Medical Education

Doing right by the law, and doing right by our patients: The ‘means available to relieve suffering’ safeguards in MAiD

Canadians deserve access to robust and timely responses to their MAiD inquiries. Most important among these are conversations and supports intended to relieve suffering, that may ease or address the person’s desire to die.

‘Good hands for a woman’: Study exposes gender bias in surgery 

Deeply ingrained gender biases within surgery are discouraging women from entering the field, according to findings in a new McGill University study. 

Dancing with uncertainty: Finding my rhythm in the chaos of the OR

As a medical learner, uncertainty is everywhere—especially in anesthesia. But I hope to find calm within the unknown.

Reassessing CBT as the ‘gold standard’ of mental health treatment

With mental health diagnoses on the rise, changes in treatment may be imminent with more emphasis placed on the importance of a pluralistic, rather than one-size-fits-all, approach to care – questioning CBT’s status as the “gold standard.”

Immersive Virtual Reality is a valuable addition to medical training with the right planning

IVR, a type of simulation that uses virtual spaces and characters rather than physical and human resources, could be the future of medical training.

It’s not just the measles . . .

Many have forgotten how serious infections from Measules, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella can be because we have not seen them for many years. I am reminded every day by my mumps-induced deafness.

No reinforcements

Practising family medicine in a rural community is dire these days. It’s precarious for patients and stressful for physicians and there’s no one coming to save us.

Report highlights systemic discrimination against International Medical Graduates in Canada

Canada’s current system for integrating IMGs is inefficient, inequitable and contributes to the physician shortage. By acknowledging these barriers and implementing targeted reforms, Canada can build a fairer, more effective health-care workforce.

‘The first time students see a patient of colour should not be in hospital’: The need for diverse patient actors

Advocate groups say increasing patient actor diversity is crucial to prepare Ontario’s future doctors to care for the province’s increasingly diverse patient population.

The importance of health-system navigators

Patients need to know where to turn to for help - and the province must support family doctors and patients in accessing system navigators.

Health misinformation is rampant and deepens inequities for marginalized communities

Health misinformation is more than a communication challenge; it’s a driver of inequity. By addressing these disparities head-on, we can ensure that no one is left behind in our health system.

MAiD’s vanishing slippery slope

New data on MAiD sheds much needed light on a topic so broiled in hysteria and unforced errors to seem like some sort of deranged game of political and health-care tennis.

How The Grinch stole family medicine: A tale of Ontario’s health crisis

Like a green, scheming miser, the Grinch of health care – festooned in a slew of government mismanagement and shortsighted policies – descended upon family medicine, stealing its spirit one policy at a time.

The future of prescriptions: Pharmacogenomic testing on the verge of revolutionizing health care

With the growing trend of using genomic information to personalize care, is there a type of testing that can tell us whether medications we have been prescribed are actually working?

Ontario’s physician wage-gap: Myth vs. fact

Through further research and advocacy efforts, we are hopeful that physician compensation will eventually reflect merit and services rendered.

A plea to maskless health-care workers from vulnerable patients

Health-care workers have a responsibility to protect their vulnerable patients. Our lives are in your hands.

Are Canada’s clinical trials in need of reform? Experts weigh in.

Private companies in Canada are recruiting thousands of often financially desperate test subjects each year to participate in clinical trials. If we want to ensure safer studies for participants and improve critical research, what is the best way forward?

Hey Canada, let’s stop the homeopathy lie

As Alberta ponders whether or not to bring alternative medicine into the provincial health-care system, Timothy Caulfield has a few words to share on homeopathy.

Essential exposure: The case for mandatory palliative care clinical rotations

Clinical exposure to palliative care is not afforded the attention it deserves in undergraduate medical curricula. To rob medical learners of such experiences is a travesty.

Tackling the sepsis ‘beast’: New treatment aims to save lives

Researchers have developed a new treatment to block inflammation, supercharge the white blood cells’ ability to kill bacteria, and protect against heart and lung failure.