which were in dire need of repair:
Continue reading →The Netherlands
We went to The Netherlands in January 2015. We loved the place. It was just so … Dutch. All the cliches were absolutely true – the canals, the bicycles, the cheese, the art, design aesthetic. The people were friendly, the … Continue reading →
When I was eight years old I decide I wanted to be a doctor. I never changed my mind. I went to medical school when I was 17 and have been studying medicine ever since. I have worked in over 25 hospitals in five countries on four continents. Almost every penny (or cent) I have ever earned, spent or invested came from the practice of medicine.
My speciality is anesthesiology. I come to work every day with the aim of making things better for people, specifically by getting them through difficult and painful experiences like surgery and childbirth as safely and painlessly as possible.
I enjoy my work. It is a rare privilege to be able to earn good money by doing something you believe is good and right. But it is not all sweetness and light. There is a lot which happens in healthcare I am concerned about. Those issues will be the theme of this blog.
I am appalled by the six million unnecessary deaths caused, every year, by tobacco. I am dismayed that, more than sixty years after we learnt how lethal cigarettes can be, we are still allowing them to be manufactured and sold. This issue was featured in a series of blog posts during Canada’s National No Smoking Week, January 17th – 24th, 2016.
Harper and Putin
My current favourite TV show is House of Cards. Frank is now president and his wife, Claire, is US Ambassador to the UN. They go to Moscow, in part to try to get a US gay rights activist out of … Continue reading →