CMA debate on end-of-life care goes virtual
By Pat Rich May 16, 2014 The Canadian Medical Association’s national dialogue on end-of-life care went virtual earlier this week, as CMA President Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti led a wide-ranging online discussion. Hosted on the Maclean’s magazine website, the one-hour chat covered a number of topics and saw participants ask many questions and express their […]
E-cigarettes facing first rules in US
E-cigarettes facing first rules in US By Pat Rich May 21, 2014 Change appears to be on the horizon for Americans who use new tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes. Use of the products, which has been growing quickly and totals about $2 billion in annual sales south of the border, is currently unregulated in […]
Medical marijuana: New rules and a ‘ton of confusion’
Physicians reluctant to become gatekeepers for those who want legal access to pot Medical marijuana users across Canada can be forgiven for being confused right now. First, they thought that with the new medical marijuana regime that comes into effect tomorrow, they would lose their ability to grow their own legal pot at home and […]
Physician-assisted death is going to become legal’: Canada’s right-to-die debate almost over, doctors say
It’s time to move beyond the drawn out “yes” or “no” arguments over doctor-assisted death and prepare for a future where sick patients would be granted the freedom to choose when and how they die, doctors who specialize in caring for the terminally ill argue in Canada’s leading medical journal. http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/04/07/physician-assisted-death-is-going-to-become-legal-canadas-right-to-die-debate-almost-over-doctors-say/
Canadian patients wait longest to see family doctors
Access to after-hours care, emergency department waits vary between provinces, raise questions CBC News Canada ranks last among 11 OECD countries in a new survey in terms of how quickly people can get in to see their regular family physicians, showing “where a person lives does matter,” says the Health Council of Canada. The finding […]
Summit tackles MD employment issues, seeks national response
Canada’s major medical organizations have committed to ongoing efforts to solve the unemployment and underemployment problems facing some newly trained physicians, particularly in hospital-based specialties such as orthopedic surgery. The commitment was contained in a joint statement issued following the National Physician Employment Summit, a mid-February gathering in Ottawa that attracted more than 100 representatives […]
Opinion: Shoddy Canadian research is putting women’s lives at risk
Regular mammography screenings detect cancer, despite what flawed study reported… BY PAULA GORDON, SPECIAL TO THE VANCOUVER SUN FEBRUARY 13, 2014 Regular screening mammograms find cancers earlier and save lives. For many women, this is conventional wisdom, as well it should be; every credible scientific study supports screening. All, that is, except one, a poorly designed, […]
A doctor planning a move to Canada? Planning to hire a foreign doctor? BEWARE!!!
Employers recruiting foreign physicians are finding that ignorance of changing Canadian government regulations can be a very costly mistake – and a heartbreaker for foreign doctors and their families…. The increasing complexity associated with the pathways that foreign physicians must follow to legally start work in Canada is now littered with veritable regulatory landmines. Stringent […]
MDs avoiding social media in droves: poll
The majority of Canadian physicians are avoiding the use of social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook for professional purposes because they anticipate too many pitfalls and too few benefits, a new CMA poll shows. The results, from a recent survey involving the CMA’s ePanel, offer a detailed assessment of MDs’ use of social […]
How much do you make? Nova Scotia doctors want to know
Pilot project hopes to help patients with their finances Healthcare workers in Nova Scotia may soon be asking patients how much money they earn so doctors can point low-income patients towards support. The practice of linking poverty and health is already happening in Ontario and Manitoba. “Patients tell us really personal things all the time. […]
