Author: UBC Abbotsford-Mission Family Practice Residency Program

Learn more TUFH2022.com

Diabetes Canada’s Recommendations to the Government of Canada
1. Implement a nationwide diabetes framework based on Diabetes 360°, aimed at achieving measurable improvements in diabetes outcomes and reducing its burden on Canadians and the health-care system.

2. Ensure fairness in access to the Disability Tax Credit and Registered Disability Savings Plan for Canadians living with type 1 diabetes.

3. Adopt a nationwide approach to reduce out-of-pocket costs for people living with diabetes and facilitate their achievement of better health outcomes while maintaining or improving access to evidence-based therapy.

4. Take a leadership role in implementing decision support tools for diabetes management by incorporating electronic medical records into health systems within federal jurisdiction and support provinces/territories to do the same.

More on Diabetes Canada: The Backgrounder via Diabetes Canada.

Greetings Residents!

Here are a series of resources that we will reference during tomorrow’s presentations on Curriculum and Assessment/Evaluation.

Curriculum
+ Domains of Care & Core Activities: Core Learning Outcomes via UBC (May 2020)
+ Residency Training Profile for Family Medicine and Enhanced Skills Programs Leading to Certificates of Added Competence via CFPC (May 2021)
+ CanMEDS-Family Medicine Indigenous Health Supplement via CFPC
+ UBC Family Medicine Curriculum Learning Outcomes & Repository

Assessment & Evaluation
We invite each of you to check out the newly updated Assessment and Evaluation section of the program website. It just went up today! A big thank you goes out to our former Assessment and Evaluation Portfolio Director Dr. Theresa van der Goes who worked very hard to revise the website content. As with every first iteration, feedback is welcome. Please email me if you have any issues.

The following sections have been added or updated: 
1. Resident Assessment
2. Field Notes
3. In-Training Assessment Report Process
4. Periodic Review
5. Benchmarks (Assessment Objectives for 2021 to 2022 Cohort and Assessment Objectives for 2022 to 2024 Cohort) 
6. Video Review
7. Decisions on Progress and Advancement
8. Resident in Difficulty

Best,
Jacqueline

Greetings Residents & Faculty!

The UBC Department of Family Practice Postgraduate Program’s Scholarship website has been updated. Please update any bookmarks/PPTs/documents and visit here for additional information on your upcoming Quality Improvement Project and Resident Scholar Project.

“I had met him at the Over 60 Health Center, a clinic founded by and created for the Gray Panthers, to serve the aging Black Panthers and others in the community. And now a short decade later, he is gone. A self-described lifelong revolutionary, a Black Panther and member of the Black August organizing committee, Roy’s life was filled with stories, and those stories culminating into his immediate cause of death—metastatic cancer. His other underlying medical issues: hepatitis C and a rare spinal cord condition that contributed to unrelenting functional decline. Thinking about his life and what led to this death, I reflected on the day he came to establish care with me. I remember learning of the years of fragmented care, the years of struggle finding safe and affordable housing, and I remember him adjusting to a progressive disability. Life took on twisty turns, and his care again became disrupted after my departure from the community health center, my own father’s death, the birth of my daughter, and then a global pandemic.

The expansion of telehealth allowed me to see him again a year ago, only to find out that he had been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, despite timely cancer screening and successful treatment for hepatitis C with new direct-acting antivirals. But as I lay awake thinking of events that occurred to him during the last decade that I knew him, and over the 7 decades that he lived, I realized that something glaring was missing from his cause of death at age 71. His stories and his revolutionary steadfastness made it clear. Systemic racism. It affected his ability to be housed safely, obtain medications, navigate his health care, receive appropriate care, and ultimately did contribute to his death.

Like many of my peers, I was never formally taught to write a death certificate.¹ Instead, years ago, completing the death certificate worksheet was just one of many tasks given to me as an internal medicine resident. These ‘to-do’ items handed to interns and residents, at best came with formal teaching and training, and at worst came merely as a checklist of what to do when someone dies; pronounce the patient, call the family, call the medical examiner, call the organ donation network, fill out the worksheet. Check. Done. Next task.”

Read more on The True Cause of Death via JAMA.

Call for Proposals! The 2022-2023 Call for FRDIG Applications is now open!

The Faculty / Resident Development Initiatives Grant (FRDIG) is designed to support projects that aim to enhance the quality or scholarship of teaching in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. This year’s call is sponsored by the Office of Faculty Development and the Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.

