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> Family Practice Home > Department > Department News & Events > Newsletters > Family Matters Summer 2009
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Summer 2009 issue -subscribe now • download printable newsletter (1 MB PDF) | |
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Susan Harris, Clinical Professor, on Sunday, May 17, 2009. >> more | |
Dr Peter Kirk steps down from Palliative Care directorship Dr. Peter Kirk is resigning from his position as Director, Division of Palliative Care, effective July 27, 2009. >> more | |
 | the Bear Bones sports fresh, new lookDownload the latest issue of the Bear Bones now |
DEPARTMENT NEWS | |
 | 2009 Family Practice Research Day a resounding success! More than 300 attendees participated in the Department of Family Practice's Research Day on June 19, 2009. >> more 2009 Peter Grantham Awards |
2009 Postgraduate retreat: "Ideas to Action" | |
CaRMS 2009: medical graduates show marked interest in family medicine The Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) released its 2009 R1 Match Service Report in May, 2009. >> more | |
FACULTY NEWS | |
| Faculty of Medicine recognizes several Department faculty for 25 years of service The UBC Faculty of Medicine held its Quarter Century Celebration on April 14, 2009 to recognize several members of its faculty for 25 years of dedicated service. >> more |
 | Family Practice faculty honoured at Gowning Ceremony Several members of the Department of Family Practice attended the Faculty of Medicine's Academic Gown Reception to celebrate their promotions to the positions of Professor and Clinical Professor. >> more |
Dr. Joanna Bates named President-elect of CAME Executive Committee Dr. Joanna Bates - Director, UBC Centre for Health Education Scholarship, and Professor, Department of Family Practice – was named President-elect to the Executive Committee of the Canadian Association of Medical Education (CAME) in May 2009. >> more | |
DIVISION AND UNIT UPDATES | |
| Undergraduate education program | |
| Research Office | |
| Division of Sports Medicine | |
| Division of Prison Health | |
| Rural Education Action Plan (REAP) | |
| Community Liaison for Integrating Study & Service (CLISS) | |
RECENT AWARD WINNERS | |
| FACULTY | |
2009 Postgraduate Teaching Awards | |
Dr. Susan Harris - Peter Grantham Award for Teaching Excellence | |
| Dr. David Kuhl - Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award, Service to the University and Community | |
 | Dr. Heather McKay - 2009 YWCA Woman of Distinction, Health and Active Living category |
 | Dr. Ian Scott - Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award, Excellence in Education |
Midwife Angela Spencer - Faculty of Medicine Clinical Faculty Awards for Excellence in Teaching | |
| STAFF | |
 | Rena Tabata, CLISS, Program Manager - 2009 National Volunteer Award, UBC's Let's Talk Science Partnership Program |
| RESIDENTS | |
Dr. Anne Morrision - 2009 John J. Zack Award | |
2009 College of Family Physicians of Canada Leadership Award | |
DEPARTMENT NEWS
CaRMS 2009: medical graduates show marked interest in family medicine
The Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) released its 2009 R1 Match Service Report in May, 2009. This year, CaRMS matched the largest number of Canadian and international medical school graduates (IMGs) ever - 2,705 in total – to residency training programs across Canada. The increased match numbers were attributed to the increase in number of provincially-funded residency positions as well as the increase in overall number of applicants for positions.
CaRMS noted that more graduating students stated an interest in pursuing a career in family medicine than in previous years. More than 32 per cent of Canadian graduates and over 52 per cent of internationally trained graduates chose family medicine as their career of choice. As report authors noted, the elevated interest in family medicine “is a positive outcome of the various policies to address the shortage of family doctors.”
There were a total of 219 UBC graduates participating in the first iteration of CaRMS in 2009. Of this group, 95 per cent of graduates were matched to a residency program. Eleven graduates were placed during the second iteration of matching.
UBC’s postgraduate residency programs had 258 seats for graduates available in 2009. During the first iteration of matching, 233 seats were filled. The outstanding 25 vacancies were filled during the second iteration of matching. UBC was one of only four medical schools in Canada to completely fill its quota of medical graduates.
DIVISION AND UNIT UPDATES
Undergraduate Education Progam Update
This year department members have taught 135,776 hours of clinical instruction in the undergraduate program and 6,000 hours of classroom/small group instruction. This commitment to the physicians of tomorrow is significant given that most of our teachers are community family physicians that make a special effort to teach as teaching is not built into their day to day lives as part of a CTU or outpatient clinics at a hospital. The value that community physicians bring to the undergraduate MD program is vital to creating well rounded, astute, hard working medical students as well as to replenishing the discipline of Family Medicine.
