Sarah Giles
ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR
- 2/26/2012
Sending out my love to helpful specialists
As a family doctor, I am trained as a generalist. I don’t know everything about every facet of medicine and I often require help. There seem to be two types of specialists: those who are helpful and those who are out to make me feel like a complete and utter ass. - 2/12/2012
Tempting the Fates
Has anyone else noticed that very soon after completing an advanced skills course (PALS, ATLS, ALARM, etc.), you have to use those skills? I can’t decide whether taking the courses tempts the Fates or if the emergencies would have arisen anyway. - 1/19/2012
When the stars align
We’ve all had those days where nothing can go right: can’t get a vein, can’t get an airway, can’t get a plane in. On the other hand, there are those rare days when everything somehow magically seems to go right. Recently, I experienced one of those extraordinary days. - 1/11/2012
By the book, I’m an addict
My expensive habit makes me a bit anti-social, but I can’t give it up. And it’s only getting worse! - 12/18/2011
Christmas Island one year later
It seems impossible that 365 days have passed since one of the worst days of my life—a day that saw the end of 48 lives. - 12/9/2011
Things I miss—and some things I don’t—about doing deliveries
I feel it’s important to provide women with as many safe options for delivery as possible. I am saddened that my lack of skills has, on occasion, meant that a woman could not deliver in her home community. So, to my peers who practice OB, I salute you! Thank you for doing it so that I don’t have to. - 11/30/2011
How to keep safety first in doctor-patient encounters
As a locum who has now worked in dozens of practices, I’ve come to appreciate good practice management when I see it. One aspect of practice management that I have become passionate about is safety—of both patients and staff. I would like to offer a few safety tips to my fellow physicians. - 11/20/2011
How I became a believer in alternative medicine
My recent experience with an osteopathic manual practitioner has revealed a nasty side of my personality: I’m a complementary medicine bigot. For my first appointment, I was fully prepared to meet someone practising some form of voodoo. Long story short: I’m now a believer. - 11/9/2011
An ER program that plans to fail
This year I became a part of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care’s Emergency Department Coverage Demonstration Project (EDCDP). The goal of EDCDP is to prevent ER closures and keep hospitals open to patients. Obviously, the idea behind the project is a good one, but the administration of it leaves something to be desired. - 10/23/2011
My bus ride back to humanity
During a recent commute, Dr. Sarah Giles boarded a crowded bus to find the only available seat was next to a man who clearly needed help. Her bus ride, and the resulting patient encounter, took her down an unexpected path.
