Blog

Blog Launch: We Want to Hear from You!
April 30, 2020Our website is now home to a brand new blog and we’re inviting students to share their research interests, travel experiences, and opinions on medicine and medical education. Check out our blog categories below and don’t hesitate to reach out! Research Interviews We’re looking to highlight student FLEX projects and research experiences. We want to […] Read More >

Interview with an MD/PhD Candidate: Introducing Alvin Qiu from the Hirst and Nielsen Labs
April 28, 2020We chat with MD/PhD candidate and former UBCMJ co-Editor-in-Chief, Alvin Qiu, who is studying the epigenomics of synovial sarcoma under the joint supervision of Martin Hirst and Torsten Nielsen. Tell us a little bit about your research project. Synovial sarcoma is a highly aggressive soft-tissue cancer that predominantly affects adolescents and young adults. This malignancy […] Read More >

Interview with an MD/PhD Candidate: Introducing Maryam Vaseghi-Shanjani from the Turvey Lab
April 24, 2020We chat with MD/PhD candidate, Maryam Vaseghi-Shanjani (Class of 2026), who is studying single-gene defects related to primary immunodeficiencies. Tell us about your research interests I became interested in immunology after taking courses in undergrad. My fascination led me to complete my undergrad thesis in a vaccine lab studying macrophages in TB infection. Continuing in […] Read More >

Interview with an MD/PhD Candidate: Introducing Mark Trinder from the Brunham Lab
April 18, 2020We chat with MD/PhD candidate, Mark Trinder (Class of 2023), and ask him to share his advice for aspiring researchers! Tell us about your research interests My work utilizes genetics to understand: 1) Why people suffer from premature heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular events. 2) Why people with severe infections respond differently to therapeutic […] Read More >

HPV Related Cancers: Tip of a Very Large Iceberg
October 16, 2017By Dr. Margaret Smith, GPO, BC Cancer Agency Vancouver Island Centre Canadian Cancer Statistics 2016 Analysis by: Health Statistics Division, Statistics Canada Data source: Canadian Cancer Registry database at Statistics Canada In the general population of BC, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is pervasive. There is an estimated 80% risk of mucocutaneous infection in all Canadians […] Read More >

HPV Vaccine Program for Grade 6 Boys Now Available in BC
October 16, 2017October, 2017 By Dr. Monika Naus, Medical Director, Immunization Programs and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Services, BC Centre for Disease Control The HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) vaccine program for grade 6 boys started in BC with the 2017/18 school year. This program will accompany the program for grade 6 girls who have been eligible since September […] Read More >

“Dear Grandma”
January 24, 2017by Dr. Patricia Lyle Dear Grandma, I look at you with tear-filled eyes, not as the physician I have been trained to be, but as the granddaughter who grew up listening to your stories of the old days, of pesky kids and army pals. I watch you fade in and out of sleep, watch each […] Read More >

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
December 19, 2016The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Book Review by Anya Selleck A few years back in university, a friend of mine in medical school gave me a book to read. I didn’t read it. Like so many of my generation, while studying, we place ourselves on a definitive trajectory to our desired goal. […] Read More >

B4stage4: Changing the way we think about mental health and addiction
December 19, 2016September, 2016 Canadian Mental Health Association – BC Division Everyone in British Columbia has a right to mental health and addiction care that is valued equally with physical health care (1). If a person becomes unwell, the mental health services they access should be equal to physical health services (2). This should hold true regardless […] Read More >