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2021, Vol. 10 | To view this newsletter as a Webpage, click here.

It's beginning to look like the holidays! I hope many of you will safely spend the upcoming break with loved ones. I want to thank everyone for their hard work, dedication, and resilience during this challenging year. Even though we are still dealing with the effects of the pandemic, and now the Omicron variant, our Department and faculty members have celebrated many accomplishments and key milestones over the course of 2021.

To help curb the serious threat of the Omicron variant, Ottawa Public Health has distributed an urgent public health alert requesting physician immunizers to provide COVID-19 third doses to Ottawa residents, especially to those who are most at-risk for severe disease (age 50+), as soon as possible before individuals start increasing their contacts over the holiday season. If you have not yet participated at an OPH clinic, please email covidimmunizers@ottawa.ca with your name, email, phone number, CPSO licence number and proof of CMPA to register as a physician immunizer.

The Champlain Region has recently been approved for 4 Family Health Organisation (FHO) physician positions to support the care of unattached cancer patients. If interested, please submit a CV and letter of intent outlining experience and motivation to hrdfm@uOttawa.ca by January 15, 2022.

Registration for the 2022 Montebello Faculty Retreat closed on December 14, 2021. Should you wish to register for the full event (pending availability), please contact Andrea Rawley. Day tickets are available for purchase on Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15, 2022.

Our assistant writer Amelia Willes has written a piece on the importance of self-care and how burnout is a serious challenge that jeopardizes both the well-being of physicians and the quality of care they provide to patients.

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.

New Year's Resolutions are (most often) based on the assumption that we are doing poorly and need to be more serious and self-disciplined in order to be better. So what if this year, we make our resolution about being compassionate to ourselves?

Amidst the pandemic, Dr. Peggy J. Kleinplatz and her interdisciplinary research team increase accessibility for Optimal Sexual Experience Couples Therapy.

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!

Dr. John Joanisse has spent his career improving the health and quality of life of elderly patients. He also has a passion for teaching and mentoring residents who want to follow in his footsteps. During our conversation, I had the opportunity to learn more about his career and what impacts the pandemic has had on our seniors' quality

Dr. Lindsay Bradley’s new podcast for med students has many goals, but encouraging physical movement is the main motivation for this new project.

This week DFM's Communications Intern, Ireen Savoy, has compiled a list of sometimes educational, and almost always funny podcasts. Here are her top 5 podcasts that have made her go haha! And aha! Often in the same breath.

The Transition to Residency program's leadership of the U of O's Faculty of Medicine is recruiting!

Transition to Residency (formally known as Back to Basics) is a program offered to our 4th-year medical students in preparation for the MCCQE part 1 examination. In recent years, this program has been working on including clinical skills to increase students' independence and confidence when transitioning to their residency training program.

We are actively looking for tutors for an exciting new component of this year's program, which will include four afternoons of hands-on clinical skills training at the SIM center (Civic Campus). These afternoons will be held from Feb 22-25th, from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Each student will participate in 3 separate sessions of 1h each, including one hour of simulations with a high-fidelity mannequin (to review management of unstable patients such as ACLS introduction/respiratory distress/shock/anaphylaxis, etc.) and two other stations of one hour each to practice hands-on procedures and to review their indications/risks/benefits etc. (such as lumbar puncture, airway management and central lines).

You will be renumerated at a rate of $100 per hour for your help. If you or your residents are interested in participating, please fill the form. Please note, it is not a requirement to be available for all of the sessions. If you are available even for one afternoon that week, we would be very much appreciative of your time.