developing programs of education and family planning, in spite of the best intentions and exhortations of the CMA. Until then, many troubled Canadian women will not seek the help and understanding of their physician until the remorseless progress of an unwanted pregnancy forces it upon them. Some of Mr. Geekie's confr.res may be tired and bored by the debate. They are free to sit on the sidelines. But the CMA General Council has recommended that all reference to the abortion committee be deleted from the Criminal Code of Canada. Excellent! Now is the time to regain the energy and courage necessary to convince our federal legislators of the wisdom of this recommendation. BRUCE GJBBARD, MD, FRCP[C]
Department of psychiatry McGill University Montr6al, Que.
To the editor: The history of the Nazi era reminds us of the tendency in man to abuse and enslave his brothers. The process is simple. One merely convinces oneself that one is superior and therefore entitled to dominate the lives of others. By a ruthless philosophy humans were segregated into superior and inferior groups. The inferior group was subdivided into useful and useless sections. People in the useless section were killed. The German medical profession cooperated with Hitler. Psychiatrists reversed their historical role and passed death sentences. It became a matter of routine. The whole undertaking was described by various euphemisms: help for the dying, mercy deaths, mercy killings, destruction of life devoid of value, mercy action. They all became fused into the sonorous and misleading term "euthanasia". In reality these mass killings were not mercy deaths but merciless murders. The most reliable estimate of the number of psychiatric patients killed is 275 000. The indications became wider and eventually included superfluous people, the unfit, the unproductive, and useless eaters. Finally many children and elderly people were included. Doctors took an active part and were soon willing to participate in the mass killings in the concentration camps. As a result of postwar hardships and the subsequent depression, abortion on demand or for nonmedical socioeconomic reasons had been available in Germany since the end of World War I. Since Parliament freed their hand in 1969, Canadian doctors have performed approximately 150 000 abortions. They are acting freely and voluntarily. I do not believe that their actions can be defended by moral men. It is true that
there are good men among them, men who are motivated by the highest ideals, but as a social group I view them as mass killers. In only 5 years they have learned and practised the art of mass destruction. What will the future hold for us? HEIKO BAUNEMANN, FRCSfC]
123 Whalen St. Thunder Bay, Ont.
Composition of General Council To the editor: The continuing push for abortion on demand and the 1971 decision (narrow) of CMA General Council regarding the deliberate termination of pregnancy lead me to request that the composition of General Council be set out briefly for the benefit of all CMA members. As I recall, there is a large component of General Council that represents the various affiliated organizations, special interest groups such as the Health League of Canada, the Canadian Arthritis & Rheumatism Society, etc. If this is true, disproportionate representation is being given to those members of the association who are politically active in these groups, as compared with those of us who are politically active in our provincial medical associations and their branches. J. W. MCGILLIVRAY, FRCS(C]
270 Peel St. Collingwood, Ont.
[The 1974 CMA General Council membership was composed of some 250 members of the association. Over two thirds of General Council, 170 members, were representatives of provincial divisions. Twenty-four were members of the CMA Board of Directors or chairmen of statutory CMA councils or committees. Thirty were representatives of affiliated societies, primarily medical specialty bodies such as the Canadian Association of Radiologists and the Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine. Medical-lay bodies such as those mentioned by Dr. McGillivray are classified as associated societies and are not eligible to have a voting representative at General Council. In addition there were 21 individuals who, by virtue of having held office in the CMA (past-presidents, etc.), were members of General Council. The remaining three members were the surgeon general of the Canadian Armed Forces, the director general of the treatment services branch of the Department of Veteran Affairs and the deputy minister of national health, Health and Welfare Canada. - Ed.]
Postgraduate clinical education
To the editor: In the summary to their article "Postgraduate clinical education - the Canadian experience (Can Med Assoc J 111: 813, 1974) Mueller and Ames make the statement "from the 1960 cohort 65% chose" a specialist career, and they note that, by the end of 1972, approximately 50% of the 1970 cohort had made a similar choice. They see this as a "diminishing trend toward specialty practice". Viewing percentages is often misleading, especially when the absolute figures for available positions for postgraduate training are not given. Such training positions have not increased in number at the same rate as the production of medical graduates in the 10 years referred to; Fiscal pressures, usually applied by provincial governments, have limited (and in some areas decreased) the available postgraduate training positions. Thus, the choice is not a simple matter to the postgraduate of "What do I want to do?" as much as it is "Where might I be accepted in a training position acceptable to me, in order to do what I want to do?" Despite the "continuing strong motivation for specialty practice" noted by the authors, there can be no alternative to a continuing diminishing trend, as viewed by percentages, as medical school enrolments increase and numbers of postgraduate training posts remain static or decline (which they must do as further cuts in numbers of hospital beds occur -- the present problem in Ontario). As choices become more limited in Canada, and as the Royal College gradually refuses to accept training completed in the United States and elsewhere, I believe it is safe to predict an acute shortage of specialists, probably about 10 years from now. F. W. DANBY, MD, FRCP(CJ
253 Ontario St. Kingston, Ont.
Of meetings To the editor: The Journal is fortunate that it has readers with a classical eye as sharp as Dr. Perl's (Can Med Assoc J 111: 641, 1974). Indeed it was my spelling that let me down. Desipere I meant and dissipere I wrote. The slip may have been freudian. For me, the gloom of A. D. Kelly's "Verbum sapientibus" in the same issue (page 650) was lightened by the evidence that there are still classical scholars like Dr. Perl alive and well and living in Canada. KENNETH M. LEIGHTON,
MB
3227 West 28th Ave. Vancouver, B.C.
GMA JOURNAL/JANUARY 11, 1975/VOL. 112 27
Department of psychiatry McGill University Montr6al, Que.