Letter of Intent can be downloaded by clicking here!

Important Dates:

• Now: Applications are open for Letter of Intent
• July 31, 2022: Letter of Intent due by 11:59pm
• August 12, 2022: Applicants invited to the full application stage 
• September 11, 2022: Full Application due by 11:59pm
• September 30, 2022: Successful/all applicants are notified

This year, there are two streams for funding:

• General stream
• Equity, diversity, and inclusion stream

For details, visit here.

As residents begin a new year in their training and education, please see below a few tips and tricks for reinforcing memory retention:

+ Research indicates that content built around a narrative may contribute to both learning and retention. Read more on “See What Makes Storytelling So Effective For Learning?” via Harvard Business.

+ A few years ago I posted an article on “spaced repetition” or “microlearning” and how we are wired to quickly forget. Read more on “The New Way Doctors Learn: A simple technique dramatically improved the memory recall of Harvard Medical School students” via Time.

+ For visual learners, check out this 5-minute video on spaced repetition via Osmosis.

+ Sleep is critical for memory retention and learning. Learn more on how “Sleep enhances reconsolidation-based strengthening of visuospatial memories” via Nature.

+ The techniques you use to deliver your content and engage your audience are key. Active, inclusive participatory exercises have been found to build on learning and retention. Visit our Academic Half Day Preparation In-Class & Online for a few ideas.

Let me know in the comment section below if you have any additional tips and tricks you use to help with learning and retaining new content.

Best,

Jacqueline

Bell palsy accounts for 80% of cases of unilateral lower motor neuron facial paralysis

It has an annual incidence of 20–30 cases per 100 000 population and can occur at any age; median age at onset is 40 years. The cause is unknown, although the herpes simplex viral genome is detected in the facial nerve endoneurial fluid in 79% of cases. Patients with Bell palsy should receive corticosteroids within 48 hours of symptom onset, regardless of severity

Treatment with a total of 450–500 mg prednisone over 10 days has a number needed to treat of 8 to achieve a House–Brackman score of grade 2 or less after 4 months for patients with severe or complete paralysis. Antiviral medications can be considered in severe cases. Eye protection (sunglasses, eye patch, lubricating tears or ointments) should be used routinely to prevent corneal abrasions, ulceration and keratitis. Other options for persistent symptoms include facial physiotherapy for weakness, botulinum toxin injections for facial asymmetry and surgery to facilitate eyelid closure.

More on the treatment of Bell’s Palsy via CMAJ.

Congratulations to our Abbotsford-Mission graduating residents and faculty!

LLOYD JONES COLLINS AWARD
This award is funded by the Lloyd Jones Collins Foundation for outstanding Scholarship Project as chosen by Family Practice scholarship committee. The Lloyd Jones Collins Foundation, under the directorship of Dr. Goertzen and four associates, granted its first annual Resident Research Awards in 1999 and continues to generously support family medicine residency research and faculty development.

Recipients: Dr. Richard Low & Dr. Clare Chiu
Site: Abbotsford Mission
Research Project: Procedural skills of newly graduated Family Physicians

COMMUNITY GERIATRICS SCHOLAR PRIZE
This award is offered by the Department of Family Practice Community Geriatrics to second year residents who demonstrate excellence in scholarly projects related to care of the elderly. The award is to support research and scholarship that contributes to geriatrics within the discipline of family practice.

Recipients: Dr. Casey Hicks, Dr. Diane Bosc, Dr. Jas Hans, Dr. Michal Jurkowski, & Dr. Michelle Ou
Site: Abbotsford-Mission
Research Project: Storytelling in Medicine: the process of creative writing, sharing stories and reflective practice

BCCFP BEST PRESENTATION AWARDS
This award is offered by BC College of Family Physicians to each training site to best resident presenters of their scholar project at local Scholarship Days.

Recipients: Dr. Casey Hicks, Dr. Diane Bosc, Dr. Jas Hans, Dr. Michal Jurkowski, & Dr. Michelle Ou
Site: Abbotsford-Mission
Research Project: Storytelling in Medicine: the process of creative writing, sharing stories and reflective practice

Congratulations to Dr. Casey Hicks for being nominated for the Morton Dodek Award in Family Medicine and Dr. Thanh Luu for being nominated for the Peter Grantham Award for Teaching Excellence!