|
Chair's Message
February is Black History Month and the theme for this year is “ours to tell”. It is an opportunity to listen and learn from the stories from our Black communities. I encourage you to take the time to explore the events and information available at the University of Ottawa, the National Arts Centre and CHEO. This month is a reminder of past Black medical professionals who persevered, paved the way, and made an impact, to those who continue to inspire, and effect change today, as is showcased in a video from the Ontario Medical Association honouring the work of Black Physicians across the province. We must be cognizant of the structural biases that exist within our healthcare systems as highlighted in a recent study from the University of Ottawa’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health revealing cancer research gaps for Black Canadians. We all have an opportunity, as well as a responsibility, to learn and contribute to creating an equitable society, and to stand in support of our Black communities.
I would like to extend a thank you to all of you who helped with the CaRMS interviews that took place from February 8th to the 10th. Led by Dr. Sohil Rangwala, Assistant Program Director, and with participation from more than 100 faculty and residents, a total of 572 interviews were conducted! Thank you again for participating in this important departmental activity. We now await the match results, which will be announced on March 22nd.
It is that time of the year again for us to reflect on colleagues and staff who you feel are deserving of recognition through our 2023 Department of Family Medicine Awards. Through this awards and recognition initiative, the Department of Family Medicine proudly recognizes the achievements of its faculty members and administrative support staff. Nominations will be accepted now until April 1st. Please refer to the Awards and Recognition page of the DFM website for the award descriptions and to access the 2023 Nomination Form.
On February 22nd, as part of the Faculty Wellness Program, Dr. Marcia Kostenuik, a Recipient of the Daniel Glazier Award by the College of Family Physicians of Canada, is presenting an online talk about physician burnout, Getting off the Path to Burnout. Follow this link to register.
Join us on February 23rd for the Department’s monthly Family Medicine Grand Rounds. This month features presentations from the DFM’s Dr. Alan Ng, Assistant Professor (Examiner Perceptions of the Simulated Office Oral-Implications for Validity), and Dr. Rita Hafizi, Assistant Professor (Medical Apps for your Practice). We invite you to participate in Les Journées Montfort 2023 on April 20th and 21st, a national conference on continuing medical education for Francophone physicians and healthcare professionals. Registration is now open.
We are also happy to provide an update on one of our Dragons’ Den winners, Dr. Erika Tanner, Lecturer, who held the first University of Ottawa Medical Choir practice on Thursday, February 2nd. The event was met with great enthusiasm, including a collaboration with the University of Ottawa’s Medical School Choir. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available or contact Dr. Erika Tanner: erika.lee.tanner@gmail.com
Please note the upcoming deadline of March 1, 2023, to apply for the Academic Leadership Support Fund (ALSF). Refer to the DFM Leadership Support Fund webpage for the application, criteria and more information.
The DFM will be entering a team in the 2023 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, and we want you to join us! We are looking for a mix of residents, faculty members and staff to fill the boat and represent the DFM from June 22nd to the 25th. There will be 4-5 practices leading up to the event. Please access this form for information and to sign up. We look forward to seeing you there!
We are also still actively recruiting for two exciting new career opportunities for those interested in becoming more involved with our family health teams. Please visit the complete job descriptions for Bruyère and Montfort for full details and how to apply. These jobs will be posted until the positions are filled.
I wish you a wonderful Family Day long weekend and hope you have an opportunity to relax and enjoy time with family and friends.
|  | |
|
Highlight on Family Doctor Shortage – Interviews with our Department Chair, Dr. Clare Liddy
Dr. Clare Liddy spoke to CBC Ottawa News on January 30th to highlight the shortage of family doctors and unattached patients in Ottawa. The full CBC interview, Family Doctor Shortage Solutions, is available on the CBC website (shortly after the 47-minute mark).
Correction: Dr. Liddy interviewed with CityNews (not CTV News) on February 8th to address the family doctor shortage. Follow this link for the full interview: Chair of uOttawa's department of family medicine discusses shortage of family doctors across Ottawa and Canada.
