April 2020 |
Pour accéder à la version française de ce bulletin,
cliquez ici
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Message from the Interim Chair
As we enter the second month of the 'new normal', I sincerely want to thank you for your continued efforts in supporting your peers, your patients and your department. I continue to be impressed by your passion and continued contribution during these unprecedented times.
I am proud of our students, residents and faculty members for their strong commitment to our academic program. Thank you for quickly adapting your teaching and learning methods during this Winter term. Our faculty members,
Dr. Shauna Bassel
and
Dr. Eric Wooltorton
, have taken this opportunity to innovate and enhance MedEd. They've created a
YouTube video
to help faculty and resident preceptors focus case
presentation skills, and assess clinical reasoning using the SNAPPS technique.
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Pictured here, our PGY2 resident,
Dr.
Mira Abdelshahid
, and faculty member,
Dr. Eric Wooltorton
, doff their PPE after providing home visits for palliative, vulnerable and isolated family medicine patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
#DFMstrong
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Our leadership team created a helpful resource, the
DFM Virtual Care Best Practices Guide
, for which you can share with your peers. We are also collaborating with our peers across Canadian medical schools to finalize the uOttawa COVID-19 Competencies in the Family Medicine Residency Program. We look forward to sharing this comprehensive document with you soon.
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Dr. Kathleen Pajer, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, recently
shared her insights
on COVID’s impacts on our emotional well-being, and steps you can take to improve it. In addition, the Faculty Wellness Program has now implemented a workplace
"buddy system"
program as a way of offering additional peer and collegial support.
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Earlier this month, we hosted the DFM's
first virtual Faculty Development Half Day
. I'd like to thank our Director of Faculty Development,
Dr. Eric Wooltorton
, and the rest of the team for sharing practical tips regarding online teaching, promotion, helping learners in difficulty and learning the difference between mentorship and coaching.
Early 2020, uOttawa residents were asked to outline the qualities that make an excellent clinical teacher. These qualities include patient care, quality of bedside teaching, and interest in their trainees' personal development and wellbeing. Join me in congratulating
Dr. Jason LeClair, recipient of the 2020 PARO Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award at uOttawa!
Join me in also congratulating
Jessica Tao
on the
PARO Citizenship Award for medical students
!
Lastly, I'm happy to announce our
residency program has fully matched
in the second iteration of CaRMS this month! Thank you to all who have helped with the short window for review for the second round of CaRMS applicants! We look forward
to welcoming the new cohort on July 1!
#MatchYourPassion
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uOttawa employees update
Based on the most recent changes to COVID-19 related restrictions, uOttawa wants to remind all its employees that only authorized people are permitted on the campus. In accordance with provincial public health directives related to COVID-19, unless your function has been identified as essential, you should not be present on the campus. Only employees with authorization letters approved by Deans and Associate Vice-Presidents are permitted on campus.
The Office of the President at uOttawa issued the message this month: “
In solidarity with our community
” (note in particular the travel limitations between Ontario and Quebec).
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2020 academic promotions
Join us on congratulating the following Department of Family Medicine faculty members on their recent academic promotions! We look forward to their leadership and future successes at the department and beyond.
Promotion from Assistant Professor to the rank of Associate Professor
- Dr. Elizabeth Muggah
- Dr. Doug Archibald
Promotion from Lecturer to the rank of Assistant Professor
- Dr. Lina Shoppoff
- Dr. Mohamed Gazarin
- Dr. Pil Joo
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DFM is seeking candidates for 3 full time academic physician positions
As the successful candidate, your outstanding academic record and unique skill set, which may include expertise in scholarship, patient care, obstetrics, research and leadership, will enrich our fully accredited Postgraduate program.
Qualified applicants must hold a current CCFP certification, valid CMPA coverage and be eligible for licensure in Ontario. Bilingualism is an asset.
Submit your CV and cover letter by to Dr. Clare Liddy at
hrdfm@uottawa.ca. We will continue accepting applications until the positions are filled.
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By: Capital Current
Clerkships are an integral component of a University of Ottawa medical students’ education. Jaclyn Spitzig, and other medical students like her, are determined to make a difference during the COVID-19 crisis even though she and the others are facing uncertainty about their education – from fluctuating statuses on field placements to adapting to changing modes of classroom instruction...
