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Family Matters
Your updates from the University of Alberta Department of Family Medicine
November/December 2018
Message From the Chair
It can be very enlightening to see yourself from a distance. You get some perspective, become aware of assumptions you didn’t realize you were making, see things you’ve been doing that are marvellous and you didn’t know it, and get a lot of ideas for how to do things better.
Our partnership with Zhejiang University 4th Affiliated Hospital (ZJU4H) has provided that opportunity for me. It’s quite a distance; the other side of the planet, in fact. (Not a convenient distance, travel-wise.) The faculty at ZJU4H are working very hard to create a family medicine training program. We’re visiting there, and hosting their junior faculty here, to help them learn how to train faculty, so they can develop a residency program that is effective and progressive, but designed for their context. (It wouldn’t help much to just export our curriculum to them.) Several of us visited there early in December, to meet and share how we do clinical teaching and train for it.
One thing I see about us from that distance is how much effort they are putting into building what we take for granted. In their specialty-dominated system, they have recognized that improving health outcomes and patient experience depends critically on a good supply of well-trained generalists. We know that, but it is good to see it again – and it doesn’t hurt to see our specialist colleagues on the trip hear it from them, instead of just us!
The thing that struck me the most though was the difference in the direct quality of care that a generalist perspective makes. Dr. Cave and I were privileged to join them on hospital rounds, to see a patient and do some bedside and post-rounds teaching. The patient had been admitted to the cardiology service for a hypertensive urgency, and cared for quite well in the impressive modern facility that is ZJU4H. In reviewing the case for teaching, we observed a very thorough workup from a cardiology perspective, but were able to add neurological and ophthalmological teaching points that a Canadian family physician would have done almost reflexively. That is no slight to the residents and faculty at ZJU4H, just an example of the broader generalist perspective. Our hosts were quite perceptive, and immediately appreciated both the importance and the necessary teaching changes it implied. It gave me a very concrete illustration of why so much research demonstrates that patient outcomes across the world correlate most closely with the supply of generalist physicians, rather than specialists. I know that from the literature, but it was a powerful experience to see it so directly.
I’m pleased to be able to share that perspective with our colleagues in Yiwu and that they value our sharing with them. I’m even more pleased to have that dramatic demonstration of our crucial importance as generalists in our health care system’s value to our patients.
- Dr. Lee Green, Chair, Department of Family Medicine
Family Medicine Forum Update
Mike Donoff Receives Ian McWhinney Family Medicine Education Award
Dr. Mike Donoff was presented with the 2018 Ian McWhinney Family Medicine Education Award at the Family Medicine Forum’s 2018 Section of Teachers Dinner held on November 15, 2018. This award is presented by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and recognizes contributions to family medicine education that positively impact family medicine education in Canada.
Dr. Mike Donoff accepting the Ian McWhinney Award
Dr. Mike Allan
Mike Allan Named Alberta’s Family Physician of the Year
Dr. Mike Allan received the 2018 Reg L. Perkins Family Physician of the Year Award for Alberta. This award is presented by the College of Family Physicians of Canada recognizes physicians for excellent patient care and contributions to their community’s health and
well-being.
Congratulations to FMF Poster Award Winners
The Resident as Teacher research team received a poster award at FMF for
their Impact of resident as Teacher Program on Family Medicine Residents’ Interest in Teaching poster. The team members are Oksana Babenko, Lillian Au,
Sudha Koppula and Olga Szafran.
U of A Family Medicine faculty and recent graduate at the Section of Teachers Dinner: (L-R) Kiran Dhillon, Lee Green, Sudha Koppula, Sanja Kostov, Mirella Chiodo, Michelle Morros, Paul Humphries.
Family Medicine Innovators
Recognized by TEC Edmonton
Dr. Mike Kolber and Nicole Olivier have received a Spinoff Award from TEC Edmonton for the creation of EMPRSS: the Electronic Medical Procedure Reporting Systems. Empress provides a data collection system as well as services for physicians to receive quality metric reports for medical procedures.
How did EMPRSS come about? Click here to find out.
