Education

How to keep young children with RSV out of the ICU

Nearly every child will contract RSV in their lifetime. Therefore the challenges lies not in preventing RSV infection, but in preventing infections from becoming severe. Breastfeeding may be one way to overcome this challenge.

Diet vs. drugs – Comparing the effects of diet with leading pharmaceuticals

In 440 B.C., Hippocrates famously said “Let food be thy medicine.” More than 2,000 years later, the evidence to substantiate this statement has never been more robust.

Context matters: Canada’s guidance on alcohol and health needs a rethink

The public should be given the right information to understand the risks associated with alcohol consumption. But Canada's new drinking guidelines leave something to be desired.

Model that predicts MS relapse highlights AI’s expanding role in health care

AI can be taught to do a lot. But can it help doctors make better clinical decisions? One MS clinic in Ontario is trialing an AI model that could help doctors determine how to treat their patients.

There is no miracle cure to the health crisis – but here’s where to start  

Dr. Alika Lafontaine, president of the Canadian Medical Association, reflects on the problems and solutions facing a health-care system in crisis.

Food and mental health: Happy gut, happy mind

The food we eat every day is the subject of an ongoing conversation between the bacteria in our gut and our immune cells. This conversation dictates whether we are taking one step closer to health or one step closer to disease.

As individuals, we can take steps to reduce the risk for the next pandemic

We don’t just have to be anxious or fearful about the next pandemic. We can push governments for systemic changes. But we can also take small, concrete steps as individuals to make a difference.

Transitioning to inclusivity: Why OB/GYNs need trans care training

Both women and trans men may require obstetrics services. But many working in health care don't know how to appropriately treat trans patients. It is time we listen to the trans community and mandate transgender care education.

To ease shortage, Ontario must expand pathways to licensure for internationally trained physicians

Amidst health-care system collapse, thousands of internationally trained physicians in Ontario face barriers to becoming licensed and applying their skills. But there is a way we could reduce skills underutilization and boost the supply of health professionals.

Episode 56 – The Rounds Table x The Intern at Work

Dear family doc: We’re all in this together

During these challenging times – just like during the height of the pandemic – we need every health-care provider doing his or her part. Ontario pharmacists are here to help.

OurCare survey highlights lack of access to primary care

A nation-wide survey on the state of primary care in Canada illuminates pressing issues facing our health system. Dr. Tara Kiran and a team of collaborators with the OurCare project have launched an online dashboard with the findings.

Nursing and medical students agree: drop Bill 124

The provincial government has long ignored the needs of nurses and the passing of Bill 124 by the Ford government rubbed more salt in the wound. Nursing and medical students call to end its bad faith efforts to revive Bill 124.

The case for mature medical students

Many professional programs in Canada have long touted values that promote diversity of experience. But when it comes to medical schools - little consideration is made for older, more experienced candidates.

Beware the ‘Kraken’ – but for a different, official reason

The nickname “Kraken” for the XBB.1.5. subvariant of COVID-19 Omicron does not arise from any mandated agency or authority and incites undue fear. When the tentacle wags the giant squid, the media undermine their own credibility as honest arbiters of facts.

Debunking the myth of immunity debt

Immunity debt is an attractive concept. But there is little evidence for it as an explanation for the resurgence in pediatric respiratory infections.

The Treadmill

"Now the treadmill makes my steps uneven. One foot moves faster or slower than the other, and I stagger like a would-be dancer who wasn’t taught the choreography before the show."

Dr. Pharmacist?

Pharmacists can prescribe medications for certain ailments in eight provinces with Ontario about to follow suit. But while pharmacists knowledge of medications is invaluable, are they diagnosticians?

Over-the-counter ointments are ‘poison ivy in a tube’ for some, dermatologists warn

Canada’s most popular over-the-counter ointments for wound treatment are the most common medical substances causing allergic contact dermatitis, or ACD.

Woefully inadequate: Dearth of funding for biomedical health research reflects our environmental racism

Biomedical research policy needs to begin addressing environmental racism and justice and expand funded research for climate change, environmental and planetary health.