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New COVID-19 projections show how physical distancing can make a huge difference in Ottawa
By: The Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Doug Manuel has partnered with local health authorities on tracking COVID-19 projections in the Ottawa region. In collaboration with research peers and The Ottawa Hospital, Dr. Manuel is leading the group in the production of a
new interactive website
that forecasts the number of hospitalizations and deaths while demonstrating the effectiveness of physical distancing.
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This is the time to talk about your health care and end-of-life wishes
By: Dr. Nick Busing for the Ottawa Citizen
"Our health and medical responders are doing absolutely everything possible to protect us and help us maintain good health and get better when we fall sick. That will not always be enough, however, so let‘s all prepare. Our health providers need our help and need to know what your wishes are for quality care, especially near the end of your life..."
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DFM staff update
Welcome to our new
Senior Research Associate,
Dr. Liam Rémillard! In his role with the Bruyere Research Institute, Dr. Rémillard will be contributing both project management and analytic expertise towards Dr. Archibald’s research portfolio.
Dr. Liam Rémillard completed his PhD in spatial epidemiology through Queen’s University in 2019. His dissertation involved assessing and identifying Ontario residents at high risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by predicting Ontario communities that will experience an increasing incidence of STIs the near future...
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New pairing program brings caring and comfort to isolated seniors
The Ottawa chapter of the
Student-Senior Isolation Prevention Partnership (SSIPP)
began its mission of matching MD students with isolated seniors. “Many medical students are eager to help with COVID-19,” says co-founder Celina DeBiasio.
The group sought the mentorship of Faculty of Medicine professors
Dr. Elizabeth Muggah, Dr. Clare Liddy and Dr. Chandi Chandrasena
, as well as Ontario Medical Association board director Dr. Lee Donohue, in reaching out to the city’s physicians. Together they spread the news of the initiative, inviting doctors to share the names of people who could benefit from the program.
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Scholarship for medical students
The
Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine (FAFM)
of the CFPC offers opportunities to recognize outstanding medical students through the
Honours and Awards Program
. We encourage medical students interested in Family Medicine as a career to apply to these scholarships.
The application for the
Medical Student Scholarships
awards and scholarships is presently open. These scholarships recognize outstanding medical students in their 2nd last year of study (graduating class of 2021). One student from each Canadian medical school will be selected. A selection committee coordinated through the office of the Assistant Dean, comprised of student and faculty representatives, is asked to collaborate on the selection process.
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The Ottawa Hospital creates special COVID-19 clinic for moms and newborns
By: Ottawa Citizen
Maternal health experts at The Ottawa Hospital, realizing those mothers had nowhere to go for postpartum care because they were in isolation and couldn’t go in to regular postpartum clinics, created a special clinic earlier this month to support mothers and their newborns facing the additional challenge of COVID-19.
“For the first couple of weeks, these families were completely without anywhere physical to seek any care and we were doing telephone visits,” said
Dr. Daisy Moores
, head of the division of maternal and newborn care at The Ottawa Hospital. “It is hard to assess and weigh a baby over the phone.”... “It is an anxiety-provoking time,” said
Dr. David Millar
, executive director and medical lead at Monarch Centre. “We want them to feel confident that they will be provided with the best possible start.”
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April Fools!
For April Fools Day, the DFM staff decided to play a prank on the Director of Strategic Planning and Financial Services, Jeff Puncher, during the weekly team huddle! We had all branches of the military covered with Chandra “Maverick” Landry (coming to a delivery room near you) representing the Air Force, Steve (Cap) Douville holding down the Army and the Frogman was Jeff. We had a big job trying to capture the Unabomber (alias Kim “Kaboom” Rozon). Sitting on sidelines and watching the manhunt was Bob “Louise” McKenzie and Doug “Rolston” McKenzie with their long lost cousin Donna “Corona Virus” Williams. Ready for a night out there was the groovy Dame without a Name Rawley. And then there was the clean-up crew – Apocalypse Duval – ready to go into any quarantine area. We also had V Chaban in attendance, busy fulfilling a Vendetta.... and Madam Sylvie from her tree house office à la Game of Thrones!
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New tool helps predict risk of death, admission to long-term care for people with dementia
By: EurekAlert
A new tool that predicts risk of death and admission to a long-term care facility for patients with dementia may help conversations between health care providers, patients and their families, according to new research in
CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)
.