2023 Family Medicine Summit
The Ontario College of Family Physicians held the 2023 Family Medicine Summit virtually, on Friday January 27th and Saturday, January 28th. We are proud to acknowledge a number of our faculty who presented:
-
Dr. Chandima (Chandi) Chandrasena: Panel: Burnout or Breakthrough, How to Find Work-Life Balance
-
Dr. Marilyn Crabtree: Changing the Story, Improving Youth to Adult Healthcare Transitions
-
Dr. Jonathan Fitzsimon: A Hybrid Approach: Combining in-person and virtual care options to increase access
-
Dr. Sharon Johnston: Concussion and mental health: Understanding the link between concussion and mental health and how to support recovery for better long-term outcomes
-
Dr. Lara Kent: Social Prescribing to Address Social Needs in Family Practice
-
Dr. Cleo Mavriplis: Prevention Made Easy, Virtual Tools and Updates, for cis and Trans Adults
-
Dr. Kamila Premji: Panel: Standing Up for Family Physicians
-
Dr. Anna Wilkinson: How to Diagnose a Cancer
World Cancer Day: Screening – Interview with Dr. Anna Wilkinson
Dr. Anna Wilkinson, Associate Professor, spoke on CTV Morning Live on February 3rd regarding closing the gap of care. The full interview can be viewed here.
| |
Faculty Development Update | |
|
Making Family Medicine-Centred Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) a Reality
In 2022, the Department of Family Medicine invested in eight Butterfly POCUS machines. Faculty development plans are in place for the spring of 2023 to develop teaching unit leads, who will act as ongoing FM-POCUS teaching resources in the DFM.
POCUS has broad applications across subspecialty and generalist settings; However, the handheld tools - which display images on the screen of a cellphone or tablet - are relatively expensive, and few family physicians are fully certified to use them properly.
| |
|
The push to bring this technology into family medicine care and teaching at the Department of Family Medicine is that this technology "will produce satisfied, proficient generalist physicians that deliver true comprehensive care in any setting leading to renewed patient satisfaction and healthcare stewardship,” according to Dr. Jason Trickovic, Assistant Professor, and staff physician at the Civic Family Health Team, who is leading the coordination of this program Department-wide.
The POCUS working group has confirmed a central curriculum plan (led by Postgraduate Curriculum Director, Dr. Denice Lewis), reviewed the pros and cons of buying different tools, and discussed ways to introduce POCUS in teaching contexts throughout the Department. This voluntary "community of practice" meets quarterly, and members share successes, challenges, and opportunities to collaborate in research, scholarly work, sharing teaching resources, and program evaluation.
POCUS teaching is underway in Winchester, led by Dr. Adam Jones-Delcorde, Lecturer and musculoskeletal teaching, led by Dr. Lindsay Bradley, Assistant Professor. Teaching at other clinic teaching units including Montfort, the Civic and Riverside Academic Family Health teams and other sites, is planned for 2023 and 2024.
According to Dr. Eric Wooltorton, Director of Faculty Development, the project has benefits beyond the technology itself: "This has allowed great cross-site collaboration, new leaders to emerge and the rebuilding of relationships altered during the pandemic isolation." These relationships, built on innovation and trust, are key for dealing with future challenges like the residency expansion, and changes to a three-year family medicine training program. This technology will also attract students who are keen to come to family medicine to use this technology.
| |
|
The Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine
The Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine at the College of Family Physicians of Canada works with partners from around the world to build primary care capacity in emerging settings. Its reach now extends to over 40 countries on all continents and its institutional partners include the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Dr. David Ponka is a Full Professor and the Director of the Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine (pictured at right).
In conjunction with these partners, in 2022, the Centre launched the FM VAX research project, funded by the International Primary Health Care Research Consortium. This survey of over 500 primary care providers around the world confirmed that systems that integrate primary care and public health have more efficient COVID-19 vaccine delivery programs.
To sustain its work, the Centre seeks opportunities for educational partnerships with more resourced contexts to continue building on the strength of Canadian medical education. With a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, they are well poised to engage in collaborative learning with partners around the world seeking efficient and innovative primary care systems.
| |
|
Institut du Savoir Montfort
Dr. Sharon Johnston, Associate Professor and Dr. William Hogg, Full Professor, in collaboration with the Canadian Primary Care Information Network (CPIN) team, have engaged primary care practices across the country in sending automated digital patient messages on a range of health promotion topics and vaccine education. They helped these practices collect Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) and Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and are aggregating patients’ reported data and feedback across practices to amplify patients' voices and the learning across these diverse medical homes. With feedback from primary care providers and their patients, they are improving the digital patient education, both message content, format and the response rate to make this an increasingly effective patient engagement tool.
