Faculty & Student News
F A C U L T Y
John Browne Receives Outstanding Teaching Award
John Browne is a recipient of the 2005 Faculty of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Awards. The award, presented on April 20, recognizes Dr. Browne's excellence in teaching and contributions to undergraduate education. Recipients are selected based on nominations by peers and students. Dr. Browne is Associate Professor in HPME, director of the HPME MSc/PhD program and a member of the Academic Staff at Woodsworth College .
Lorelei Lingard Appointed First Bank Of Montreal Professor in Health
Lorelei Lingard has been appointed as the inaugural Bank of Montreal Professor in Health Profession Education Research, effective January 1, 2005 , for a five-year term. This position was made possible by a gift of $1m from the Bank of Montreal to the University Health Network for the establishment of this joint hospital/university professorship based in the Wilson Centre for Research in Education at the UHN. Dr. Lingard has graduate appointments in HPME and the department of Paediatrics.
Brian Feldman Recipient of Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award
Brian Feldman, Associate Professor in HPME, Public Health Sciences and the department of Paediatrics, has been awarded the 2004 Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award. This award is given annually to a scientist under the age of forty-five by the American College of Rheumatology for research in childhood rheumatic disease. Dr. Feldman is the first paediatric rheumatologist to win this international award for rheumatology research. The award recognizes his work on improving research tools, including outcome-measurement tools. Dr. Feldman holds a Canada Research Chair in childhood arthritis. He is a rheumatologist at the Hospital for Sick Children and the Clinical Chief of the arthritis program at the Bloorview Macmillan Children's Centre. His work has helped to predict the course and outcome of systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis and juvenile lupus.
Dave Davis Receives The Ian Hart Award for Distinguished Contribution to Medical Education
Dr. Dave Davis, Professor in HPME and Associate Dean of Continuing Education, Faculty of Medicine, is the recipient of the 2005 Ian Hart Award for Distinguished Contribution to Medical Education. The award will by presented at the Canadian Association of Medical Education (CAME) Annual Meeting in Saskatoon on May 2, 2005 . This award recognizes senior faculty who have made an exceptional contribution to medical education throughout their academic career.
Dave Davis Invited to Melbourne Australia as Visiting Scholar
This fall, Dr. Dave Davis will be spending two months in Melbourne Australia as the Visiting Scholar with the National Institute for Clinical Studies (NICS). NICS (www.nicls.com.au) is the guideline clearing house and major guideline implementation enterprise in Australia . Dr. Davis is a Professor in the Departments of HPME and Family & Community Medicine.
S T U D E N T S
The Department of HPME Proudly Presents the Class of 2005– March Convocation
PhD |
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Tracey Asano |
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MSc Health Administration |
Heather Chappell |
MSc Clinical Epidemiology (Thesis) |
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Rodrigo Cavalcanti |
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MSc Clinical Epidemiology (non-Thesis) |
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Andreas Roposch |
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MHSc Health Administration / MSW Joint Degree |
Hannah Louie |
Nimesh Desai Receives Paul Cartier Resident Research Award
Nimesh Desai, PhD student in clinical epidemiology in HPME, received the Canadian Society of Cardiovascular Surgeons' Paul Cartier Resident Research Award for his project, "Competitive Flow Compromises Radial Artery Bypass Graft Patency: Analysis from a Randomized Clinical Trial". The Award was presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Calgary in October 2004. Desai is working under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Fremes.
Teresa Chiu Awarded CIHR Fellowship
Teresa Chiu, PhD student in HPME, received a 2005 CIHR Fellowship for her study, "Usage of Online Services by Chinese Family Caregivers in Canada." Chiu is studying under the supervision of Dr. Gunther Eysenbach.
Adam Topp and Raisa Deber Present to Health Canada
HPME PhD student, Adam Topp, and supervisor Dr. Raisa Deber presented "A Survey of Regulatory Frameworks Governing Private Sector Delivery of Health Care in Canada" to Health Canada officials in February 2005. In their talk, they defined public and private healthcare across the dimensions of delivery, financing and allocation. It is often overlooked in public / private debates that Canada already has private delivery of care. Topp and Deber distinguished between three types of private care: not-for-profit, for-profit small business, and for-profit investor-owned corporation. Regulation can have many different goals such as cost efficiency, provision of priority services, accessibility and quality control. Topp and Deber analyzed the impact of regulatory incentive structures on different types of private care, identifying problems with existing regulatory frameworks across Canada.
