A Quest for Community

Hot Spots 2.0: A Quest for Community 
Dermatology Without the Societies

As physicians we can understand Wordsworth when he wrote

          The world is too much with us; late and soon,

          Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:

          Little we see in Nature that is ours;

          We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

That is why it is important for us to spend some time as a community to honor that part of our lives and work that has little to do with the biologics, with cosmetics and rejuvenation, with Botox and cryo.

The anthropologist T.J. Luhrman had a prescient Op-Ed piece in the December 25, 2014 NY Times entitled “Religion Without God.”  In it she writes:
How do we understand this impulse to hold a “church” service despite a hesitant

or even nonexistent faith? Part of the answer is surely the quest for community.

That’s what Mr. Jones told The Associated Press: “Singing awesome songs, hearing

interesting talks, thinking about improving yourself and helping other people — and

doing that in a community with wonderful relationships. Which part of that is not to

like?”

It struck me that these lines capture the reasons why we are holding Hot Spots 2.0.  It is an opportunity for those of us who wish to gather in a special place to can share our friendship and our dedication to the great Oslerian mandate:

The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business;

a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head.

Often the best part of your work will have nothing to do with potions and powders, but with the exercise of an influence of the strong upon the weak,

of the righteous upon the wicked, of the wise upon the foolish.

Please join us when we gather in West Vancouver for a meeting free from the trappings of the Medical-Industrial-Academic complex.