Family Medicine Residency Site: Abbotsford-Mission

“China lacked medical resources in the early 1950s. There were only around twenty thousand physicians and several tens of thousands of traditional Chinese medical practitioners in the country. To fully utilize these limited resources and explore Chinese medicines, the national leadership launched programs in an effort to promote the ideas of enhancing the healthcare services through a ‘combination of Western and traditional Chinese medicines.’ Medical school graduates or young doctors were encouraged to learn traditional Chinese medicines, while experienced traditional Chinese medical practitioners were asked to enrich their knowledge by attending training courses on Western medicine. This unique combination not only proved beneficial to patients but also enabled further exploration and development of Chinese medicine and its application through modern scientific approaches.” ~ Dr. Tu Youyou

“Traditional Chinese medicine uses sweet wormwood to treat fever. In the 1970s, after studies of traditional herbal medicines, Tu Youyou managed to extract a substance, artemisinin, which inhibits the malaria parasite. Drugs based on artemisinin have led to the survival and improved health of millions of people. For her work, Tu received the 2011 Lasker Award in clinical medicine and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura. Tu is the first Chinese Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine and the first female citizen of the People’s Republic of China to receive a Nobel Prize in any category.”

More on Dr. Tu Youyou and her fascinating career in medicine here.

#TuYouyou #NobelLaureate #Medicine #Malaria

“High-performing people in many fields have to deal with the demands, time pressures, interpersonal challenges, and fatigue that accompany their work and can affect their primary relationships, and these stressors are certainly present in the medical profession. In addition, the science-based approach used by physicians at work to discuss diagnoses and treatment may contribute to stress and conflict when used at home. The first challenge for physicians who want to be successful in both professional and personal realms is to retain the ability to be an effective physician when at work and a loving partner when not at work. Difficulties arise when the first challenge is not seen as a real challenge.”

More on Physicians and Their Primary Relationships: How to be Successful in Both Personal and Professional Realms by Cochrane via BCMJ.

We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act,
but a habit.

~Aristotle

#OrientationWeek #ExcellenceInResidency #BuildingGoodHabits

“A Pathway to Hope lays out government’s 10-year vision for mental health and addictions care that gets people the services they need in order to tackle problems early on and support their well-being. It identifies the priority actions government will take over the next three years to help people immediately and reduce demand on services down the road. The focus is on supporting the wellness of children, youth and young adults, supporting Indigenous-led solutions and improving access and quality of care. The roadmap will also build on the ongoing work to address the overdose crisis by starting to establish improved systems of addictions care.”

More on B.C. launches ‘A Pathway to Hope’ for better mental health and addictions care from the Office of the Premier.

#PathwayToHope #MentalHealthServices #BCYouth

We did it! The R2s have tied it up in 2019! Admittedly, we had some help from our R1 Dr. Van Huizen. He dominated the sand court as did our Dr. Moodley. Heading into 2020, Drs. Ennis and Hansma may be the ones to watch. Hansma’s serve reminds of the cannonball that Dr. Metcalf repeatedly launched at us last year and Ennis made some unbelievable saves. Nonetheless, it was a clean 3-game sweep and that means our R1s have to hit the field notes and compose a limerick over the next week!

The R1 vs. R2 Volleyball Tourney Standings
2016: R2s
2017: R1s
2018: R1s
2019: R2s

A big shout out to our preceptors Dr. Presley Moodley and Dr. Jeff Kornelsen for joining us this evening!

Looking forward to 2020!

Jacqueline

“To be a designer is to be a steward of possibility. We search for outcomes that do not yet exist and in doing so we dive deep into the unexpected and unknown.”

Stanford’s d.school has just launched the Library of Ambiguity! A public resource for those challenged by things unknown and unclear.

#Stanford #dschool #LibraryOfAmbiguity

As requested, we are distributing a collection of medical education article abstracts to you. We thank Dr. Gisèle Bourgeois-Law who has created these summaries for the education community at the Island Medical Program. While these articles have a medical education focus, we are using this opportunity to explore the value of such an initiative to our larger CHES community. Article themes include topics such as: feedback and mindfulness, those by local/BC educators, those relevant to a distributed medical program, and those with new ideas. Our aim is to include a variety of quantitative and qualitative research articles, review articles, and concept articles, some of which contain an interesting editorial or commentary. This summary is not meant to be comprehensive, nor to include everything of potential interest.

If you would like to nominate an article for future inclusion or have any questions, please email us at ches.communications@ubc.ca.

#UBC #CHES #MedEd

“While hundreds of state and local lawsuits have been filed against opioid manufacturers, claiming they engaged in aggressive and misleading marketing of these addictive drugs, the role of physicians in contributing to a national tragedy has received less scrutiny. Research shows that a significant portion of people who become addicted to opioids started with a prescription after surgery.
…
The analysis examined prescribing habits after seven common procedures: coronary artery bypass, minimally invasive gallbladder removal, lumpectomy, meniscectomy (which removes part of a torn meniscus in the knee), minimally invasive hysterectomy, open colectomy and prostatectomy. Across the board, the analysis showed that physicians gave a large number of narcotics when fewer pills or alternative medications, including over-the-counter pain relief tablets, could be equally effective, according to recent guidelines from Makary and other academic researchers.
…
Transplant surgeon Dr. Michael Engelsbe, director of the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative, points to the study showing 6% of post-op patients who get opioids for pain develop long-term dependence. That means a surgeon who does 300 operations a year paves the way for 18 newly dependent people, he said.”

More on Surgeons Are Still Prescribing Opioids at Alarming Rates by Appleby and Lucas via KQED.

#PrescriptionPatterns #PavingTheWay #OpioidCrisis

“The creation of the social and built environment guided by architecture and urban design is a process defined by decision points. The long-lasting effects of these decisions are increasingly understood to be determinants of human health. The social and built environment guide our behaviour, and in doing so create the habits and experiences that have an impact on our physical and mental health, negatively and positively. It is in this context that decisions require an evidence based approach to prevent the negative outcomes of poorly designed environments. This highlights the importance of the governance structures within cities in creating and harnessing opportunities for health.”

More on The healthcare community needs to champion healthy and sustainable urban living spaces (2019) by Oni, Kockat, Martinez-Herrera, Palti, Johns, & Caiaffa via BMJ.

*Photo credit: J. Ashby

“We are professionals who have dedicated our lives towards improving the health and well-being of all Canadians and we are mothers who see the health and well-being of our future generation severely threatened in light of our current climate catastrophe” offered Dr. Sarah Sloan, on behalf of the 283 physician mothers who have signed their petition. “Many of us have already witnessed our patients experiencing poor health outcomes as a result of the effects of climate change. This includes exacerbation of lung diseases, heat-related illnesses, increasing Lyme disease and West Nile virus, and the mental health effects from increasing frequency of dangerous weather events including floods, forest fires, tornadoes and other extreme weather events across our country and the world.”

Read more on a Call to Action on Climate Change and Health: From Canada’s Health Professionals to Canada’s Federal Political Parties. Learn more on the E-2180 (Climate Change) e-petition.

#CAPEDoctors #ClimateChange #Health #E2180Petition