When we ask students about their experiences they tell us that learning from Family Physicians can be life changing. We often hear that a student’s Family Physician was the best teacher in medical school. “I just wanted to let you know how happy I am to be here. It's so beautiful. The family physicians are so warm, enthusiastic and wonderful teachers. I feel very privileged to have this opportunity and already feel it will be too short.” (Third year student, 2009)
When we ask family physicians why they teach it becomes clear that they do so out of duty and the social contract they feel they have with the profession as well as for the professional satisfaction of having students in the office.
Preceptors say…
“The enthusiasm of the students invigorates me.” -- Ron Warneboldt, MD
“Students make me think about things I never thought about before.” -- Dan Ezekiel, MD
“Teaching gives a fresh perspective to what I do day-to-day” -- Ray Baker, MD.
Students say…
“Excellent course! Overall it helped me very much to acquaint me with Family Practice as a whole. It really perked my interest in the practice of Family Medicine.”
“The opportunity to visit a family doctor’s office each week is an extremely valuable experience; it allowed me to effectively integrate what I was learning in the academic setting with the ‘real world’ clinical experience.”
“The best course! I really enjoyed practicing interviewing and getting a taste of what practice must be like. It makes everything else we are learning relevant.”
While it is challenging to take on new things to an already busy practice, there is evidence that having learners in the office also enhances the lives of teachers in clear ways: there are intrinsic benefits related to helping students learn, seeing their successes and making a difference in their lives. The stimulation that students bring to the office with their interest, energy and excitement reminds us about the decision we and they made to dedicate our lives to an important profession.
The 2009 residency match demonstrates that you have done a great job in supporting our students. This year over 40% of UBC students matched to Family Medicine across the country. This is a great result and testament to the experience that UBC students have in Family Practice settings across the province. All the hours of teaching, supporting and mentoring students has once again paid off. Great work!
Research Office Update
The Research Office promotes research opportunities that 1) engage a wide spectrum of community groups, healthcare practitioners, researchers, and policymakers; 2) relate directly to the needs and health aspirations of underserved and marginalized groups in BC; 3) facilitate the engagement of community groups and members of marginalized populations as equal partners in the design, implementation, and evaluation of participatory research that is immediately applicable and relevant to their health and social and economic wellbeing; and 4) impact positively on the health and wellbeing of those vulnerable populations.
As a centralized unit within the Department, the Research Office is able to initiate, develop, and implement initiatives that cross over divisions and population boundaries, thereby taking advantage of economies of scale and providing an additional level of support to conduct and engage vulnerable populations in endeavours that would not otherwise be possible by any single unit or division. The synergies and the multiplier effect of supporting research through the Research Office has led to better understanding of and more impactful responses to the health, social, and economic needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations.
At present, we have two major initiatives to support and enhance research infrastructure: the Community Based Clinician Investigator (CBCI) and Clinical Investigator (CI) programs. We are looking to create a CBCI+ program aimed at senior scholars as well as one focused on junior to midlevel researchers. As well, as a centralized unit, the RO is able to take the lead on department wide initiatives such as a Primary Care Centre for Innovation and Health Improvement in order to meet larger infrastructural needs.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Janusz Kaczorowski, Research Director: 604.827.4396
David Adams, Research Coordinator: 604.827.4185
Debra Hanberg, Research Assistant: 604.827.4129
www.familymed.ubc.ca/department/researchoffice.htm
Division of Sports Medicine Update
The Division of Sports Medicine continues to operate in the middle of one of UBC’s largest construction projects: the Thunderbird Park Athletic Fields. For almost a year now we’ve been surrounded by dirt, dust, mud, water, heavy machinery, sod, turf, potholes, port-a-potties, etc. – never knowing from day to day quite how we and our patients will enter or exit the war zone. In spite of the challenges, we’re buoyed by the near completion of two new soccer turfs, a baseball diamond and a track and field facility – as well as beautifully landscaped walk and bikeways connecting 16th Ave. with Thunderbird Boulevard and Wesbrook with East Mall.
Our annual clinic retreat and research update took place at Whistler on April 25th. Over 30 doctors, physiotherapists and surgeons participated in the academic session, which focused on frozen shoulder and lower back pain, and included updates of various ongoing research projects at the clinic. Our families joined us for dinner.
