UWOMJ Volume 36, Number 2, December 1965 Western University
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Western University Scholarship@Western University of Western Ontario Medical Journal Digitized Special Collections 12-1965 UWOMJ Volume 36, Number 2, December 1965 Western University Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/uwomj Part of the Medicine and Health Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Western University, "UWOMJ Volume 36, Number 2, December 1965" (1965). University of Western Ontario Medical Journal. 222. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/uwomj/222 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Digitized Special Collections at Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Western Ontario Medical Journal by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Editorial Morality and ethics as they apply to medicine are bewildering and vital in about equal measure. In these areas grey is the predominant colour; there are no pat solutions. The complexity of these issues is heightened by lheii' intimate involve- ment with religion and law - fields especially conducive to disagreement. For all their vagueness, moral issues such as abortion or euthanasia, and ques tions of ethics such as the therapeutic use of placebos or the physician's responsi bilities at the scene of an accident, must inevitably be faced in the course of medical practice. In the standard medical curriculum such problems are dealt with pragmatically, if at all. The physician's legal position is stressed, while questions of ethics and morality are largely ignored. In this number of the Journal an attempt is made to illuminate the underlying issues and to offer possible solutions to several of these problems. A physician's actions must be governed not merely by a knowledge of what is permissible, but also by an accurate understanding of the basic issues. He cannot abdicate his responsibility to formulate for himself, moral and ethical stand ards which will guide his behaviour as a medical practitioner. In this issue an article entitled "a new deal for homosexuals" appears under the heading, DISSENT. This feature is designed to serve as a medium· for the presentation of views which are opposed to traditional or prevailing thought. Any subject relevant to medicine is fair game for DISSENT. Medical education, the "image" of the profession, the "foreign doctors" question, and medicare, are but a few of the many issues which might conceivably be discussed. A number of technical innovations have been made in this number of the Journal. These changes are strictly tentative; their future will be determined by reader reaction. B.G.H. DECEMBER, 1965 33 £etters to t~e ~Jitor In the past, letters to the editor have not been a prominent feature of the Medical Journal - not because we are unreceptive to them but merely because few have been received. Irate or otherwise inspired readers may address their comments to the Editor-in-Chief, UWO Medical Journal. INTERN: by Doctor X; Harper and Row His comments on hospital procedures, Publishers, New York, 404 pages ( 7.95). nursing staff, and medical staff are candid, illuminating, and sometimes shocking - Intern by Doctor X is the diary of a always lucid, sometimes lurid. His person young doctor recorded on tape day by day ality is projected throughout the diary. He throughout his year of internship at a pri has remarkable candor and a wry humour, vate metropolitan hospital. He describes and like many junior physicians has the his experiences as he rotates through the refreshing faculty of talking and thinking four services - Medicine, Obstetrics and in laymen's terms. Gynecology, Surgery, and Paediatrics. Dr. X is presently a practicing physician Technically the diary is not a "book" in a large American city. He explains the as it consists of a series of sometimes un publication of this remarkable diary in the related experiences which ·seem to have no introduction. "There is an ancient un spoken code of secrecy surrounding the beginning and no end. The ~riter ' s mood and style vary according to the events practice of medicine and the men who of the day and the number of hours of practice it .... I am convinced that this sleep he obtained the previous night. As attitude is wrong and unworthy of the a result the diary accomplishes what no great profession that perpetuates it . elaborately contrived "medical" novel People need to understand how a doctor could do. It elucidates the awesome work becomes a doctor, what the practice of load of the junior intern and his resulting medicine is all about . and, above all, mental and physical exhaustion, his mood they need some insight into the human swings as he is confronted with the reality limitations upon a doctor's powers .. .. of death and new life, his wrath at nurs My intention in publishing this journal ing incompetence, his shame at medical has been to contribute to such an under incompetence, and his admiration of medi