Thank you

Letters

CJEM 2003;5(3):154

To the editor: I was very pleased and proud that the March issue of CJEM published an announcement of my appointment as Campus Dean East (Sudbury) for the new Northern Ontario Medical School (NOMS).¹ My special thanks go to Garth Dickinson for the warmth and personal touch of his article.

Life is, however, full of surprises. In the same week as I received my copy of CJEM with the announcement, I was in the process of submitting my resignation to NOMS. In my 2 months on the job I met some wonderful people and got started on several interesting projects. The support of the communities, all across Northern Ontario, for NOMS is quite remarkable. I wish them all success for the medical school, and only regret that I can no longer be part of it. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances arose that made me realize that I would not be able to fulfil my mandate as Campus Dean in a manner acceptable to my standards and to the needs of the medical school, so I felt that I had to withdraw.

As I spend the next little while thinking about the future, it is a great comfort for me to know that my friends and colleagues in emergency medicine across the country are there to listen and to help if I need them. I think we are very lucky to have such a sense of community in emergency medicine, and we should do everything we can to maintain and develop it. In spite of the many challenges we face, emergency medicine is a great and rewarding career. If anyone else is thinking about changing jobs, just remember that there is really "no place like home."

My thanks again to CJEM and to CAEP, and my greetings to all.

Tim Allen
CESSUL, porte 0253
Pavillon Vandry
Université Laval
Québec QC G1K 7P4

Reference

1. Dickinson G. First Dean of the Northern Ontario Medical School Sudbury Campus. CJEM 2003;5(2):137.

Letters will be considered for publication if they relate to topics of interest to emergency physicians in urban, rural, community or academic settings. Letters responding to a previously published CJEM article should reach CJEM head office in Vancouver (see masthead for details) within 6 weeks of the article's publication. Letters should be limited to 400 words and 5 references. For reasons of space, letters may be edited for brevity and clarity.

Les lettres seront considérées pour publication si elles sont pertinentes à la médecine d'urgence en milieu urbain, rural, communautaire ou universitaire. Les lettres en réponse à des articles du JCMU publiés antérieurement devraient parvenir au siège social du JCMU à Vancouver (voir titre pour plus de détails) moins de six semaines après la parution de l'article en question. Les lettres ne devraient pas avoir plus de 400 mots et cinq références. Pour des raisons d'espace et par souci de concision et de clarté, certaines lettres pourraient être modifiées.