To the editor: The history of the Nazi era reminds us of the tendency in man to abuse and enslave his brothers. The process is simple. One merely convinces oneself that one is superior and therefore entitled to dominate the lives of others. By a ruthless philosophy humans were segregated into superior and inferior groups. The inferior group was subdivided into useful and useless sections. People in the useless section were killed. The German medical profession cooperated with Hitler. Psychiatrists reversed their historical role and passed death sentences. It became a matter of routine. The whole undertaking was described by various euphemisms: help for the dying, mercy deaths, mercy killings, destruction of life devoid of value, mercy action. They all became fused into the sonorous and misleading term "euthanasia". In reality these mass killings were not mercy deaths but merciless murders. The most reliable estimate of the number of psychiatric patients killed is 275 000. The indications became wider and eventually included superfluous people, the unfit, the unproductive, and useless eaters. Finally many children and elderly people were included. Doctors took an active part and were soon willing to participate in the mass killings in the concentration camps. As a result of postwar hardships and the subsequent depression, abortion on demand or for nonmedical socioeconomic reasons had been available in Germany since the end of World War I. Since Parliament freed their hand in 1969, Canadian doctors have performed approximately 150 000 abortions. They are acting freely and voluntarily. I do not believe that their actions can be defended by moral men. It is true that
there are good men among them, men who are motivated by the highest ideals, but as a social group I view them as mass killers. In only 5 years they have learned and practised the art of mass destruction. What will the future hold for us? HEIKO BAUNEMANN, FRCSfC]
123 Whalen St. Thunder Bay, Ont.
Composition of General Council To the editor: The continuing push for abortion on demand and the 1971 decision (narrow) of CMA General Council regarding the deliberate termination of pregnancy lead me to request that the composition of General Council be set out briefly for the benefit of all CMA members. As I recall, there is a large component of General Council that represents the various affiliated organizations, special interest groups such as the Health League of Canada, the Canadian Arthritis & Rheumatism Society, etc. If this is true, disproportionate representation is being given to those members of the association who are politically active in these groups, as compared with those of us who are politically active in our provincial medical associations and their branches. J. W. MCGILLIVRAY, FRCS(C]
270 Peel St. Collingwood, Ont.
[The 1974 CMA General Council membership was composed of some 250 members of the association. Over two thirds of General Council, 170 members, were representatives of provincial divisions. Twenty-four were members of the CMA Board of Directors or chairmen of statutory CMA councils or committees. Thirty were representatives of affiliated societies, primarily medical specialty bodies such as the Canadian Association of Radiologists and the Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine. Medical-lay bodies such as those mentioned by Dr. McGillivray are classified as associated societies and are not eligible to have a voting representative at General Council. In addition there were 21 individuals who, by virtue of having held office in the CMA (past-presidents, etc.), were members of General Council. The remaining three members were the surgeon general of the Canadian Armed Forces, the director general of the treatment services branch of the Department of Veteran Affairs and the deputy minister of national health, Health and Welfare Canada. - Ed.]
Postgraduate clinical education
To the editor: In the summary to their article "Postgraduate clinical education - the Canadian experience (Can Med Assoc J 111: 813, 1974) Mueller and Ames make the statement "from the 1960 cohort 65% chose" a specialist career, and they note that, by the end of 1972, approximately 50% of the 1970 cohort had made a similar choice. They see this as a "diminishing trend toward specialty practice". Viewing percentages is often misleading, especially when the absolute figures for available positions for postgraduate training are not given. Such training positions have not increased in number at the same rate as the production of medical graduates in the 10 years referred to; Fiscal pressures, usually applied by provincial governments, have limited (and in some areas decreased) the available postgraduate training positions. Thus, the choice is not a simple matter to the postgraduate of "What do I want to do?" as much as it is "Where might I be accepted in a training position acceptable to me, in order to do what I want to do?" Despite the "continuing strong motivation for specialty practice" noted by the authors, there can be no alternative to a continuing diminishing trend, as viewed by percentages, as medical school enrolments increase and numbers of postgraduate training posts remain static or decline (which they must do as further cuts in numbers of hospital beds occur -- the present problem in Ontario). As choices become more limited in Canada, and as the Royal College gradually refuses to accept training completed in the United States and elsewhere, I believe it is safe to predict an acute shortage of specialists, probably about 10 years from now. F. W. DANBY, MD, FRCP(CJ
253 Ontario St. Kingston, Ont.
Of meetings To the editor: The Journal is fortunate that it has readers with a classical eye as sharp as Dr. Perl's (Can Med Assoc J 111: 641, 1974). Indeed it was my spelling that let me down. Desipere I meant and dissipere I wrote. The slip may have been freudian. For me, the gloom of A. D. Kelly's "Verbum sapientibus" in the same issue (page 650) was lightened by the evidence that there are still classical scholars like Dr. Perl alive and well and living in Canada. KENNETH M. LEIGHTON,
MB
3227 West 28th Ave. Vancouver, B.C.
GMA JOURNAL/JANUARY 11, 1975/VOL. 112 27