standing between doctors and the general cal genius. It is a graphic portrayal of the public." drudgery of menial medical tasks, the Intern by Doctor X is an intimate living disappointments, disillusionments, and diary and of interest to medical personnel disasters that are part of the intern's life, as well as laymen. as well as the intellectual and emotional rewards of a tiring and often thankless job. Reviewed by Wayne Howell '66 34 U.W.O. MEDICAL JouRNAL DISSENT a new deal ·for homosexuals* by brian hutchison '67 In our mid-twentieth century concern with the rights of minorities, one such group, representing in excess of four per cent of the male population, seems to have escaped notice homosexuals. Having fallen victim to the doctrine equating orthodoxy with virtue and nonconformity with evil, homosexuals are persecuted by society" · gen erally, and in particular by society's agent, the law .This vilification is .: founded firmly upon ignorance. Simply defined, homosexuality is a pro exclusively homosexual for at least th~~ pensity for persons of one's own sex. years between the ages of 16 and 65, and Homosexuality is not an "all or none" that 3 7 per cent have at least some overt proposition. W ith respect to sexual pro homosexual experience, to the. point of pensity a continum exists between absolute orgasm, between adolescence and old age. heterosexuality and absolute homosexuality The labels with which homosexuals have along which all individuals may be placed. been tagged include: criminal, immoral, Sexual preference need not always be mentally ill, a scourge upon society, and reflected in behaviour. others not worthy of repetition. By objec tive standards all are misnomers. This article introduces "DISSENT", a feature of The Journal designed to accom criminal? modate expressions of opinion on subjects Under current Canadian law a male en relevant to medicine, which dissent from gaging in homosexual activity, under any the prevailing view. Contributions to circumstances whatever, is subject to im "DISSENT" may be submitted to the prisonment. The law is sporadically en Editor-in-Chief, UWO Medical Journal. forced. Crackdowns are generally the result of periodic waves of self-rigliteous The four per cent figure cited above public indignation. represents the proportion of males whose The function of law is the preservation sexual activity is exclusively homosexual. of public safety and the protection of Kinsey in the United States found that individual rights. In what conceivable 10 per cent of males were more or less manner do homosexual acts performed ·in •This article will deal exclusively with the question of homosexuality in males. Female homosexuality is omitted due to 1) the Jack of information concerning homo sexuality in females and 2) the fact that female homosexua.Js are largely ignored rather. than persecuted. The conclusions, however, are in most instances equally applicable to female homosexuals. DECEMBER, 1965 35 --Dissent----------------------- private between consenting parties con scourge? stitute a threat to public welfare or the Homosexuality is widely regarded as a rights of others? Obviously there is no malevolent force which, unless checked, threat. will bring about the degeneration and de Many persons find the mere thought of cay of our civilization. homosexuality repulsive. But moral con viction or instinctive feeling, however In order to determine the validity of strong, is not sufficient justification for this claim we must examine the nature of violating an individual's privacy and for the homosexual. Some experts contend that bringing private sexual behaviour within homosexuality is not peculiar to members the realm of criminal law. The fact re of particular professions or social classes. mains that homosexuality per se is in no Others argue that the practice is seen pre way contrary to the public good. dominantly in artistic individuals or among the intelligentsia. The clash of There are those who contend that a opinion is of no consequence to this dis relaxation of the law will produce mass cussion. However, the agreement that conversion to homosexuality. Surely the homosexuals are productice members of majority of the population remains hetero society, is very much to the point. Homo sexual not because of existing prohibitions sexuals, far from being a drain on society, against homosexuality but because of a take their place as useful members of the positive attraction to the opposite sex. community. Indeed, for a switch to homosexuality to exert a detrimental effect on society, it In view of these facts it is difficult to would have to be of sufficient magnitude envision the manner in which the expected to prevent society from perpetuating itself. decay and degeneration will come about. Such a result is hardly within the realm of possibility. " illness? In contradiction to popular belief, Without reason, homosexuality has come seduction of children, assault, or violations to be considered a mental illness.