I N T H E N E W S
ICES Report on Wait Times Released
In an article in the Toronto Star, "Need surgery? Get in line" (April 7, 2005), results from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) "Access to Health Services in Ontario: ICES Atlas" were described. The April 2005 report, co-authored by Dr. Jack Tu (Professor in HPME), Patricia Pinfold, Paula McColgan and Dr. Andreas Laupacis (Professor in HPME), was requested by the McGuinty government and will form the baseline against which the Wait Times Strategy will be evaluated. The report is divided into four key areas: cataract surgery, cancer surgery, cardiac care and hip and knee replacements. Cardiac surgery was the one area which showed significant improvements in wait times in 2003/2004 from those reported in 2001/2002. Terry Sullivan, Associate Professor in HPME and CEO of Cancer Care Ontario , noted that the report is important because it draws attention to long wait times for cancer surgeries. The full document can be found on the ICES website.
Article Quoting Deber Picked up by News Media Across US
In an Associated Press article (March 19, 2005) suggesting that free health care in Canada comes at the cost of long wait times, Dr. Raisa Deber argues that Canada has one of the fairest health care systems in the world. "Canadians are very proud of the fact that if they need care, they will get care," she said. While there are some problems in the system, according to Deber, most Canadians get the healthcare they need.
Study Led by Linda Rabeneck Reported in Macleans, Star, CTV
In a study of Ontario adults conducted between 1993 and 2001, researchers found that the number of newly-diagnosed colorectal cancer patients who demonstrate advanced signs of the disease is decreasing. Yet, nearly 20 per cent of patients have emergency surgery before being diagnosed. According to lead author, Dr. Linda Rabeneck (Professor in HPME), this number is still too high since 90 per cent of the deaths caused by colorectal cancer are preventable if caught early enough. "We need to get a commitment from the MOH (Ministry of Health) to implement an organized screening program." An estimated 19,200 Canadians will be diagnosed this year, and approximately 8,400 will die from the disease. The study is published in the March 2005 issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology . It was reported in the Toronto Star (March 2, 2005), on CTV (March 1, 2005) and in Macleans Magazine (March 17, 2005).
Anderson Leads Plan to Improve Drug-Safety Monitoring
A new plan to improve drug-safety monitoring across Canada, led by Dr. Geoff Anderson, was reported in the Globe and Mail: "Health Canada Too Slow on Drug Safety: Experts" (February 23, 2005). The new plan is estimated to cost $2 million per year. Anderson, and other researchers involved in the plan including Dr. Muhammad Mamdani (HPME Associate Professor), is disappointed in Health Canada 's slow response. "They are doing something, but they could do more and they could do it faster," Anderson said. "It's particularly frustrating if you are an academic and you want to do [work] that really affects policy and the safety of Canadians." Regulators have been harshly criticized for failing to act sooner on safety concerns surrounding the cox-2 pain reliever, Vioxx.
It's not about MD shortages, it's about working conditions
In a commentary in the Globe and Mail (February 22, 2005), HPME's Dr. Raisa Deber laments the media's interpretation of the Health Council of Canada's first report. Unfortunately, she notes, the familiar themes of nurse and physician shortages and faster implementation of electronic health records were reiterated by media analysts, while little attention was given to the need to "reduce the numbers of Canadians who lead disadvantaged lives devoid of opportunity or hope". Rather than throwing more money into sweeping restructuring, Deber suggests that many small changes can be made to improve job security and working conditions to retain skilled providers. She also advocates for a greater emphasis on the prevention of chronic health problems through healthy public policy.
Macleans Magazine Reports on "eStudy" Led by Claire Bombardier
A recent issue of Macleans Magazine (February 16, 2005) featured the article, "Online Arthritis Test Tracks Treatment Progress". The article reviews the development of an electronic system for patient's with rheumatoid arthritis to assess and record their symptoms in the doctor's office or at home. Advances in computer and communication technologies now allow for the collection of patient information using a computerized questionnaire and also provide the ability to immediately generate a report that summarizes the questionnaire information over time. The resulting information allows doctors to gauge the effectiveness of arthritis treatment. Dr. Claire Bombardier, Professor in HPME and Director of Rheumatology in the Faculty of Medicine, is the principal investigator of the CIHR-funded "ERheum Project". The study is being carried out with co-investigators Gunther Eysenbach, Alex Jadad and Paul Milgram, based out of the Centre for Global eHealth and Innovation. Preliminary feedback from patients is positive. Most say the system's touch-screen interface is easy to use. But one of the challenges is ensuring the project complies with legislation on the protection of personal information.