Published since 2005. San Francisco is a city that belongs to the people of the world. Hence this blog has a global focus. The name "Sam Spade's San Francisco" refers to an exciting era in the City's history, the time of Dashiell Hammett's fictional gumshoe and San Francisco character, Sam Spade. My name is Tom Dunn and I edit the blog. I'm not as exciting as Sam Spade, but I am definitely a San Francisco character.Contact or on Twitter -- Search blog below.
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Saturday, July 15, 2006
Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program - YUCK!
I was invited to attend a seminar conducted by Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program to hear about the latest treatments and advances being made toward a cure for hepatitis C (HCV). HCV is recognized by the medical and public health community in San Francisco as being a very serious and growing challenge. Some of the most advanced and cutting edge research being done in the country is taking place right here in San Francisco. So I decided to attend.
The venue was the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Van Ness Avenue. I arrived early and was in my seat for the 8:00 AM start.
A little before 8:20 the panel was introduced. There was an herbal health advocate from Quan Yin Healing Arts Center, a naturopath from out of town, a physician from Arizona and two or three others. There was one fellow on the panel who is from San Francisco, and in fairness to the panel, he may have been a local physician. However, there were no physcisians present from the San Francisco public health or medical community whose name I recognized.
The physician from Arizona was first to speak. The first thing he wanted us to know was that he would be absolutely certain to keep every speaker to their allotted time. That statement coming from a speaker who was himself 20-minutes late. His first official act was to ask us all to get up and go out into the lobby area where Master So-and-So would lead us all in "healing movement".
After a half-hour of ... s-l-o-w ... motion movement we were asked to take our seats. It was now 9:30. Surely, I thought, the program would begin now.
Wrong.
The physician from Arizona rose to inform us that he had decided to scrap the printed agenda and introduce someobody else ... also from out of the area. That fellow asked us all to close our eyes and hold hands with the people on either side of us. Then, while soft mood music played in the background, he began his sermon (or speech or prayer or whatever it may have been called).
"Oh, Oh, Ohhhh", he crooned, "help us to know that we are not alone in this journey" ... ad nauseam infinitum.
Now, in fairness to Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program, it might have become better and may have seemed a little more legitimate had I stayed awhile, but the Hallelujah-style prayer service was more than I could stomach on a Saturday morning. I got the hell out of there.
So, if you hear about a seminar conducted by Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program ... AND ... you happen to be an adult who still feels a deep need for Mommy and Daddy to hold your hand, then this is the kind of crap you might enjoy. If you are interested in medical, public health and scientific material, these people are not your cup of tea.
2 comments:
said...
HEPATITIS C CARING AMBASSADORS PROGRAM - HOORAY!
Ahhhh. Tis amazing how two adults can attend the same event, be it a medical/health conference, a church service, a theatre production or a political rally and see and hear the same things and come away with widely divergent 'statements' of what occurred.
I too attended today's Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program. While I can't speak for why Sam Spade accepted the invitation to a free professional gathering, my reasons were two fold: 1) to gain more information and 2) to be supportive of others for whom Hep C is an everyday living issue. I didn't go for the free meals, however I did partake of them; I didn't go to be entertained but there were parts that were entertaining and for which I could chuckle.
For me, my objectives were met. That said I did have contrary feelings:
1. I could have run the conference better and more timely. I was the first there to be registered...they weren't ready at 7 a.m. Ahhhh, I breathed and registered when they were able to process me.
2. I too heard the moderator, a MD who heads up an Integrative Medicine program in AZ 'promise' to be 'the enforcer' and see that the schedule would be maintained. That didn't happen. Gee....maybe heads of Integrative Medicine, like heads of hospitals aren't the best at 'managing'. I did note that the Ambassador Program has an Executive Program Director....who maybe might have been better skilled at 'managing', and she was there, but not called upon in that capacity. So....I chose to send loving metta to the good Doctor/Moderator and could acknowledge his good intentions.
