Update from DoM - September 9, 2020

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE UPDATE | SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

In this update:

View previous updates

The SHORT Report

Nova Scotia COVID-19 Cases

Sad news - Valerie Naugle & Dr. Mada Nestel

Farewell - Drs. Najaf Nadeem and Robert Horton

Department of Medicine Education

Postgraduate Medical Education - DoM Resident Newsletter
Undergraduate Medical Education Academic Year Starts
Internal Medicine Resident Retreat
Royal College Exams
Welcome Aaron LeBlanc - Associate Program Director
Welcome Kyle McCoy - Simulation Chair
Welcome Sophie Montreuil - Competence by Design Coordinator
Welcome Isha Seth - Education Coordinator
Department of Medicine Grand Rounds
DoM Clinical Fellowship Award applications due Sep 11

Department of Medicine Research

Research Excellence Awards
UIMRF Funding Opportunities

More items

Doctors Nova Scotia Achievement Awards 2020
COVID-19 Swab Collection
Testing for Post-Secondary Students
Webinar - Let's Talk Informatics
COVID-19 Registry Study
Research Study - Virtual Care User Experience of Healthcare Providers
Research Study - COVID-19 Impact on Children
Central Zone Patient Relations
Re-opening CCR for Patient Visits
Halifax Infirmary Expansion

Standing items

Videos - PPE and Masks
Websites to Reference

Hi everyone,

Hope this note finds you all well as we ease back into regular schedules and say farewell to the Summer of 2020. It may have been the only summer many of us have ever wished away.

We continue to find ourselves in a world of unprecedented events. We are making preparations for a second wave of COVID on top of an acute care system that is already challenged, with an all-time high of patients waiting for long-term care in our acute care beds. Thanks to all of those who worked diligently to move patients safely through the system last week. During the second wave, we don’t expect the same widespread shutdowns that we saw in the first wave. Many system changes like virtual health are now in place and we have a better infrastructure for social distancing and staying safe while we continue our daily work. Despite this, we do anticipate fast moving changes, like before, and I ask people to be patient and collaborative as we move forward together.

Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy and the Research and Innovation team are conducting a research study on virtual health. If you have not had a chance to fill out the provider survey it is open until Sept. 25th, so please take some time to do so (https://research-study.nshealth.ca/surveys/?s=4WEJXF3ET7).

The Universities of Canada are planning a Scholar Strike on Wednesday and Thursday (September 9th and 10th). The Scholar Strike in Canada is calling for racial justice, an end to anti-Black police violence, and has a specific focus on anti-Indigenous, colonial violence. Dr. Anderson on behalf of The Faculty of Medicine (FoM) sent an email to all faculty and students yesterday, September 8th. The email includes details of how to participate in the strike and suggests ways Faculty and Students in the FoM can participate in this strike. He is asking that we all try to do one thing on each of the days to promote our learning on these important issues. I encourage everyone to do something. Action is our best strategy to change the system for the better.

Related to our ongoing efforts to educate ourselves around racism in the system, Dr. Nicole Boutilier will be hosting her third summer book club on anti-racism on September 28th at 7 pm. The book is White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. Here is the link if you would like to register for the September physician book club.

Our newly launched strategic plan is underway. If you haven’t seen our document yet you can find it on our Dal Faculty of Medicine Department of Medicine website. We will be calling on all department members to help with implementation and we are making a promise to set priorities and timelines, so that we can see the hard work that went into creating this strategy come to fruition. Our Research, Education, Quality and Clinical Systems and Innovations Committees will oversee the implementation and provide regular updates to Department Members.

We have some welcomes, farewells and congratulations below. I would also like to welcome again all of our new Residents to our Core Internal Medicine and Subspecialty programs. I hope you are settling in and I hope you are finding that our departmental environment is warm and welcoming and provides a rich environment in which you can learn and grow. If you have any questions or concerns my door is always open.

I wish you all a great September.

Stay Well,

Christine

Christine Short, MD, FRCP(C), FACP

Associate Professor & Head/Chief, Department of Medicine

Dalhousie University / Central Zone, Nova Scotia Health

NOVA SCOTIA COVID-19 CASES

active cases

1,086

total confirmed cases;

(910 in Central Zone)

80,235

total negative tests

currently in hospital due to COVID-19

1,018

resolved cases

deaths

As of Wednesday, September 9, 2020.

Source: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/data/

SAD NEWS

Valerie Naugle, from our Physician Services office passed away on the morning of Sunday, August 9.

Valerie was the longest serving member of the Department of Medicine having worked here for over 40 years. Valerie was great at her job, a wonderful co-worker and a very interesting woman. She leaves behind her husband of 40 years, Jimmy Naugle and her cherished daughter Tasha D’Arcy.

Dr. Magdalena "Mada" Nestel was a General Internist who worked part time at the Dartmouth General Hospital. Dr. Nestel worked primarily at South Shore Regional Hospital. She passed away on May 13 following a 16-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

View her obituary.

FAREWELL

Farewell and best wishes to:

Dr. Najaf Nadeem, Division of Cardiology

Dr. Robert Horton, Division of Palliative Medicine

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE EDUCATION

DoM Resident Newsletter

The Postgraduate Medical Education academic year starts on July 1 annually. View the 2020-2021 resident newsletter.