Nicole Olivier and Mike Kolber
Care of the Elderly Research Team Receives CIHR Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Jasneet Parmar, Dr. Lesley Charles, Dr. Bonnie Dobbs, and team for receiving a CIHR Planning and Dissemination Grant on the project entitled Health Workforce Education and Training Resources to Recognize and Support Family Caregivers of Seniors in Care.
The goal of this initiative is to develop education and training for healthcare professionals to be able to identify individuals who are caregivers to seniors in care and subsequently provide needed support to those caregivers.
The grant for this one-year project is in the amount of $18,000.00 and the application was ranked by the Institute of Aging as #3 of 12 applications.
The research team will be joined by 32 participants from across Canada and in the Netherlands and UK.
Welcome to Tricia Zhou
Yang Gang (Tricia) Zhou, a pharmacist from China participating in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s Global Health Program, arrived at the U of A on December 10, 2018.
During her three-month stay in Edmonton, Yang Gang will work toward developing and implementing a pharmacy residency program for her hospital, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. She will be working with faculty member Hoan Linh Banh.
U of A to Support Major
Concussion Research Initiative
Dr. Connie Lebrun will be representing Alberta on the clinical subcommittee of the Surveillance in High Schools to Reduce Concussion in Youth (SHRed Concussions) research project. SHRed, which is led out of the University of Calgary by PI Carolyn Emery, PhD, received a $12 million dollar grant from the National Football League’s Play Smart. Play Safe initiative.
Other University of Alberta researchers involved in this initaitve are Dr. Jackie Whittaker from the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, Dr. Martin Mrazik from the Faculty of Education, Dr. Don Voaklander from the School of Public Health and Dr. Kathy Belton from the Injury Prevention Centre.
Learn more from the Global News television coverage of the announcement.
2019 Grand Rounds Dates
Mark your calendars for our 2019 Grand Rounds.
January 31
March 21
June 20
September 19
Topics include concussions, dementia & driving, and mortality & morbidity sessions.
The Agnew Clinic by Thomas Eakins
RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
Visit the Department of Family Medicine Recent Research Publications webpage.
FAMILY MEDICINE IN THE NEWS
Mike Allan is quoted in the Folio article CBD in Cannabis no panacea for what ails us, say U of A experts
Professional Development Opportunities
FREzER 2019 Registration Now Open!
Thank you for saving the date for FREzER (Faculty and Resident Extravaganza and Education Retreat) 2019!
Here is the Passkey to book your accommodation: https://book.passkey.com/go/uofafrezer2019. Please RSVP Karen Moniz to confirm your attendance and also inform her of any food allergies you have.
Inclusive Health Conference
LGBTQ+ health in primary care
The date has been set for the 6th annual inclusive health conference:
March 16, 2019
Lister Conference Centre
Visit the conference website for more information.
This year’s conference takes disruptive action as valuable action, and the “disrupters” as crucial voices for change. When our beliefs about health and our structures in health care are challenged, our ethical obligations come most sharply into relief. Patients whose preferences and behaviours are challenging or inconvenient are often labelled as “difficult” or “non-compliant”. Yet these individuals hold a mirror up to the system that may highlight its shortcomings and flaws. This can force positive reflection at all levels about the nature and goals of health care and what accommodations and limits are reasonable in healthcare delivery.
Visit the conference website for more information or to register.
The 3rd Annual National Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Conference
May 31 – Jun 1 (Fri-Sat) | Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel | Vancouver BC
Target audience: family physicians, specialists, lawyers, policy makers, nurses, nurse practitioners, residents and medical students
Preliminary agenda now available online at maidconference.ca
University Updates
2019 Summer Student Employment Programs
If you are looking to create short-term employment opportunities for students and/or would like some extra help around your office or lab this summer, you might want to consider applying to participate in a government funded student employment program.
The primary objective of government funded summer student employment programs is to support the creation of temporary jobs for full time students. The expectation is that the temporary jobs will benefit students financially, provide career related experience, and support community priorities.
Disclaimer
External links are provided as a courtesy and for the convenience of those individuals and organizations wishing to access these resources and information. The Department of Family Medicine does not endorse nor has it vetted any external content provided.
