Daily News

Posted on Jan. 2: Amazing students, amazing stories: Melinda Gillies

Three inspiring and outstanding McMaster students were featured in the December issue of the McMaster Review. This is the first of three profiles we will feature on the Daily News. It is an example of how students make the world a better place and who serve as shining examples of students as socially responsible citizens. These are stories of inspiration, stories that give us all a reason to smile. Melinda Gillies Age: 38 Academic Program: MD Program Career goal: Surgeon At age 29, she spent most of her time watching TV and smoking cigarettes. Today, she's a full-fledged, first-year medical student. Melinda Gillies' journey from the couch to medical school grew out of two traumatic and life-changing experiences and a message in a novel.

Posted on Jan. 2: Surgical therapy not safe for all

McMaster professor of medicine Deborah Cook, and other Canadian researchers, have shown a costly diagnostic and treatment tool, assumed to raise survival rates in many hospital settings, provided no benefit to patients facing major non-cardiac surgery. Dean Sandham of the University of Calgary's medical school, led the team that showed using pulmonary-artery catheters in older patients about to undergo such surgery does not raise their likelihood of surviving and, in fact, raises their risk of a life-threatening blood clot in the lungs. "We can't afford to use our health-care resources on things that aren't helpful," he said. The findings of their 10-year study, published in today's New England Journal of Medicine, contradict what, for some time, was considered a given: that high-risk surgery patients were less likely to die if a pulmonary-artery catheter was inserted before they went under the knife. "This will have a very large impact on patient care," said Cook, chair of the Canadian critical care clinical trials group. "This is truly a landmark study. It shows clearly that, in the population tested ..., there's no evidence of any benefit of having the pulmonary-artery catheter." Click here for the story in The Toronto Star.

Posted on Dec. 24: Happy Holidays

Happy holidays from the Daily News. The University will be closed from Wednesday, Dec. 25 to Wednesday, Jan. 1, reopening on Thursday, Jan. 2. Classes resume Monday, Jan. 6. Most campus services are closed for the holiday period. For a listing of dining facility operating hours visit Hospitality Services. Click McMaster Libraries for library hours of operation. Security will be on duty throughout the holiday period, providing services 24 hours a day. Officers will be patrolling campus, answering alarms and monitoring security systems. For assistance, call security at ext. 24281. The Daily News returns Thursday, Jan. 2.