Hi Everyone,
I hope this letter finds you all well and settling into your new rhythm of working in a COVID ready environment. By now most of us are getting use to our new patient care environments and work schedules; and have some time to turn our attentions to other things.
Last week the Dean of Medicine called on all of us to act and educate ourselves on the issues of systemic racism. Some of you participated in the march on June 10
th to support the Black Lives Matter Movement; and I thank those who had the time to do this. Knowing many of us had clinical care duties, and were not able to participate, the Dean invited us to take a few hours out of a work day to educate ourselves on the social injustices that are driving these issues in our communities. As a department, I would like to see all of us commit to do this. We need to understand these issues and build them into our culture of continuous improvement, not just in the coming weeks, but for the long term. Education needs to lead to action. We all have a responsibility to be a positive voice for solutions to this system wide problem. Together our voices and actions will be even stronger.
I hope everyone has a great week.
Keep Well,
Christine
Christine Short, MD, FRCP(C), FACP
Associate Professor & Head/Chief, Department of Medicine
Dalhousie University/Central Zone, Nova Scotia Health Authority