Printed 11x17 colour copies available by emailing DoMEducation@nshealth.ca.

Resident Fall Newsletter 2020-2021

Undergraduate Medical Education academic year starts

The Department welcomes the Class of 2022 who eagerly join us for one unit of core-clerkship during their Med 3 year. Due to COVID-19, Unit 1 was reduced to 10 weeks.

To avoid exceeding maximums on the MTU/ED, clerks will have staggered start dates and rotations between Nov 9 – Nov 27. The remainder of the year will have normal, 12 week units.

Internal Medicine Resident Retreat will be held virtually on October 9 and 10. Residents will be released from service Friday at noon.

Royal College Exams

Subspecialty resident exams will be held between September 22 and October 14.

http://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/credentials-exams/exams-dates-locations-e

Spring 2020 Examinations frequently asked questions - last updated September 4, 2020

Welcome to:

Dr. Aaron LeBlanc - Associate Program Director for the Core Internal Medicine Residency Program. He chairs the IM Competence Committee, and is the lead for the PGY3 Royal College exam prep course.

Dr. Kyle McCoy - Chair of Simulation for DoM. Dr. McCoy will help instruct boot camp for incoming PGY1s to Core Internal Medicine and work closely with the Education Office to assume the direction of our successful Simulation Program going forward.

Sophie Montreuil - Competence by Design Coordinator. Sophie rejoins the DoM Education Team. Please contact Sophie at sophie.montreuil@dal.ca.

Isha Seth - Education Coordinator. Isha started on August 12 and is learning the ropes of Dalhousie Internal Medicine Residency Education. She will be fulfilling the Education Coordinator role, overseeing our many residency curriculums, OSCE’s, exams, resident file management as well as simulation and POCUS. She brings a strong skillset with a background in financial expertise, management with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and the American Society for Clinical Pathology. Please continue to use DOMEducation@nshealth.ca as the primary contact for our education team.

Department Grand Rounds

A list of our weekly Department of Medicine Grand Rounds are available on the Department of Medicine website.

DoM Clinical Fellowship Award Applications due Sep 11

The DoM has established a Clinical Fellowship Award to foster the development and training of promising individuals as clinicians in subspecialty areas of Medicine and Internal Medicine following the completion of their residency training program.

Guidelines and Application (.docx)

Due: Friday, September 11, 2020

Email: mary.synette@nshealth.ca

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE RESEARCH

RESEARCH EXCELLENCE AWARDS

UIMRF FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

DOCTORS NOVA SCOTIA ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS 2020

Doctors Nova Scotia (DNS) honoured nine physicians for exemplary achievement in 2020 through nine awards. Winners will be celebrated at the annual conference on Sat. Oct. 17.

https://doctorsns.com/news-events/annual-conference/achievement-awards

Distinguished Service Award

A medical leader in bone marrow transplant, Dr. Stephen Couban is being honoured posthumously with the Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Couban’s career highlights encompassed his many roles at Dalhousie University, including professor in the Department of Medicine, division head of the Hematology Department, director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, and medical director of the medical teaching unit in the Department of Medicine. He also served as president and vice-president of the Canadian Hematology Society. Dr. Couban advanced patient care innovation and program development through the QEII Health Sciences Centre Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, and in the Hematology Department, including its Ambulatory Chemotherapy Program, infrastructure support, clinical research and triage system.

Physician Health Promotion Award

Dr. Lisa Barrett, FRCPC, PhD, Clinician Scientist, is being recognized with the Physician Health Promotion Award for her research on chronic viral infection and immune function, and how infection can be treated and cured.Dr. Barrett conducts her research in part as the principal investigator with the Senescence Aging Infection and Immunity laboratory at Dalhousie University, which she also established. Dr. Barrett joined the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Nova Scotia Health Authority in 2013. She is an assistant professor in the departments of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases), Microbiology and Immunology, and Pathology at Dalhousie Medical School, and a clinician scientist with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, in addition to being an infectious disease physician and attending staff.

COVID-19 SWAB COLLECTION

TESTING FOR POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS

WEBINAR - LET'S TALK INFORMATICS

COVID-19 REGISTRY STUDY

RESEARCH STUDY - VIRTUAL CARE

RESEARCH STUDY - COVID-19 IMPACT ON CHILDREN

CENTRAL ZONE PATIENT RELATIONS

Central Zone Patient Relations is experiencing a higher than normal amount of feedback calls and emails, with a 54% (566 files) increase in July and August.

It is always preferable to first resolve the feedback (concerns / complaints / compliments) informally at the unit or service level, where at all possible.

If Nova Scotia Health Team Members are unable to resolve informally at the unit or service level, they can contact Patient Relations for assistance.

www.nshealth.ca/contact-us

RE-OPENING CCR FOR RESEARCH PARTICIPANT VISITS

Since the release of the reintroduction plan for Research and Innovation on June 8th, work has been underway to prepare the Centre for Clinical Research (CCR) to resume visits by patients participating in clinical trials being conducted at Nova Scotia Health.

Work continues on structural components and operational function.

Recognizing the importance of research participants, clinical trials participants will be permitted to enter the CCR building starting September 2 and must follow pre-assigned conditions.