In July we will welcome two new Fellows: Drs. Kara Solmundson and Tom Green. Kara, who is completing her Family Practice Residency/St. Paul’s Site, was on the Canadian Badminton team for 10 years, and represented Canada at the 2000 Olympics, 1999 Pan-Am Games, 1998 Commonwealth Games, as well as many world championships. Tom is currently a third year resident in Emergency Medicine. A member of the Canadian Men’s Field Hockey Team for eight years, he has also been involved in the sport as a coach and Director of Field Hockey Canada.
Update from the Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education
The Division of Prison Health and Education, now called the Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education, is pleased to highlight recent education developments for medical students.
In the fall of 2008, two enthusiastic 2nd-year undergraduate medical students, Daniel Malebranche and John Koehn, approached the director for the Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education with an interest to get involved in prisons. They proceeded to facilitate a workshop at the inaugural Prison-Academic-Community Health and Education conference in December, with encouraging feedback and suggestions from academics, government officials, Corrections officials, community workers, and health care professionals alike. They also assisted the Collaborating Centre’s Coordinator (Megan Smith) and Director (Ruth Elwood Martin) in writing a grant application, successfully awarded, proposing the development of undergraduate curriculum to include prison health opportunities and a residency elective in prison medicine.
The momentum for constructive change in prison health and education is building with increasing collaborations between universities, agencies, health authorities, and corrections. With the initiation from these medical students and from the Collaborating Centre, health education seminars have been presented by the students to inmates in prison, a 4th year prison medicine elective will be piloted in the fall 2009, and prison medicine residency options are getting organized. Interest among medical students is generating rapidly with six students interested in prison medicine opportunities in the fall.
We are delighted that Daniel and John are continuing their involvement with the Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education in membership and advisory roles. If you are interested in learning more about the Collaborating Centre or becoming a member, please visit our webpage at www.familymed.ubc.ca/dph.htm.
What is the Rural Education Action Plan (REAP)?
The Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues was established in 2000 as the result of negotiation between the British Columbia Medical Association and the Ministry of Health Services. The goal of the committee is to enhance the availability and stability of physician services in rural and remote areas of British Columbia by addressing some of the unique, demanding, and difficult circumstances faced by these physicians. The Rural Education Action Plan (REAP) is one of the many initiatives implemented by the committee to address the medical human resource needs of rural BC through strategies that will attract, train, recruit, and retain medical trainees and professionals. Eligible students, residents, and physicians can benefit from REAP activities and funded strategies that allow them to advanced their medical skills by serving in rural communities throughout BC.
www.bcmj.org/bc-rural-education-action-plan
Community Liaison for Integrating Study and Service Awarded Teaching and Learning Enhancement Funds
The Community Liaison for Integrating Study and Service (CLISS) is pleased to announce that its application, establishing a sustainable platform for ethical international service learning practices to the 2009 Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund competition (TLEF) was successful. Project implementation partners include Katherine Beaumont and Tamara Baldwin from the Go Global International Learning Program and Jerry Spiegel from the School of Population & Public Health, Center for International Health, Global Health, and the Liu Institute for Global Issues.
CLISS and its partners recognized a growing concern among some faculty and students at UBC around the conflicting motivations for international service-learning (ISL). Motivations range from a positive desire to promote social justice, equity, and to work with and for communities in under-resourced settings, as well as, and sometimes primarily to, fulfill a graduation requirement, enhance a resume, and opportunities for travel. Vulnerable communities then become a means to the students’ or institutions’ ends instead of serving first the community identified needs and empowerment interests. In response, we are developing a university wide dialogue series for students, faculty and organizations that host students, on the ethical issues around ISL. The dialogue series will identify themes and content to be used in the development of pre-ISL capacity building workshops that will focus on ISL projects in ways that do not compromise the ethics underlying ISL activities.
TLEF support will enable: 1) a constructive dialogue series at UBC for students and faculty to identify and respond to the ethical implications of international service learning, e.g. disruption of community, stereotyping, disrespectful behaviour, creation of dependence, practicing clinical skills without qualifications, etc.; 2) development of a capacity building curriculum for faculty and students that highlights ethical and social justice principles for effective ISL practice; 3) a web-based guide-book for highlighting best ISL practices using a social justice framework; and 4) planning for a model course using a social justice framed ISL component.
www.familymed.ubc.ca/shafikdharamsi/CLISS_Home.htm
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