Audrey Fisher

Grade 11
Ottawa, Ontario
3414 Contributions
by Maha Kamil

Androgenetic alopecia is more than just a ‘cosmetic’ issue

Hair loss is routinely classified in medicine as cosmetic – a matter of appearance rather than medical consequence. But that description is not neutral. It determines how seriously a condition is taken, how much funding it receives and how urgently effective treatments are pursued.
by Ronald Chow Max Jiang Shaheeda Ahmed

When the rescuer becomes the patient: Reflections on accidental high-energy defibrillation during Code Blue

As physicians, we go to work each day with the intent to provide patient care and help others. Frankly, some days are better than others. But we don’t expect to get injured at work and urgently become patient ourselves.
by Katie Dorman

CSC policy change endangers health and lives in correctional facilities

The alarming number of overdose deaths in Canadian correctional facilities warrant an urgent, multi-faceted response from the federal government.
by Larry W. Chambers

Blood tests for Alzheimer’s are here – but Canada isn’t ready

Blood‑based biomarkers offer a real opportunity to improve dementia care – but only if we redesign our systems to use them wisely.
by Lawrence Loh

Summer’s almost here. Are you still upset about changing to daylight saving time?

Spring and summer moves between daylight and standard time represents a compromise. It’s about health across the months, not just in the immediate moment of the change.
by Margot Burnell

Beyond burnout: Why a thriving medical profession is essential for patient care

If we are serious about fixing health care in Canada, physician wellness can’t be an afterthought. It must be part of the cure.
by Jan Pezarro Christian Finley

Shamed to death: How stigma, not science, is killing Canadians with lung cancer

Lung cancer screening should be available to everyone at risk, regardless of where they live or the source of their illness. 
by Mehdi Aloosh

From bombed refineries to empty fridges: A faraway war raises health concerns at home

When the Middle East burns, Canadians feel the heat in our gas tanks, grocery bills, clinic waitlists and therapy rooms. Global crises may not stay global; they can become local.

by Joe Vipond Dick Zoutman Kashif Pirzada

Hantavirus outbreak shows we haven’t learned the lesson of SARS-1 or COVID-19

It’s happening again. Not a global pandemic but the minimizing of airborne precautions for an event with human-to-human transmission of a deadly respiratory virus possibly spread by airborne transmission.
by Devina Wadhwa

The words we use: Mental health literacy is expanding but not always improving

We have more language than ever to describe mental health, but not always more clarity about what those words mean.
by Élise Boulanger Neb Kovacina Marwa Ilali Claire Grillet Héloïse Moulart

From burden to blueprint: Clinicians and patients as co-architects of primary care’s digital future 

Clinicians and patients are not simply users to be consulted. They are indispensable partners – co-architects of a digital transformation that serves care, not the other way around.
by Kathryn Andrusky

Who owns the results?

When it comes to diagnostic test results, patient access to information has expanded rapidly. Responsibility for interpreting and acting on that information has not expanded in the same way.
by Tara Moroz

People increasingly are turning to AI for health questions but should it be trusted?

The convenience of turning to AI or health information is appealing. But it raises an important question: how reliable are these answers when the topic is our health?
by Elina Aliieva

Protecting nursing students: The need for placement site guidelines in smaller clinics

Clinical education is a regulated and mandatory component of professional entry-to-practice. Strengthening placement guidelines could help anticipate shifts in placement availability by promoting clearer expectations and safeguards.
by Nancy Poole Lindsay Wolfson

Preventing alcohol use during pregnancy is a policy problem, not a personal failure

The solution to fetal alcohol syndrome prevention is not simply to tell women not to drink, assuming they either don’t know enough or don’t care enough. The solution is to create policy environments that make prevention possible.
by Caroline Ewen

Ethical recruitment of internationally educated health professionals: From principles to action

With one of the highest volumes of migrant intake in the world, Canada has both a responsibility and an opportunity to demonstrate leadership in ethical recruitment and for policymakers to support implementation of WHO code-aligned policies and practices.
by Suman Virdee

Beyond stereotypes: Family doctors’ pivotal role in detecting substance use disorders

Primary care clinics can be the best place for detection because of the stigma patients feel when walking into a specialized clinic.
by Dat Nguyen

HPV vaccination in Canada: Progress made, gaps remaining

It is critical for federal and provincial policymakers to act decisively to achieve public health goals, particularly in light of a concerning decline in HPV vaccine coverage.
by Hayley Pelletier

Flawed by design: The case of the Saskatchewan fertility treatment tax credit

Saskatchewan’s fertility treatment tax credit is fundamentally inequitable, exclusionary and revealing of whose access to care is prioritized – and whose is not.
by Evan Weber

It’s time to act: Canada needs standardized genetic testing for breast cancer care

Every patient deserves to know if their breast cancer is hereditary, if their treatment could be more precise and if their loved ones are at risk.

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