An upcoming conference in Kimberley in January, though geared to medical professionals such as doctors and pharmacists, may also be of interest to the general public.
And the public is invited to attend, says organizer Dr. Tom Perry. The Best Evidence is scheduled for January 19 and 20, 2018 at the Kimberley Conference Centre, and will focus on the use of drugs to manage chronic illness.
The conference will talk about a lot of big issues that affect a lot of people, Perry says, such as the sue of drugs to control high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
“The $40 cost to public is actually less than the cost of providing food at Kimberley Alpine Resort, so it’s basically free. This course is intended for doctors/pharmacists/NPs/Nurses, but much of the content could be interesting to intelligent/thoughtful lay people, especially older people with any of the conditions we’ll be discussing,” he said.
He added that this is the first time the UBC Therapeutics Initiative has been allowed to provide information about prescription drug therapies to the public.
“Over the years, the government did not consider public information part of our mandate for government grant to UBC. The new government’s approach has changed, and we are in a position to welcome some members of public who might be interested in an unusual educational opportunity.
“This is the first opportunity to get the public into these kind of sessions.”
It’s information, Perry says, that the international pharmacy industry may not want people to get.
“We’re not talking about naturopathic medicines, but many of the drugs we are using aren’t nearly as good as people, including doctors, think they are. People are over-drugged.”
Perry calls what they will be presenting, “non-pharmaceutically biased” education.
He says the two key-note speakers Dr. John Mandrola and Dr. Staci Mandrola from Louisville, Kentucky are particularly gifted.
Perry says he likes to go to smaller communities and he has met some of the Cranbrook and Kimberley physicians.
“I think it’s more productive. Doctors in smaller centres are more free thinking. You’ve got some good people (doctors) here in Kimberley. I’m very impressed. They are quite conservative in a good sense about showing drugs around.”
And of course, there is what Dr. Perry calls “the lure of skiing”.
“We do hope to get some skiing in,” he said.
If you’d like more information on the conference, or to register, please go to http://www.ti.ubc.ca/2017/11/10/jan-19-20-best-evidence-clinicians-course-kimberley/