"The majority of residents in long-term care homes have been diagnosed with dementia. Our study shows that the survival of many people with dementia is poor. It may be that many would choose care that focuses on comfort care and quality of life should they become acutely ill," says
Dr. Peter Tanuseputro
, a family physician and researcher with the Bruyère Research Institute, the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and ICES, Ottawa, Ontario.
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DFM research publications
Our faculty members,
Dr. David Ponka, Dr. Claire Kendall, and Dr. Kevin Pottie
, recently published a series of articles on homelessness in
PLOS One
and
CMAJ
.
For more research publications, our website had prepared direct links to individual publications. Make sure to bookmark this site for return visits as we will update current publications as they become available.
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Many long-term care homes doing a good job of keeping residents safe: Bruyère researcher
By: Ottawa Citizen
Forty three per cent of COVID-19 deaths in Canada are among residents of long-term care homes, according to new research from Bruyère Research Institute researcher
Dr.
Amy Hsu
. Despite that, just two per cent of all of the country’s care home residents have been diagnosed with COVID-19, Hsu found. Hsu said the findings reflect the fact that residents of long-term care homes are especially vulnerable to COVID-19. They also suggest infection is not as widespread among long-term care home residents as some might think.
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Funding for hiring a CO-OP student
It is now possible to combine a uOttawa Work-Study Subsidy with a government-funded wage subsidy like the Student Work Placement Program to help finance student salaries. As such, hiring a student for 12 weeks (35 hours/week) could constitute an investment of less than $1,000. We invite you to look at
this document
to learn more about the impact of these scholarships on your contribution to the student's salary.
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Application for Master of Public Health
The application period for our new Master of Public Health Program (MPH) is now open until
April 30, 2020
!
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Canada may have 100,000 more COVID-19 cases than the numbers show
By: Dr. Yoni Freedhoff for Macleans
"You can’t fight an enemy you can’t see. You’ve probably heard someone make this statement in reference to the need to ramp up testing for COVID-19. And while that’s undoubtedly true for those crafting our response to this nightmare, it’s also true that, in the absence of ramped-up testing, our public health officials and the media, with far too rare an exception, have failed to convey to the public the true scope of how many people have been infected with SARS-CoV2..."
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Scotiabank earmarks $2.5 million for COVID-19 community response efforts
By: Scotiabank
uOttawa students and faculty are using 3D printers to make face shields for frontline healthcare workers. Scotiabank has made a $25,000 donation, part of a $2.5-million commitment to support COVID-19 community response efforts.
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Med students rally to 'feed the frontline'
By: CTV News
A group of Ottawa medical students is raising money to help feed workers in the industry they're hoping to one day enter. One of the FrontLineFeeds Ottawa-Gatineau campaign organizers,
Daniel Milad
, tells CTV Morning Live's Annette Goerner, the students wanted to find a way to give back while they wait to finish their studies.
"We're three medical students that started organizing this because we've been sent home from medical school due to the pandemic, but we wanted to find a way to give back," Milad says... The crowdfunding campaign had already raised more than $6000 in its first four days.
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NVivo license
The Faculty of Medicine has confirmed the purchase of a
NVivo license
, which is now available for free. This qualitative data analysis software package can be downloaded by faculty, staff and students here:
https://it.uottawa.ca/software/nvivo.
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Do you need to save that file? Tips for safeguarding data when working on a personal computer
Now that you’re working remotely, preventing data or security breach rests more squarely on your shoulders. Remote working opens the University IT network, its system and devices to vulnerabilities. With the rise of malicious online activity and increased
corona virus scams
, the threat level has increased exponentially.
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Read more for updates from the Undergraduate Program, Postgraduate Program and Faculty Development.
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New addition to the DFM family!
Congratulations to
Chandra Landry
, on the birth of a beautiful baby girl! The DFM family celebrated her baby shower remotely and sent a shower gift to her home! Alice Lefebvre is healthy and was born on April 12!
Marisa Duval (PGY2 Coordinator) is currently replacing Chandra during her maternity leave.
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DFM job board
Visit our website
for part-time and full-time positions available for physicians at external and affiliated clinics, as well as locum opportunities in Ottawa and across Canada.
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Thursday, June 4:
RIO Day (virtual)
Monday, February 15, 2021:
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