Research

From awareness to accountability: The attention is nice but what comes after Heart Month?

Each February, Heart Month brings renewed attention to cardiovascular disease. Awareness matters. But when the campaigns end, an uncomfortable question remains: what changes?

Schooling or suicide: The ethical responsibility of educational institutions

Students are dying silently in the places meant to shape their futures. Schools cannot prevent every tragedy, but they also cannot ignore the role they play.

These parliamentary studies are low-profile but have implications for access to medicines

Two studies by Parliamentary Standing Committees each have potentially serious implications for medical innovation, pandemic preparedness and access to medicines.

Our research ethics boards aren’t the problem – the system wasn’t built to protect participants

The bodies responsible for the ethical review of research and ensuring that it safeguards the individuals in it – operate with no national standards, no oversight and no accreditation at all.

Beyond the default patient: Diversity in virtual simulation-based health-care education

Virtual simulation platforms often fail to meaningfully reflect patient diversity, which may be shaped by underlying biases and have implications for clinical outcomes.

‘A lot of work to do, one conversation at a time’: New Year’s resolutions for 2026

With changes reverberating throughout our health-care system, we wanted to know what health-care experts planned to focus on for themselves in the year ahead.

Why Canada needs a ready-to-run adaptive platform trial before the next pandemic hits

When the next pandemic arrives (and it will!) Canada will once again face urgent questions: Which treatments work? For whom? At what dose? And how quickly should we act?

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.

Canadian student abroad questions Ontario’s exclusionary residency rule

The goal should not be to exclude, but to bring home every capable doctor who calls Canada home.

Canada needs a women’s health strategy: Lives depend on it

The path forward to prioritizing women’s health and well-being must be laid by Canadians whose voices propel political, social and economic change around the world.

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.

AI and the mental health crisis: Can chatbots fill the gap?

Canadians are increasingly turning to AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, for mental health support. But is this type of technology truly up to the task?

Tylenol misinformation puts pregnant patients at risk

Casting doubt on Tylenol without solid evidence does not empower pregnant people, it corners them. It adds guilt, stigma and undermines their confidence in making safe decisions for themselves and their babies.

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.

Planetary health is public health

Ignoring planetary health would be a gross dereliction of duty by the public health profession, a breach of the ethical obligation to protect and improve the health of the population and to narrow health inequalities.

Rethinking mental health and substance use health solutions

What if you or someone you know needs mental health and substance use health care right now? Do you know exactly where to go to get what you need?

We can no longer afford the wrong leadership for our medical organizations

Choose leaders for what they can do, not where they come from. The right competencies will carry the profession – and the health system – forward.

The MS treatment gap: How costs and outdated policies limit care in Canada

Early, aggressive treatment can significantly improve outcomes for people living with MS. But provinces have yet to implement coverage policies that would ensure patients receive optimal care.

Aspiration alone is not adequate: Breast screening task force missing the mark

When it comes to the Canadian Task Force, health advocacy is an integral role for any medical professional. There is no desire to generate more “business.”

Rethinking our stewardship of patient health data in the age of AI

Patients deserve to benefit from the power of their data, but they also deserve to know, to choose, and to trust.