After completing undergraduate studies at Vanier College and McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, I attended medical school at Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario and graduated in 1981.  Thereafter, I did specialty training in internal medicine at the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario.  Subsequent to becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, I set up practice in Ajax, Ontario, Canada and have practiced there to the present time.  I am an elected member of the Clinical & Scientific Section executive of the Canadian Diabetes Association and I am also a member of the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.  I am currently spearheading the Dissemination & Implementation Committee for the CDA 2008 Clinical Practice Guidelines.  (A huge challenge but so very exciting at the same time!)

My most recent book, Understanding Prescription Drugs for Canadians for Dummies was co-written with Dr. Heather McDonald-Blumer (a partner in more than just marriage).  This book looks at the key things you should know in order to take your prescription medicines safely and effectively.  it's written in the typical "Dummies style" meaning we say important things but do so in an easy-reading and non-threatening way.  Best of all we get to throw in a whole bunch of jokes!

It is a true thrill to me that my other Dummies book, Diabetes for Canadians for Dummies has become a bestseller (writing a book is such a leap of faith-you write what you hope will be of interest and of value to people then you cross your fingers [all of them!]; when it is then well received it makes all the effort so very worthwhile).  It is based on the Canadian Diabetes Association 2003 Clinical Practice Guidelines.  I have also collaborated with the wonderful medical writer, Paula Ford-Martin, on The Everything Diabetes Book (Adams Media Corporation), which is available in bookstores across North America (and on line).

A book I wrote ("What Your Doctor Really Thinks: Diagnosing the Doctor-Patient Relationship") - pictured left - was published by Hounslow Press division of The Dundurn Group in 1999 (ISBN: 0-88882-215-4) and, having been seen at a London, England book fair in 2000, was picked up and published in Chinese - pictured right (hmmm, not so sure about that cover picture, eh?) - by Common Wealth Publishers (of Taiwan) for distribution to Chinese-speaking communities around the world.  I have been very pleased with the positive reception the book has received in Canada (I had been worried the somewhat controversial nature of the book might be a problem with my colleagues, but fortunately it has not).

I have had essays published in The Medical Post and I have written articles for the Journal of Geriatric Care and the Canadian Journal of CME [Continuing Medical Education].

A Podcast that was recorded during my appearance on dLife (on CNBC) is available here.  An interview I did on Diabetes Compass Radio (September 2005) is available here.

Although I practice what is called "internal medicine," the particular focus of my practice is diabetes.  Being a multi-system (that is, affecting a variety of regions of the body) disorder, diabetes is the quintessential internal medicine condition.  Physicians sometime ask me "how could you want to look after people with diabetes all day?" which really is meant to say "don't you find it frustrating to deal with such a difficult-to-treat group of people?"  Although well-intentioned, that question always catches me off-guard because I love what I do.  Why?  I think it is because I see just how much can be done to improve the quality of life of people with diabetes; how much potential there is to prevent complications or, if complications are present, how much can be done to slow down (or sometimes even halt or reverse) their progression.  I've been a diabetes specialist for over fifteen years and I can honestly say I have not once thought to myself "oh no; another day in the office looking after people with diabetes..."

I have the privilege of being affiliated with the Charles H. Best Diabetes Centre and of working closely with the wonderful diabetes educators at the Ajax-Pickering Health Centre, Northumberland Health Care Centre and Lakeridge Health Corporation.

I have been involved in a number of diabetes research studies including the TRIGR study which is trying to determine the cause of Type 1 diabetes.

I have been given the honour of appearing on quite a number of television shows (CTV national news, CBC national news, Canada AM, Balance TV, Breakfast TV on City Television, TVO's 'More to Life', ...) and radio shows (CBC Ontario Morning, The Morning Show on CJOB Winnipeg with Larry Updike, The Phil Till show on CKNW Vancouver, ...) and have had quite a few print media appearances (The Toronto Star, The Montreal Gazette, The National Post, ...) as well.  In answering calls during the phone in shows I have done,  I have been struck by the excellent questions that people have posed and equally struck by the fact that regardless of what part of the country people call from, their concerns are shared by others from coast to coast to coast.  Indeed, it was this latter experience that made me realize that diabetes-related issues and concerns extend to the broader diabetes community; hence was born this web site, designed to serve as a practical guide to diabetes.