Primary Care

Family medicine-maternity care: A romantic idea facing an uncertain future

Physicians who practice family medicine and offer maternity care are shrinking in numbers. Their future is uncertain. What do we stand to lose?

In praise of nurses – and Grammy

In hospice settings, nurses wet the mouths of patients as they take their last breaths. Sometimes, they simply sit with them so that no one dies alone. As a physician, I could not do my job without them.

HOMR’s Odyssey: Calculating palliative need in real time

By using tools that identify which patients have an elevated risk of mortality in the coming year, we can catch patients who would benefit from palliative care planning before they fall through the cracks.

Lessons from Down Under – Eight pillars to support palliative care

During the pandemic, we Canadians could learn a thing or two from our Aussie friends Down Under. This includes important lessons on palliative care.

Bazinga! A unified model of palliative care in Ontario

To ensure access to high-quality palliative care for all Ontarians facing a life-limiting illness, we need a unified model of palliative care across Ontario.

Focus on palliative care will help hospitals recover from COVID-19

To address the surgical backlog caused by COVID-19, we need community-based palliative care to free up important hospital resources.

Why choose palliative care?

You may assume that palliative care is synonymous with end-of-life or hospice care. Our goal is to eliminate this common misconception.

To catch up on vaccinations, we must include family doctors, pharmacists in rollout plans

It is only through primary and community care that we will be able to vaccinate populations that are neglected and/or mistrustful of the health-care system.

Despite what you might think mid-pandemic, family medicine is more necessary than ever

Medical students must take up family medicine, since our health-care system needs strong family physicians to face the long-term impacts of COVID-19 for years to come. 

The view from here: A family doctor’s perspective of a population under lockdown

If we were to weigh all health outcomes, not only deaths due to COVID-19, would we continue blunt, sweeping lockdowns as our main public health strategy?

Pandemic fears overshadowing need for primary care

The illness and the outcomes may differ between cases but the issue is ultimately the same – people are waiting too long to seek medical attention.

Choosing the future of pediatrics wisely

In pediatrics, we are late to the Choosing Wisely movement. We have not yet fully appreciated the critical importance of this program.

If not now, when? Applying a palliative approach in long-term care

Bill 3 is a good start but more must be done for palliative care

Don’t let COVID-19 defer the diabetes care you need

Ontario’s plan to contain second wave needs a dose of primary care engagement

Family physicians need to be protected in a pandemic

Denying PPE and professional support for the disabled and marginalized is a deep injustice

There is no ‘I’ in healthcare teams

Palliative vs. supportive: The zombie argument that refuses to die

Changing the name of palliative care to "supportive care" would be a lazy substitute for the important work of educating patients, families, caregivers and clinicians alike on what palliative care actually is.