Hi everyone,

Nova Scotia Health celebrated staff and physicians with Making Waves Awards of Excellence last week and the Faculty of Medicine presented their leadership awards the week before. As you will see below our department was well represented and I want to extend our congratulations to all the award recipients and thank them for promoting excellence in research, education and clinical care within our department and the greater health care system.

October holds some exciting events for physicians. Our own department will host an Active Hope session for physician wellness on the 30th, Doctors NS will host their AGM, and Doctors NS also announced the call for applications for their next physician leadership development course (due October 16th). Leadership skills have lasting positive impact on everything from our patient care, our administrative and academic roles; and even in our day to day lives. Leadership skills are invaluable and this is a great opportunity to develop them. I encourage department members to consider applying. Enrollment is competitive for 24 available spots. As a department we will continue to support leadership development in everyone.

Finally, I can’t let this newsletter go out without recognizing the passing of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) on September 18th, 2020. Supreme Court Justice Bader Ginsburg was a huge proponent of women’s rights and the need for women to be an integral part of decision making on all levels. In medicine, there is still a very large under-representation of women physicians in leadership roles and in higher levels of academic appointments. As a department we need to continue to work with each other, the Faculty and Health Authorities to make sure we are creating a culture in our department and the system that fully supports the growth, development and promotion of all of our diverse members.

Keep well everyone,

Christine

Christine Short, MD, FRCP(C), FACP

One of four recipients who received a Dalhousie 2020 Aurum Award

"This is my alma mater, so it means a lot to me. From my undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Medicine to the support of my department, Dalhousie has played a major role in making my work possible."

Congratulations!

Received the 2020 Dr. John Savage Memorial Award for Faculty Leadership in Global Health.

As Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Dr. Barrett has had tremendous impact with marginalized populations in our communities. She is a mentor, researcher, educator, clinician and health advocate who inspires students, residents and her colleagues.

This award was presented as part of RIM Research Day held virtually on Friday, September 11, 2020.

Congratulations!

Date: October 9 - 11

Location: Virtual

Friday, November 13

8:25 am - 4:30 pm

Virtual via Zoom

Leading Recovery from COVID-19

- Dr. Tom Marrie

Be it resolved that all physicians should have social media accounts for public education and advocacy

- Dr. Lisa Barrett

- Dr. Christine Dipchand

- Dr. Shelly McNeil

- Dr. Geoff Williams

Please use the DoM Grant-In-Aid Checklist and Application form 2020 [.docx - 90 kB] for:

November 3: Podium presentations 8 - 9:30 am

November 3 – 10: Poster presentations & more

November 10: Podium presentations 8 - 9:30 am

Podiums: Zoom invitations will be distributed via email

Posters: https://sites.google.com/view/domvirtualresearchday/

DoM Research Day Agenda [PDF - 210 kB]

We hope to see you there!

We welcome Sherie Hodds and Robyn McIsaac to the team to refine our communications and public relations.

We are collecting content for the 2019-2020 annual report. We would like to highlight stories from your division that took place or were initiated between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020.

1. Which of the following themes best aligns with your story?

2. Provide a few bullets about your story – who, what, where, when and why. (Open-ended but short – 200 words)

3. Are there others who would be interested in being part of this story (e.g. patient, family, colleague, student, partner, etc.)

4. Who is the contact for this story? Please include email address and phone number.

5. Do you have any photos that could accompany your story(ies)? If no, are there upcoming opportunities to take photos?

Effective November 2, 2020

Effective September 10, 2020

NS Government is extending access to virtual care options until December 31, 2020.

From:

NS Government / Health and Wellness

News release - September 25, 2020

Traditional flu clinics will be much smaller this year to follow COVID-19 public health measures.

From:

Nova Scotia Health News Release

Original post on Sept 14 with various updates

Having loved ones present during hospitalization is important for patient care, experience, safety and outcomes. With the consistently low number of known COVID-19 cases in Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Health believes it’s time to reintegrate family caregivers as part of our care teams.

Effective Thursday, September 17:

Effective September 28, the Nova Scotia Health Libraries have reopened 24/7 to all staff and physicians.

Library Services staff are on site M-F 8:30am-4:30pm.

2nd floor, Halifax Infirmary, Summer Street entrance

5th floor Dickson Building (opposite the Weather Watch)

The MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance and Dr. David Anderson, Dean of Medicine, partnered together to facilitate a panel discussion among the Atlantic Canada's Chief Medical Officers of Health (CMOH) on October 1.

Each panelist presented the lessons learned within their province. Audience members wrote almost 100 comments/questions. It was a positive and engaging session.

Nova Scotians can now do a COVID-19 self-assessment online. This will reduce the wait time to be screened for testing from 12 hours to about 10 minutes. If the online assessment determines that a person requires a test, the Nova Scotia Health Authority or the IWK Health Centre will call them within 24 to 48 hours to book an appointment.

October 1, 2020

On October 7, the IWK started using the Gargle-Swish test to diagnose COVID-19 in children ages 4 to 18.

It is a more comfortable test for children. Once they’ve piloted the process, the gargle test will soon be available for children at all primary assessment centres.

Government of Nova Scotia / Health and Wellness

October 6, 2020

"Nova Scotia will receive about $289 million through the federal-provincial-territorial $19 billion Safe Restart Agreement. The funding will be used to protect Nova Scotians from COVID-19 while safely reopening the economy."

INSPIRED COPD outreach program helps patients and families self-manage their COPD at home particularly after discharge from hospital.

Locations:

For more information: