DoM Monthly Newsletter – January/February 2024 | | TEACH THE TEACHERS 2024 *virtual* | | |
“Teaching When You are a Busy Clinician”
Plenary Speaker is Dr. Jonathan Sherbino from McMaster University
Small Group Session presenters are our very own Drs. Lori Connors, Andrew Moeller & Allen Tran
Date: March 5, 2024
Time: 12:30-4:30
Location: Virtual
REGISTER HERE
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Event: Grand Rounds-oral research presentations
Date: April 9
Time: 8:00-9:30am
Location: Virtual
Event: Research Day
Date: April 11
Time: 12:00-5:00
Location: McInnes Room, Dalhousie University
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DoM Annual Spring Party is Back!
We will start the day on June 18th with the virtual Awards Extravaganza and we will come together in the evening to celebrate at the Prince George!
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2024-25 Departmental Application Deadlines
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The Department of Medicine is now accepting faculty applications for academic promotion to be considered in the 2024-25 academic year. The departmental deadline for application submission is May 31, 2024. Information about the application process will be distributed to faculty with continuing academic appointments via email – please contact Heather.Fraser@nshealth.ca if any questions about the process or application document requirements.
More information about promotions at Dalhousie University can be found at: https://medicine.dal.ca/for-faculty-staff/promotion_tenure.html
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WELCOME
We welcome the following members to their new positions:
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Division Head Announcements
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Paige Moorhouse as the Division Head for Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Moorhouse has been interim Division Head since January 2021. Congratulations Paige!
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Trudy Taylor as Interim Division Head, Rheumatology as of January 1, 2024. Congratulations Trudy!
Staff Announcements
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Enna Dionovic-Jardinero, Administrative Assistant, will be joining Hematology on April 2, 2024
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Simrat Singh, Administrative Assistant, joined the Division of Cardiology-EP team permanently January 19, 2024
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Breanna Simmons joined the Division of Cardiology as the Education Program Assistant on February 12, 2024
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Dr. Sonya Swift joins the Division of Palliative Medicine effective January 1 (previously in a locum position)
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Dr. Adil Bata joined the Division of General Internal Medicine in a locum from January 1-February 18
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Dr. Vadim Iablokov joins the Division of Digestive Care and Endoscopy in a locum position from January 1-June 30
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Dr. Rob Horton joined the Division of Palliative Medicine in a locum position from January 3-7
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Dr. Pierre Landry joined the Division of General Internal Medicine in a locum position from January 8-February 11
- Dr. Colin van Zoost joined the Division of General Internal Medicine in a locum from January 8-February 11
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Hiren Daiya joined our team in January as Project Manager. Hiren recently completed his MBA at McMaster University and also has a BSc in Physiotherapy and a Graduate Diploma in Healthcare Administration. Prior to completing his MBA, Hiren directed a large digital transformation EHR project at Advanced Orthopedic Centre in Mumbai, India. We are excited to have his project management expertise to support our work including the Clinical Activity Project, Implementation of the Departmental Review Recommendations, as well as the Strategic Plan.
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Theresa Steele is our new Administrative Coordinator and will be supporting many different workflows from our central admin team including Divisional Surveys and Searches, events management, and committee support. Theresa has her Bachelor of Social Work and has found her passion in the administrative support field. She has already proven to be flexible and adaptable in our busy environment.
New Internal Medicine Chief-Lead Residents (Jan-Dec 2024)
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Halifax Co-Chief-Lead Residents: Dr. Xander Willms & Dr. Sanjana Sudershan
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Halifax MTU Chief-Lead: Dr. Jordana Compagnone
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Saint John Chief-Lead Resident: Dr. John Shadarevian
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Saint John MTU Chief-Lead: Dr. Suraj Mahida
DoM Continuing Professional Development Committee Chair
We welcome Dr. Meredith Chiasson as Chair, DoM Continuing Professional Development Committee effective January 1, 2024. We'd like to thank Dr. Trudy Taylor for her unwavering commitment to this endeavour over the past 7 years.
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Sharon Dunn retired from the Division of Cardiology after 19 years on January 31, 2024. Sharon began her journey with the Department of Medicine as a Secretary D in Cardiology in June 2005 working for Dr. Koilpillai and Dr. Bata and has been a reliable and hardworking employee during her long career in healthcare. Sharon’s dedication to the physicians she works for and her exemplary focus on patient care has set a standard of excellence for our administrative staff. Always willing to go the extra mile, Sharon willingly takes on additional roles and extra work to help her colleagues and further her knowledge. In September 2017, Sharon moved into the Secretary E role as the Education Coordinator where she continued to provide support for our residents and Program Director. It was no surprise that in June 2020, Sharon was awarded the DoM Administrative Assistant Award – this award recognizes our staff who have gone above and beyond to improve the workplace. Most recently in September 2023, Sharon moved into the Team Lead role while maintaining the education program with only months to retirement. During Sharon’s short time in this role, she has helped our admin team through a very challenging time with recruitment. Her knowledge of the issues needing attention and her willingness to help in all areas contributed to the overall success of the admin team. In her role as Team Lead, Sharon has been a leader, mentor, confidant, and a friend to many of us and she will be dearly missed.
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"Mark was quite simply a marvelous physician and was much loved by his patients."
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It is with deep sadness that we announce that Dr. Robert (Mark) Sadler, recently retired from the Division of Neurology, died after a brief illness on December 26, 2023. He was 70.
Mark was born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick. He graduated from Dalhousie University Medical School in 1977 and completed a Neurology residency and Epilepsy fellowship at the University of Western Ontario. He practiced in St. John’s, Newfoundland, for several years - returning to Halifax in 1988 when he joined the Division of Neurology.
Mark was quite simply a marvelous physician and was much loved by his patients. He was a national authority in the diagnosis and management of epilepsy, and a tireless advocate for improving patient care. For decades, Mark was the leading light in epilepsy care in Atlantic Canada. He was pivotal in establishing a state of the art 4-bed Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at the QEII, and the only comprehensive epilepsy surgical programme in Atlantic Canada.
Mark was heavily involved in teaching throughout his career and served as the Neurology Program Director from 1995-2001. During his nearly 40-year career, he trained generations of neurology residents, medical students, and EEG technologists. To his trainees, he was an engaging teacher, a steadfast mentor, and to many over time, a great friend. He inspired several residents to follow him into the field of epilepsy, and those trainees now work across Canada, the United States, and overseas.
Mark served terms as President for the Canadian League Against Epilepsy, Chief Examiner for the Canadian Society of Clinical Neurophysiologists EEG Examination, and Vice-President for Epilepsy Canada.
All who followed in his footsteps fondly remember his humility, curiosity, humour, wealth of knowledge, professionalism, and the sheer joy he experienced from helping people with epilepsy. As one of his former residents put it, Mark exemplified being “interesting and interested” at all times. His EEG reading sessions in particular were a joy for residents, who would be regaled with topics spanning epilepsy, neurophysiology, World War I history, sports (especially rugby), politics, literature, music (especially the Rolling Stones), and everything in between. Mark showed how the work could be simultaneously serious and genuinely fun.
Mark will be greatly missed. During his illness, a proposal was put forth to develop “The R. Mark Sadler Fellowship in Clinical Epilepsy and Neurophysiology”. This project (which Mark very much supported) has a goal to raise sufficient funds to support an endowed fellowship here at Dalhousie. The Division of Neurology can think of no better tribute!
If you are interested in making a contribution to this important work, please access this link.
Read his full obituary here.
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Dr. Carl Abbott Obituary
Sincere condolences to Dr. Abbott's family, friends and colleagues.
He was a valued member of the DoM in the Division of Endocrinology for 41 years! Dr. Abbott received his MD from Dalhousie in 1959, joined the DoM in 1970 after completing IM training at Dalhousie and Research Fellowships at Toronto General Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
He embodied all that a clinical academic physician should be and do. He was also an accomplished painter and writer and loved classical music. The Department has made a donation in his memory to the Scotia Festival of Music.
Read his full obituary here.
| | | To help further the work of the strategic plan, we are focusing on strengthening our toolkit to improve culture and conflict in our workplace. Content submitted by Diane LeBlanc, Basia Solarz and Brennan Dempsey. | | |
Medical Practice and Medical Leadership
The following is adapted from Physician Leadership: The Eleven Skills Every Doctor Needs to be an Effective Leader by Karen J. Nichols, DO.
Karen Nichols argues that professional medical training does not necessarily provide robust leadership skills, and sometimes the two disciplines are in tension. Take decision making, for example. Physicians are trained to make good decisions for and with their patients. With practice, a physician can progress through a decision tree in seconds and quickly produce a differential diagnosis. In leadership situations this can be counterproductive; a single skipped step can be very counterproductive, especially without training and experience in designing decision-making processes. A physician leader must understand the factors that can impede decision making and sabotage implementation and take steps to avoid these issues.
Dr. Nichols argues that similar issues arise around the act of negotiation. Physicians advocate for what is best for their patients, and don’t usually engage in negotiations to secure second-best treatment. Leaders face a very different dynamic. As Nichols writes, “The well-intentioned physician leader who demands what is “right” and refuses to negotiate will lose every time”. Another related issue is meeting dynamics. Nichols suggests that meetings aren’t usually a part of the physician-patient interaction. By contrast, a leader’s failure to understand meeting dynamics is a major roadblock to progress and achievement.
Nichols identifies one place where there is no difference between a physician’s and leader’s approach: an individual’s character. As she puts it, “there is only one standard for character. Honorable and ethical, every day in every way.” In many ways, the best approaches to being a physician do apply to leadership, but it is vital to note the areas where this is not the case.
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UPDATED POLICY:
Provision of Publicly Funded Virtual Health Services Policy
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The policy reinforces the government’s support of publicly funded virtual health services as a complement to in-person care.
Notable updates
- Physicians may now use their best judgment to determine when an in-person and/or virtual appointment is most appropriate. The requirement that a majority of services must be delivered in-person has been removed from the policy.
- Note: Family physicians practising under the Longitudinal Family Medicine (LFM) model continue to be obliged to provide a majority of services in person as contracted under that model.
- Physicians may deliver care to their patients when the patient is out of the province. The requirement that the patient must be in Nova Scotia at the time of receiving a virtual service has been removed.
- Physicians may provide virtual services when they are out of Nova Scotia; however, they must be able to provide follow-up in-person care as required within a reasonable time. The requirement that the provider must be in Nova Scotia has been removed.
- Physicians may now bill a virtual visit and an in-person visit on the same issue.
Maple provisions
- Private user–paid services: Services provided to Nova Scotians by a Maple provider as a private service fall outside of this policy.
- Public paid services: Maple providers offering services to Nova Scotians must have a contractual arrangement with Nova Scotia Health and must provide in-person follow-up visits.
Unchanged provisions
- The rate of pay for virtual services delivered by physicians remains at parity with in-person services.
- Walk-in clinics continue to be permitted to use virtual care.
More information
For more information, read the full policy online: Provision of Publicly Funded Virtual Health Services.
As always, Doctors Nova Scotia’s E-health Advisors are available to answer questions and provide guidance:
Jyllian Cress
E-health policy advisor
902-830-2474
jyllian.cress@doctorsns.com
Brent Andrews
E-health advisor
902-225-8577
brent.andrews@doctorsns.com
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Congratulations to Drs. John Sapp, Ratika Parkash & resident Ahmed Mokhtar on their recent abstract publication and editorial "Long-Term Outcomes of Resynchronization-Defibrillation for Heart Failure" in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Athena Christie, Administrative Assistant, Geriatric Medicine, has been recognized for her dedication to go above and beyond delivering exceptional care and support to the division every day.
“Athena consistently goes above and beyond to help all of her assigned (and unassigned) Geriatric physicians and their patients, the clinical clerks, and the Geriatric administrative team members. She shares a wealth of knowledge and insight into processes and resources we use. She is a shining example of professionalism in our workplace- enthusiastically present, ever helpful, a clear and concise communicator, always has a positive attitude, is a critical thinker and problem solver, and she consistently strives to do the best job possible, whatever the task.” – Diane Goodwin
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Danielle Stone, Division Assistant, Dermatology, has been recognized for her work ethic and leadership.
“Since coming to the Dermatology Division at the end of August 2023, Danielle has been instrumental in streamlining processes in booking of patients, organization of clinics and clinic spaces and providing support for other members of the division including other members of the booking and administrative teams, nurses, medical students, residents and staff dermatologists; all of which have been instrumental in better patient care for the division of dermatology. She is able to adapt quickly to any number of tasks given to her by the various staff that she operates under and has shown great leadership with her positive attitude and tireless work ethic. She has gone above and beyond the call of duty and her job description as the go-to person in the division; very commendable for someone who has only started in the division 4 months ago. It's time to publicly sing the praises of this unsung hero.”- Michael MacGillivary
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Have you got an unsung hero on your team?
The Unsung Heroes Spotlight Series provides an opportunity to enhance our culture by recognizing and encouraging NSH team members who go above and beyond their roles – particularly those who’s exceptional work often goes unnoticed. Please encourage your team and fellow leaders to support this initiative by nominating others at NSH who demonstrate the same excellence that Diane and Michael saw in Athena and Danielle by filling out an Unsung Heroes nomination form.
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