3. I"m a touch/feely type of guy, so the hand holding portion of the program....that was fine with me. However I too, like Sam Spade, didn't really find it effective. Reminded me of the 1,000's of 12th step recovery meetings I've been to where they do the Lord's Prayer at the end..... something I decline to do, i.e. in my view mixing Christianity with a purely spiritual program is not appropriate. However, I don't not go to meetings where 'they' do that, rather I attend and then don't participate in that part.
4. Yes, San Francisco is recognized as a 'guiding beacon' in the HCV community. Both Sam Spade and I had copies of the program but my math on the local 'head count' of presenters is differentthan his take. 8 persons were identified as presenters. 5 of the 8 were identified as from San Francisco. Of those 5 locals 3 are MD's and 2 were 'lay persons'. I've heard Sam speak of 2 of those 3 MD's so I'm puzzled that he indicated that he didn't recognize any of them. The third MD from San Francisco, the one who is the Director of Liver Research at the California Pacific Medical Center [CPMC], spoke with an accent. I believe that he's from England (I kind of liked that accent). But I do count him as one of 'us' as he's employed at CPMC.
So, on balance, I'm glad that I stuck it out beyond the 'touchy/feely' experience.
Tomorrow is another day and another day of the conference. Both Sam Spade and I are registered and can attend; I"ll be there....for the same reasons: education and to be supportive of others....and I hope to see Sam there as well.
2 comments:
HEPATITIS C CARING AMBASSADORS PROGRAM - HOORAY!
Ahhhh. Tis amazing how two adults can attend the same event, be it a medical/health conference, a church service, a theatre production or a political rally and see and hear the same things and come away with widely divergent 'statements' of what occurred.
I too attended today's Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program. While I can't speak for why Sam Spade accepted the invitation to a free professional gathering, my reasons were two fold: 1) to gain more information and 2) to be supportive of others for whom Hep C is an everyday living issue. I didn't go for the free meals, however I did partake of them; I didn't go to be entertained but there were parts that were entertaining and for which I could chuckle.
For me, my objectives were met. That said I did have contrary feelings:
1. I could have run the conference better and more timely. I was the first there to be registered...they weren't ready at 7 a.m. Ahhhh, I breathed and registered when they were able to process me.
2. I too heard the moderator, a MD who heads up an Integrative Medicine program in AZ 'promise' to be 'the enforcer' and see that the schedule would be maintained. That didn't happen. Gee....maybe heads of Integrative Medicine, like heads of hospitals aren't the best at 'managing'. I did note that the Ambassador Program has an Executive Program Director....who maybe might have been better skilled at 'managing', and she was there, but not called upon in that capacity. So....I chose to send loving metta to the good Doctor/Moderator and could acknowledge his good intentions.
3. I"m a touch/feely type of guy, so the hand holding portion of the program....that was fine with me. However I too, like Sam Spade, didn't really find it effective. Reminded me of the 1,000's of 12th step recovery meetings I've been to where they do the Lord's Prayer at the end..... something I decline to do, i.e. in my view mixing Christianity with a purely spiritual program is not appropriate. However, I don't not go to meetings where 'they' do that, rather I attend and then don't participate in that part.
4. Yes, San Francisco is recognized as a 'guiding beacon' in the HCV community. Both Sam Spade and I had copies of the program but my math on the local 'head count' of presenters is differentthan his take. 8 persons were identified as presenters. 5 of the 8 were identified as from San Francisco. Of those 5 locals 3 are MD's and 2 were 'lay persons'. I've heard Sam speak of 2 of those 3 MD's so I'm puzzled that he indicated that he didn't recognize any of them. The third MD from San Francisco, the one who is the Director of Liver Research at the California Pacific Medical Center [CPMC], spoke with an accent. I believe that he's from England (I kind of liked that accent). But I do count him as one of 'us' as he's employed at CPMC.
So, on balance, I'm glad that I stuck it out beyond the 'touchy/feely' experience.
Tomorrow is another day and another day of the conference. Both Sam Spade and I are registered and can attend; I"ll be there....for the same reasons: education and to be supportive of others....and I hope to see Sam there as well.
Sam Passes, but thanks for sharing.
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