Jeff Powis

Contributor

Jeff Powis is an infectious disease specialist at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto.

3271 Contributions
by Stacie Smith

We must help post-secondary students thrive, not just survive

Preparing to graduate from Dalhousie University last spring was an extremely stressful time of uncertainty for me; classes were switched online quickly and the fear of not being able to graduate on time was a reality.

by Umayangga Yogalingam

Conversations on pandemic recovery must include our youth

Academics, researchers, educators and politicians have all voiced their opinions and observations about how the pandemic has wreaked havoc on children and youths’ health and well-being. Missing from the conversation? The kids.

by Seema Marwaha

Is the COVID vaccine for children safe and effective? Addressing parents’ concerns

Editor-in-chief Seema Marwaha answers common questions and debunks prominent misconceptions about the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11.

by Max Binks-Collier

‘We’re deviating from what makes us Canadian’: An interview with Stefan Baral

Physician-epidemiologist Stefan Baral opposes vaccine certificates on the grounds that they further sideline marginalized groups and strain the relationship between public health and the public it serves.

by Max Binks-Collier

‘We shouldn’t emotionalize the discussion. It’s purely pragmatic’: An interview with Peter Jüni

Peter Jüni, the scientific director of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, argues that vaccine certificates are key to managing the COVID-19 pandemic while keeping society open.

by Katherine van Kampen

Heroes: The word we use to keep health-care professionals complacent

We health-care workers are not heroes – we are just people trying to do our best in our jobs despite the stones thrown at us. Hero-worship of health-care workers keeps us complacent despite the stacked battle ahead of us.

by Monica Kidd

Moral injury: An emerging legal field spurred by the pandemic?

During the pandemic, health-care professionals have suffered "moral injury." This has caught the attention of personal injury lawyers, who are now exploring moral injury: what it is, who’s at risk, how to treat it – and how it might be litigated.

by Anthony Fong

‘What’s the appropriate amount of virtual care? It’s not zero, and it’s not 100’

Provincial governments are urging family doctors to resume in-person visits, arguing that virtual care increases pressure on ERs and leads to poorer health outcomes. But some doctors counter that it improves accessibility, among other benefits.

by Catharine Chambers

How scientific evidence evolves: A case study on COVID-19 in pregnancy

Pregnant people are at higher risk of severe COVID-19. This is a well-established fact. But it hasn’t always been. Earlier on, experts did not believe this group was at higher risk. This change in perspective is normal: in fact, it's how science works.

by Jeffrey Mo

​​Professor’s NOVID app turns contact tracing into a safety game

If you get contact-traced because you've been near someone infected with a contagious disease, it’s too late to protect yourself. You isolate to protect others. But a new app aims to fight outbreaks using our desire to protect ourselves. Here's how.

by Seema Marwaha

‘We had to find our way in the dark’: Physician helps remote Sioux Lookout First Nations navigate through pandemic

Lloyd Douglas worked as part of the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority to protect Indigenous communities in northern Ontario from COVID-19. We're profiling him as a Pillar of the Pandemic.

by Alexandra Campbell

Advance care planning? Your future self might not thank you

Advance care planning takes for granted that any wishes about my care that I made in advance should guide the treatment I get when I'm incapacitated. But what if they actually shouldn't – because when incapacitated, I'm not the same person?

by Mary-Kay Whittaker

Smart bras, molecular imaging and genome sequencing: Innovations take on breast cancer

What if a bra, taking images like an MRI, could detect breast cancer? With recent technological innovations, there may soon be cheap, non-invasive ways to screen people for breast cancer in their own homes.

by Abrar Ahmed Peter Zhang

The dangers of antimicrobial drug resistance must not be ignored

We are seeing an increase in dangerous microbes becoming resistant to antimicrobial drugs. To counter this threat, we must reduce our use of the drugs and explore innovative treatments that could one day replace them.

by Seema Marwaha

Are antiviral pills to treat COVID safe and effective?

Healthy Debate Editor-in-Chief Seema Marwaha answers your questions on the effectiveness, safety and limitations of new antiviral pills to treat COVID-19.

by Celina Carter

Palliative care doctor bridges health-care worlds

Michael Anderson, a doctor of Mohawk and English-Canadian ancestry, is drawing on Indigenous knowledge to not only improve palliative care – but also discover his culture and himself.

by Rachel Watts

Community advocate ‘unrelenting in making good trouble’

Angela Robertson, executive director of Parkdale-Queen West Community Health Centre in Toronto, is a determined advocate for homeless, racialized and disadvantaged communities. We're profiling her as a Pillars of the Pandemic honouree.

by Gregory Costain Ronald Cohn Stephen Scherer Christian Marshall

It’s time to transition to an era of genomic medicine

It’s time we make genome sequencing a standard-of-care clinical test to usher in the next era of health care and help us tackle the unknown.

by Melissa McCradden Kelly Thai Randi Zlotnik Shaul

Children must be heard as we envision AI’s role in health care

We often say that children are the future, but when we imagine the future of health care with artificial intelligence, are the voices of children and youth really included in that vision?

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