Healthcare Delivery

Fail-first drug rules defy logic, deny timely access for people with rare diseases

Despite the recent approval of targeted biologics that can significantly improve quality of life, Canadians living with Myasthenia Gravis continue to face unjust policy barriers.

Needle phobic? Nasal spray flu vaccine allays fear but has limited access in Canada

Canadians who avoid the flu shot because they fear needles have an alternative that won’t make them hold their breath until it’s over. But availability may pose a problem for access.

The words we use: Why inclusive language in health care is about safety

Inclusive language is a living practice. Let’s treat it that way – with care, intention and the humility to keep learning.

Sleepless in Scrubs: The myth of the invincible doctor

While trainees may joke about exhaustion, its impact is anything but humorous. Chronic fatigue in medical education is not just normalized but is also institutionalized.

I used to envy socially transitioned trans kids for having the childhood I never had. Now I am not so certain.

While more research will continue to provide useful information on how socially transitioned children manage through their adolescence and adulthood, it will never be able to answer whether transitioning is the best choice for any gender-variant child.

A roadmap for change: Building the health workforce Canadians deserve

A well-planned, integrated workforce can deliver access, improved outcomes and support our health professionals. It’s time to put the future in motion.

Climate change fuelling the spread of tuberculosis

With floods in Pakistan, cyclones in Madagascar and droughts in Somalia, it is crucial that we learn to recognize the critical links between climate change and disease.

Using ‘integration’ to silence culturally specific care

When culturally specific care is allowed to vanish under another name, we all lose a piece of the commons we rely on.

A call to action for the health sector on planetary health and a wellbeing society

An emerging national health sector coalition is working to spur action, at all levels from the grass roots to the national level, to create a Wellbeing society in which we achieve equitable health now and for future generations while living within planetary boundaries.

Emergency department wait times are deadly. They’re also avoidable

Until governments act on our scientific recommendations and commit to meaningful system change, Canadians will continue to wait in dangerous conditions – and more families will face tragic, preventable loss.

Ontario has a new way of measuring how hard family doctors work. What does it mean for doctors and their patients?

The new “Continuity of Care” measure included in the new agreement between the Ontario government and its doctors has good intentions but comes with severe penalties and without necessary checks and balances.

Knit one, purl two on the way to mental health

Addressing rising mental health rates will undoubtedly require a range of different tools, both pharmacological and non-pharmaceutical.

The training gap undermining Canada’s primary care teams

While family medicine is exploring how to prepare doctors for team-based primary care, other health professions lack equivalent training requirements.

Empowering pharmacists is about more than saving emergency departments – it’s about equity in health care

Not only did Ontario's move to allow pharmacists to prescribe for certain minor ailments reduce ED strain, but it also reduced inequities in access to care.

Beyond pink and teal: Patient advocacy is not a morality play

Patient advocacy at its best is not about purity. It’s about presence. It’s about showing up, with all our raw, unpolished language and stories, to demand dignity for people whose lives are already heavy with suffering.

Was my wife’s hospital care an anomaly or the new normal in Ontario?

I had hoped my wife would get timely and dignified care like I'd received in the past. She did not. Was her care an anomaly or is it the way of the future? I don't know but I sure as hell hope it is not the future.

Trust those who heal, not those who provoke

A Seuss-style rhyme on the very real harm of health misinformation.

‘I understand’: Words of empathy that have helped me through residency

"That evening, they walked me past the point we usually diverged and sat with me in my apartment lobby. They sat as I cried. They listened."

Black mistrust is logical and rational: What public health policymakers must learn from Black communities

Black communities are not hesitant just for the sake of it. They are hesitant because of memory. They need structural change built from trust, not just crisis.

Food security is health security: Tackling Type 2 diabetes in Indigenous communities

First Nations on reserve have Type 2 diabetes rates three to five times higher than the rest of Canada. Yet, they remain underserved and underrepresented in health policy and decision-making.