“I want to talk to someone”: The importance of psychosocial oncology
Psychosocial oncology is considered a critical component of cancer care, but access varies across Ontario. What it is, and how we might fill in the gaps.
Seema Marwaha
How I use the teachings of the Medicine Wheel in my healing journey
The teachings of the Medicine Wheel have helped me build myself up and become stronger. They have also helped me cope with my mother’s death.
More than a third of nurses have PTSD symptoms; a third of doctors are burned out. What are we doing about it?
Burnout in health care is common, as are depression and PTSD. Now people are looking for ways to help health care providers find “joy in work.”
“False face”: A poem about domestic violence and depression
Many medical students learn the mnemonic MSIGECAPS for diagnosing depression. Here, an internal medicine resident explores these letters in depth.
Is it true that intermittent fasting can cure type 2 diabetes?
Some patients with type 2 diabetes reportedly lost weight and improved their blood sugar levels after intermittent fasting. Endocrinologists and dietitians are skeptical of this treatment.
Where should Ontario’s 30,000 new long-term beds go?
Most people agree Ontario needs more long-term care beds. But what’s the best way to add them? And how do we fix staffing and funding problems?
We like to talk about “a good death.” But how often does this really happen?
For most people who die, death isn’t good. It usually comes with sadness, fear, pain, confusion, incontinence and many other problems.
Brian
There’s no way anybody can represent the spectrum of patients. But I know what it’s like to experience the wait, the pain, the inconvenience of health care. On those things I represent a very broad group.
The Opioid Chapters: 11 stories that show how complex the crisis is
The Opioid Chapters is a special multimedia project featuring the stories of 11 people whose lives have been profoundly affected by opioids.
When you fail in medicine, it feels like you fail in life—and that needs to change
Medicine’s culture of perfectionism seems almost anaphylactic to failure. But failure happens, and doctors need to be able to cope with it.
Saudi trainee
And interview with one of the residents who is training at an Ontario medical school and will be returning to Saudi Arabia shortly, at the order of the Saudi government.
The Saudi trainees’ resilience and professionalism make it even harder to see them go
Despite the incredible anxiety the Saudi residents must be feeling, many have continued working 26-hour overnight shifts to help ease the transition.
It’s a mistake to cancel basic income—programs like it helped me become a doctor
Basic income helped provide an equality of opportunity that in turn helped me become a doctor. How many benefited as I did? How many more still could?
Sindy
Why do people have to wait 12 years for an ethnic nursing home?
Ethnic nursing homes offer residents familiarity and comfort and have even been shown to offer better quality of care. So why aren’t there more of them?
Technology takes us away from the bedside—and the very ethos of medicine
Bedside rounds are what rounds originally meant, but these days physicians spend very little time in direct patient care. What does this mean for medicine?
How long will an EpiPen work after its expiry date?
EpiPen expiry dates: Reports that the life-saving auto-injectors are in short supply has patients wondering whether and how long EpiPens remain effective after their expiry dates have passed.
Prostate cancer screening: It’s time for advocates to put up or shut up
Evidence for the benefit of prostate cancer screening is inconsistent, and over-treatment is a big concern. Why do some groups advocate so strongly for it?
Direct Funding means freedom for many people with disabilities. Is it accessible enough?
Direct Funding allows people to hire and manage their own staff, giving them control over their schedules and lives. But the wait list is as long as a year.
Matt
