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2021, Vol. 5 | Pour accéder à la version française de ce bulletin, cliquez ici.
Message from the Chair
In light of the tragic developments that have emerged in Kamloops, British Columbia, and London, Ontario, I want to reaffirm the Department of Family Medicine’s commitment to advocacy that promotes equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), social accountability and wellness. Tragic events like these are a staunch reminder that there is still much to be done to address the needs of marginalized populations. Family doctors have a unique opportunity to be leaders, voice their support, and improve health access for black, indigenous, people of colour and LGBTQ2+ communities. The issues facing marginalized populations are complex and require a multidisciplinary approach. This year the DFM has been working closely with Curriculum Director Dr. Denice Lewis to create an anti-racism curriculum. In May, the Faculty of Medicine has appointed Dr. Sarah Funnell, Founding Director of the Centre of Indigenous Health Research and Education (CIHRE). I am proud to share that Dr. Funnell is a member of our department. June is National Indigenous History Month. Please join me in honouring the history, heritage and diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada. It is also Pride Month. Please join me in celebrating the diversity and accomplishments of LGBTQ2+ peoples. I hope the stories in this issue inspire you to reflect on what every one of us can do to make Canada a place where people of all races, nationalities, sexual orientations, and gender identities belong.
STORIES IN FAMILY MEDICINE
Dr. Sarah Funnell appointed Founding Director of the Centre for Indigenous Health Research and Education (CIHRE)

This week, the comms team at the DFM had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Funnell and learning more about what led her to a career in medicine and better understand the challenges Indigenous Peoples face when accessing health care services.
Breaking Down Barriers for Transgender Patients

The DFM is pleased to welcome our new assistant writer Amelia Willes, a journalism student at Ryerson University. Get to know Amelia and read her latest piece on Breaking Down Barriers for Transgender Patients.
Photo credit : Maxime Charest, MA 2018

Creating Opportunities for Enhancing Optimal Sexual Experiences.

Amidst the pandemic, Dr. Peggy J. Kleinplatz and her interdisciplinary research team increase accessibility for Optimal Sexual Experience Couples Therapy.
2021 Department of Family Medicine Faculty and Staff Awards

This year, the 2021 DFM Faculty and Staff Awards were held on RIO Day. Congratulations to our faculty and staff, who were recognized for their contributions and outstanding service in our department!
Family Medicine Grand Rounds

Family Medicine Grand Rounds are on Thursday, June 24 at 8am, featuring Dr. Mohamed Gazarin, Dr. Brian Devin and Dr. Shelby Allison.
DFM in the News

A reminder to mention your affiliation with the DFM when speaking with the media. It brings us much pride to share your great work!

Is BMI good for your health?, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff


 




Share a story!

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Contact us at commsdfm@uottawa.ca.

Upcoming Events




September 24 : New Faculty Orientation


Quick Links
DEPARTMENTAL UPDATES
UNDERGRADUATE

With summer fast approaching, the offers of admission at the Faculty of Medicine have been sent. Congratulations to the new incoming class that will start in September 2021!
 
Our 2nd-year students are completing their transition to clerkship. New faces will therefore be seen in hospitals. Let's welcome them!
 
4th-year uOttawa electives will only be allowed through uOttawa for the upcoming academic year of 2021/2022 due to COVID restrictions. We are still looking for preceptors agreeable to taking new students for electives.
 
2nd-year PSD Community Program went very well for our students. They did two sessions with a community preceptor and two sessions at a COVID-19 Assessment Center. We've received excellent feedback that they were very excited to be back in clinic.
POSTGRADUATE

RIO DAY 2021

Congratulations to our PGY2 & PGY3 residents for all the hard work they put into their FMRSP projects. There were 68 wonderful projects presented at the June 10th RIO Day 2021. You should be very proud of all the work you've done this last year to successfully complete your projects amidst the stress COVID added to your residencies!

Best Presentation Awards by Room

Room A (AM): Mary Taneva 
Title: Antibiotic prophylaxis of Lyme disease following Ixodes scapularis bite

Room A (PM): Lincoln Lau 
Title: Gaps in screening for sleep insufficiency in the adult population for the Canadian family physician: a narrative review of the evidence

Room B (AM): Roderick MacPhee & Avneet Morsara 
Title: A Survey of Wellness Curricula Across Residency Programs at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine 

Room B (PM): Oliver Gervais 
Title: Improving Access to COVID-19 Assessment and Testing in Rural Communities During the Pandemic 

Room C (AM): Justine Courtemanche & Georges Gharib 
Title: Évaluation du sentiment d’auto-efficacité et des compétences écrites des étudiants en médecine du programme francophone de l’Université d’Ottawa lors d’une consultation pour une admission à l’Hôpital Montfort. 

Room C (PM): Francis Panosyan 
Title: Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Based Screening for Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis 

Room D (AM): Wilson Lam 
Title: The virtual delivery of a national rural medical education and in-situ simulation curriculum

Room D (PM): Paul Abraham 
Title: A pilot study on the use of knowledge and attitude self-questionnaires in family medicine resident geriatrics rotations.

