Winter 2013 (Volume 23, Number 4)

Good Tidings from Halifax

By Trudy Taylor, MD, FRCPC

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It is always a treat to be living in the Maritimes this time of year with so many activities available to choose from, whether one of the many outdoor music festivals, theater productions, or a simple hot day spent at the beach or on the golf course. And of course there is the food – fresh seafood, vegetables, and fruit abound this time of year!

Glorious fall colours of Cape Breton.

We currently have nine rheumatologists (eight full-time, one part-time) serving the province of Nova Scotia as well as Prince Edward Island and western parts of Newfoundland and Labrador. All are based in Halifax with the exception of one based in Lunenburg and one in Sydney.

As the new academic year gets underway, we welcome some exciting changes in the Division of Rheumatology at Dalhousie University which have occurred in the past few months:

• After seven years of dedicated leadership, Dr. Volodko Bakowsky has passed the torch of program director for the Adult Rheumatology Training Program at Dalhousie to yours truly. I was very fortunate to do my adult rheumatology training here in Nova Scotia, where I have stayed to set up practice as an academic rheumatologist with my main extra-clinical interest being education. This new role will, no doubt, be both a rewarding and challenging chapter in my early career as a medical educator to which I am very much looking forward.

• The Division of Rheumatology has been lucky to welcome the two most recent graduates of our rheumatology-training program, Dr. Alexa Smith and Dr. Markus Klaus, to practice in the Halifax area. Both will have a combined academic/private practice. Welcome to the fold!

• We welcome our newest trainee to the program, Dr. Sam Aseer, who joins us from Memorial University of Newfoundland where he completed his first three years of internal medicine training. He joins Dr. Elana Murphy who is now in her second year of rheumatology training.

In other news, the Society of Atlantic Rheumatologists (SOAR) held its impressive 30th Annual Meeting in June 2013 at Shaw’s Cottages in Prince Edward Island and it was, by all accounts, a great success. Featured were presentations by Dr. John Stone and Dr. Susan Manzi as well as plenty of time for the beach, golf, lobster, and beautiful weather.

In the upcoming months we will be looking forward to one of the highlights of the year: the Celtic Colours International Festival, held in Cape Breton every fall with 46 concerts held all across the island over a nine-day period on the backdrop of breathtaking fall colours. If you ever have the chance to visit Nova Scotia in October, it is a must!

Trudy Taylor, MD, FRCPC
Lecturer,
Faculty of Medicine,
Dalhousie University
Program Director,
Adult Rheumatology Training Program,
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia