Author: UBC Abbotsford-Mission Family Practice Residency Program

“Many Canadian physicians have a strong interest in working overseas and with low resource populations, but lack the skills and confidence to do so; the UBC R3 program in Global Health was created to provide physicians with the basic tools needed to provide effective health care services in international health and resource-limited settings. When Canadian physicians choose to work with populations in low and middle income countries, there are many people who benefit. Patients and communities benefit from a shared partnership towards improving quality and access to care, and physicians learn valuable skills when working in resource-limited settings, (such as improved utilization of resources, clinical care of patients with TB, HIV, tropical diseases, cross-cultural medicine & care for refugees, a better understanding of the physician’s role as an advocate and ethical global health research) which translates into improved care for British Columbians.

The curriculum will provide a comprehensive and flexible program, which will allow a resident to tailor his/her experience to individual interests, while ensuring a core body of knowledge and skills are achieved.  The program will include 4 months of coursework and clinical training in Canada and a minimum of 2 months clinical work in an international resource-limited community.  The international placement can be extended to 3 months.

The new program is divided into four core pillars: Coursework, Clinical work, Scholarly Activity, Advocacy/Knowledge Translation.

Residents will be required to complete mandatory and elective elements within each pillar and maintain a portfolio of activities, which will be reviewed and assessed throughout their enrolment in the R3 program.”

For more information please contact the program directors at ubc.globalhealth@ubc.ca

For application details visit the R3 Enhanced Skills admissions page.

To learn more about the UBC Department of Family Medicine Enhanced Skills programs visit the linked page.

“Nearly 500 Quebec doctors have signed an open letter demanding their medical associations denounce the crisis in Gaza and call for an immediate ceasefire and access to humanitarian aid.

‘We, physicians in Quebec, are deeply concerned with the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza that worsens each day,’ reads the letter, published Thursday morning. ‘One hundred and fifty eight days of devastation, 31,272 killed and 73,024 injured, 1.5 million refugees. Remaining silent in the face of suffering of this magnitude is contrary to our role as physicians and a forsaking of our shared humanity.’

Included among the signatories are Joanne Liu, former international president of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders and a professor at McGill University’s School of Population and Global Health, and Amir Khadir, former Québec solidaire MNA for the Mercier riding and a specialist in infectious diseases.

The petition is calling on four provincial medical associations — the Collège des médecins du Québec, the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec, the Fédération des Médecins spécialistes du Québec, and the Collège québécois des médecins de famille — to issue a statement demanding an immediate ceasefire, immediate access to drinkable water, an end to blockades preventing entry of medical supplies and the release of hostages on both sides of the conflict.

The idea for the open letter originated on Facebook, where some Quebec doctors involved in groups on the social media site voiced the distress they were feeling over the war. Last week, a few started their own Facebook page, titled ‘Quebec doctors against the genocide in Gaza,‘ that quickly drew more than 500 members.”

Read more on “Quebec doctors sign open letter demanding ceasefire in Gaza: Remaining silent in the face of suffering of this magnitude is contrary to our role as physicians” via The Gazette.

“The health of humans, animals, and ecosystems are closely interlinked. Changes in these relationships can increase the risk of new human and animal diseases developing and spreading. One Health is at the intersection of human health, animal health, and environmental health. The most commonly used definition shared by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the One Health Commission is: One Health is defined as a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach—working at the local, regional, national, and global levels—with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.

The term One Health first came into usage after the SARS pandemic in 2003 and the spread of avian influenza, H5N1. The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has further demonstrated the close connection between humans, animals, and the shared environment. Through the One Health lens, public health initiatives will focus on surveillance and upstream interventions that provide benefits for the health of animal, human and ecosystems.”

Learn more about Canada’s One Health approach via ipac Canada.

KEY POINTS

Evidence from a variety of cross-sectional, longitudinal and empirical studies implicate smartphone and social media use in the increase in mental distress, self-injurious behaviour and suicidality among youth; there is a dose–response relationship, and the effects appear to be greatest among girls.

Social media can affect adolescents’ self-view and interpersonal relationships through social comparison and negative interactions, including cyberbullying; moreover, social media content often involves normalization and even promotion of self-harm and suicidality among youth.

High proportions of youth engage in heavy smartphone use and media multitasking, with resultant chronic sleep deprivation, and negative effects on cognitive control, academic performance and socioemotional functioning.

Clinicians can work collaboratively with youth and their families, using open, nonjudgmental and developmentally appropriate approaches to reduce potential harms from social media and smartphone use, including education and practical problem-solving.

There is a need for public awareness campaigns and social policy initiatives that promote nurturing home and school environments that foster resilience as youth navigate the challenges of adolescence in today’s world.”

More on Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health via CMAJ.

“Researchers looking for clues about why some types of cancer are on the rise in younger adults say they’ve found an interesting lead: a connection to accelerated biological aging.

Aging is the major risk for many types of cancer, meaning the older you get, the more likely you are to be diagnosed. And increasingly, experts recognize that age is more than just the number of candles on a birthday cake. It’s also the wear and tear on the body, caused by lifestyle, stress and genetics, which is sometimes referred to as a person’s biological age.

‘We all know cancer is an aging disease. However, it is really coming to a younger population. So whether we can use the well-developed concept of biological aging to apply that to the younger generation is a really untouched area,’ said Dr. Yin Cao, an associate professor of surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and senior author of the new research, which was presented Sunday at the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual conference in San Diego.”

More on Accelerated aging linked to cancer risk in younger adults, research shows via CNN.

Please note that we are currently offering Group Services in a hybrid model of both in person and virtual depending on the needs of the group. 

If your program is interested in having a Resident Wellness Counsellor provide one of our group sessions, you can contact us via e-mail at resident.wellness@ubc.ca to submit a request, or click the ‘Book Now’ button below. These group sessions are most commonly booked during an academic day, allowing for most residents to attend. The sessions are approximately 1-1.5 hours in length via Zoom or in person. We ask that you try to provide two months notice to allow us to schedule accordingly. A reminder that for those at distributed sites, the following workshops/groups can be provided during one of the Resident Wellness Counsellor’s site visits. To ensure the quality of the workshop provided, all workshop requests for groups over 20 will require two counsellors to facilitate.

*Please note, our workshops and groups supports are experiential and sharing based in nature, and are intended for residents or fellows. To ensure a confidential and safe environment we ask that no one in an evaluative role be present, as well as any faculty or administrative staff. If this does not meet your vision for the workshop and you’d like to have faculty present please let us know and we will ensure that we tailor our workshop to accommodate this request.*

Learn more on the group support provided by the Faculty of Medicine’s Postgraduate Medical Education via UBC.

“If you’re one of the estimated more than six million Canadians who can’t find a family doctor, it might be because they’re focusing on specialty care, the results of a new report suggest. 

Nearly 30 per cent of Canada’s family physicians predominantly provide services outside of primary care, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)’s analysis of 2021 payment data, released Tuesday. 

That means they mainly perform services in specific areas, compared to typical primary care duties, like office visits and assessments that don’t require a referral. For example, a family doctor with a general surgery profile would focus on services like minor surgical procedures.

The main non-family medicine areas were emergency medicine (14 per cent), psychiatry (nearly five per cent) and general surgery (two per cent).

‘New trends in practice patterns reveal that many newer family physicians are less likely to engage in comprehensive and continuous family practice,’ the report’s authors wrote.”

More on Can’t find a family doctor? It might be because they’re busy doing other specialties, report finds via CBC.

Changes in practice patterns of family physicians in Canada report via Canadian Institute for Health Information

BC Centre for Palliative Care promotes a person-centred approach to care that is respectful of, and responsive to, individual patient and family preferences, needs, and values.

View and download our Serious Illness Conversation Brochure for Health Care Providers.

The Centre’s Serious Illness Conversation (SIC) Initiative aims to:

• Promote the use of the Serious Illness Conversation Guide and Program — developed by Ariadne Labs of Harvard Medical School — throughout health authorities in B.C.
• Support the education of health-care professionals on using the SIC Guide in their practice.
• Work with health authorities to integrate the SIC Guide into clinical practice for patients with a serious illness.
• Develop tools and resources in collaboration with Ariadne Labs.

To download The Serious Illness Conversation Guide, please click here.
Learn more about the artist Panteha Abareshi and Chronicling Illness via Art in America.

“Millions of Canadians are without a family doctor, and with long waits at ERs and walk-in clinics, many are wondering where they can get the care they need.

So how can people make sure their health is taken care of when they don’t have a regular primary care provider?

There isn’t one answer, as individual health needs are complex and can vary based on factors like age, family history and any existing chronic illnesses. The first tip is not to give up on finding a family physician, as many doctors agree that people should have a family doctor or primary care provider.

‘We need that continuity of care to make sure that you don’t get into trouble,’ Dr. Peter Lin, a family doctor in Toronto, and a director of the Canadian Heart Research Centre, told Dr. Brian Goldman on The Dose. 

‘Family doctors … primary care [providers], nurse practitioners … are really good at pattern recognition to try and figure out what’s going on and put the pieces together.'”

Without a family doctor? Physicians offer some short-term solutions via CBC.