The Top 10 FMRSP Projects were

Dr. Shelby Allison- Examining the Impact of Inpatient Care Model Changes due to COVID-19 Supervisors: Dr. Mohamed Gazarin and Dr. Jennifer Ingram-Crooks 

Dr. Marie-Ève Eyahpaise - "Preventative Care for Transgender Adults: A Mobile Application for Canadians Patients and Primary Care Providers” Supervisor: Dr. Cleo Mavriplis

Dr. Evan Batten - "Improving the Rate of Adequate Penicillin Allergy Evaluation in the Bruyere Academic Family Health Team Supervisor: Dr. Paul Crabtree

Dr. Yara Abou-Hamde & Farah Naz - " It’s not just about my gender: perspectives of underrepresented women in family medicine training" Supervisor: Dr. Parisa Rezaiefar

Dr. Jennifer Crichton - " Implementation of a multi-component, supervised exercise program for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from a primary care practice: A quality improvement study." Supervisors: Dr. Claudia Hubbes

Dr. Jennifer Hughes-Large - " Medical intelligence for pandemic preparedness and response" Supervisors: Dr. Jay Mercer

Dr. Yolanda Ma - " Part 1: Critical Appraisal of Preventive Health Guidelines for Canadian Adults; Part 2: Application of a Blended Rating System to Recommendations from Preventive Health Guidelines for Canadian Adults" Supervisor: Dr. Cleo Mavriplis 

Dr. Roderick MacPhee & Dr. Avneet Morsara - " A Survey of Wellness Curricula Across Residency Programs at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine " Supervisor: Dr. Elizabeth Muggah

Dr. Mohamed Osman - " Primary care providers use of eConsult before and after Covid-19 pandemic in large academic FHT clinics: a natural experiment" Supervisor: Dr. Clare Liddy

Dr. Matthew Peacock - " A literature review of international evidence-based guidelines on the use of pharmacotherapy in the treatment of obesity” Supervisor: Dr. Sophie Poliquin 

We'd also like to recognize the following

Top QI Project in the DFM

Drs. Aleena Fiorotto, Tanvir Minhas & Julie Crevier - "Deprescribing PPIs in Family Medicine Clinics"

The Top QI projects from each unit

Dr. Claire Smith - Bruyère
Dr. Tavis Hayes - Primrose
Dr. Francis Lebrun - Community
Drs. Lisa Bair, Pascale Dufour, Aaron Fahey & Zi Yue Wang - Montfort
Dr. Matthew Kutschke - Pembroke
Drs. Aleena Fiorotto, Tanvir Minhas & Julie Crevier - Winchester
Dr. Mitchell Nicholls - Civic
Dr. Jason Struyk - Riverside

The DFM would like to congratulate the 65 residents graduating on June 30, 2021. We hope you are proud of all your hard work and resiliency you demonstrated this past year!
9 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
1) June is National Indigenous History Month

In June, Canadians celebrate National Indigenous History Month to honour the heritage and diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada. It is also an opportunity to recognize the strength of today's Indigenous communities. PAGAYONS ENSEMBLE is an opportunity for you to explore First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in French Ontario. The site offers excellent programming, resources and a series of four stories, traditional songs and art productions specifically designed for young children.
2) Welcome to Hounaida Abi Haidar, new Project Coordinator

Hounaida Abi Haidar is our new Project Coordinator at the Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa. She holds a BSc from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, a MSc University of Oxford, UK and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She has worked in research and teaching in various medical and educational institutions and universities in Lebanon, Ireland and the UAE. Her work at the DFM is to coordinate and support activities associated with DFM faculty members involved in a wide range of research, scholarship and innovation projects associated with PRIME, New Innovator Awards, Clinical Research, among others.
3) Ontario Supports Innovation in Virtual Learning

On May 17, the Ontario government announced they are supporting nearly 400 projects and pledged more than $70 million for the Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS), including $21,4 million announced in the 2021 Ontario Budget. Read more.
4) Kids Come First Community Vaccine Clinic
From June 21 - June 27, 2021, Ottawa Public Health will turn the
St-Laurent Complex into a massive vaccination clinic focusing on kids. The Kids Come First Health Team is looking for volunteers. Please complete the questionnaire to indicate your interest and availability.
5) Bruyère Research Event: Call for Content

This virtual event will be held this September 2021 in tandem with the Bruyère Foundation's Fundraising Month. The deadline for submitting your interest in participation is July 16, 2021. We will provide confirmation of your participation by August 6, 2021. For more details and to submit your interest in participation, please fill out the form.
6) Clinic of the Future Contest: Coming Soon

This month, the DFM will be sending out a call to action to innovative University of Ottawa students and alumni to participate in our Clinic of the Future contest. The Clinic of the Future can be a location or reimagined care model that addresses the unattached patient and provides a single point of contact where patients receive care.
7) OLMC Dashboard

The OLMC Dashboard is an initiative of the Official Languages Branch (OLB) Research Team. It provides analysts, program officers, and researchers access to an interactive tool that presents numerous indicators developed using Canada 2016 Census data. The tool also uses a simple and attractive interface to display the data more effectively. In addition to the OLMC Dashboard, you will find a section about the project background and information about the sources and methodology.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the OLB Research Team at Canadian Heritage.
8) You can still register for CCME 2021

CCME 2021 content is available on-demand until July 20th. All registration rates provide access to the full CCME program and include 3-month post-conference access to recorded events. Register here.
9) Get up to $20,000 per project in support of primary care or research in primary medical education innovation

The PRIME grant supports Department of Family Medicine faculty members to undertake a scholarly or research project with access to an experienced research team, including guidance from a research adviser and mentoring from a medical educator. The PRIME grant provides up to $20,000 per project in support of research in primary care or medical education innovation. The deadline for Letters of Intent is September 15, 2021. You will find templates and all other information on the website.