On the clinical research front, the study on autonomic dysfunction in concussion patients was integrated into the flow of patient care, using a tilt table to more accurately assess orthostatic vitals and recruiting patients with all mechanisms of injury and age spectrum to advance our understanding of concussion signs and symptoms across the diverse populations who suffer these injuries. Picture shows Dr. Sharon Johnston demonstrating how to use the tilt table.
| |
|
Virage Driving Simulator at the Bruyère Hospital
Dr. Frank Knoefel is an Associate Professor and Chair in Primary Health Care Dementia Research at the University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Institute and Bruyère Research Institute. His research continues to focus on smart home technology to facilitate aging in place and assessing driving risk in the context of aging and cognitive decline. This year, the Virage driving simulator arrived and work has begun on collecting normative data and doing the first research study on cognitive change and driving. The research team has obtained Bruyère Research Ethics Board approval to begin collecting data from “normal, healthy” drivers to establish norms for the machine. Dr. Knoefel's team is looking to recruit drivers aged 19 to 90. Dr. Knoefel is shown test-driving the new Virage Driving Simulator at the Bruyère Hospital in the accompanying picture. If you are interested in participating, please send an email to Meg Schwellnus: mschwellnus@bruyere.org
Patient Recruitment for Study - Breaststroke Swimming after Breast Cancer Radiation and/or Surgery
Dr. Natalie Mills, a lecturer with our Department and PRIME Grant recipient, and her team, are looking for breast cancer survivors who have had breast cancer radiation and/or surgery to participate in a research project examining the effects of breaststroke swimming compared to the current standard of care on pain or swelling in the arm or chest wall. If you know of potentially eligible candidates, please share the study’s information flyer with them.
| |
|
E-learning modules and podcasts on Veterans Health
The Veterans Health eLearning Modules & Podcast is a project jointly developed by the PMO team, Queen’s University and the City of Ottawa’s Veterans Task Force with the primary objective of developing content that addresses socially accountable educational gaps.
The Veterans Health eLearning Modules will include two foundational, interactive modules under the title of “My Patient is a Veteran”. The foundations of Veteran health and well-being as well as engaging with this patient population will be explored. The project aims to:
- Identify appropriate healthcare services available for Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP Members, including Veterans.
- List common occupational health concerns for Veteran populations.
- Describe the prevalence of chronic health conditions among Veterans for better provision of primary care and referrals.
- Take the first steps to engage with Veteran patients using the Veterans Affairs Canada Well-Being Construct.
- Develop cultural competence in addressing Veteran health and wellness needs in their transition from military to Veteran life.
- Utilize strategies in practice to build a respectful rapport with Veteran patients and their families.
In anticipation and celebration of International Women's Day on March 8th, the PMO will release 2 podcasts in this project’s series that bring attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women: Module 8 Podcast –Moral Injury and Military Sexual Trauma and Module 9 Podcast – Health Care to Women Veterans.
| |
|
Opportunity for Full-Time Academic Family Physicians
There are two current full-time career opportunities with the Department of Family Medicine at our Bruyère and Montfort clinical teaching sites. For full details, please view the job descriptions. These jobs will be posted until the positions are filled.
Winchester Unit Postgraduate Program Director
The Department of Family Medicine is seeking candidates for a Winchester Unit Postgraduate Program Director to join the team at the Winchester District Memorial Hospital. Please view the job description for full details and how to apply. This position will be posted until it is filled.
Head of Department, Family Practice
The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is currently seeking a Head of Department, Family Practice. Please view the job description for more details.
| |
|
Call for Nominations – Ontario College of Family Physicians Awards 2023
The 2023 OCFP Awards program recognizes the dedication of family doctors and the values of family medicine. Nominations are open until Sunday, March 19, 2023.
Faculty Orientation & Faculty Development Half-Day
Save-the-Date: Friday, June 2nd Faculty Orientation and Faculty Development Half-Day, including the following sessions: ETS1 Feedback Fundamentals, Change Management, Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS), and a Mentorship lunch.
The Practising Well Community of Practice
On Wednesday, February 22nd, the Practising Well Community of Practice is hosting an event, Life Beyond Trauma: A discussion on PTSD and trauma-informed care. Registration is open to Family doctors, including residents. Please visit the Ontario College of Family Physician, Practicing Well initiative webpage for more information about this Community of Practice and their event.
Matinée du savoir - les coups de coeur des résidents
On Tuesday, February 28th, the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine's Francophone Affairs is offering a free webinar presented by residents from Montfort. The topics will range from Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Emergency and Obstetrics to Surgery. Register Here.
Smarter Imaging for Family Physicians and Internists
On Thursday, March 16th, and Thursday, April 20th, the Office of Continuing Professional Development is offering a virtual webinar series in collaboration with the Department of Radiology. The series will offer Family Physicians and Internists updates on optimal imaging test selection for common clinical problems. Register Here.
Meridith Marks
The 2023 Meridith Marks Day will be held on Friday, March 24, 2023, at the Ottawa Conference and Event Centre. The event will showcase local research and innovations in Medical Education, and feature a plenary speaker, Dr. Glenn Regehr. Please visit DIME'S website for more information.
| |
|
Women's Health Update
The Women’s Health Update conference is being held in-person on Friday, March 31, 2023, and is to inform family physicians and healthcare professionals on current approaches to women’s health issues. Register here.
| |
Follow us on social media | | | | |
