Discussions

Apparently, the Ministry of Health (MOH) sends out flu vaccine directly to pharmacies across Ontario. Individual pharmacists have vaccine shortly after the MOH release. Every year, doctors complain, “Why do all the pharmacies have flu vaccine and we have none?”

I can remember back in 1986, as a first-year medical student, walking down the hallway of Memorial University of Newfoundland and stopping to look at the announcement board.There it was – a paper flyer asking “Are you a female medical student?” Yes, I was! “Are you in financial need?” Yes, I was! “Sign up for FMWC and apply for a $1,000 scholarship.” So I did. And I got the scholarship.

During SARS, I was frustrated with a patient who didn't tell the truth to the triage nurse at the door and endangered herself, myself and all those in the clinic at that time. I tried to understand her fears and even kept in touch with her for the next few weeks to make sure she got better.

The decision noted that having focused solely on the critical portions of the nurse’s post, the discipline committee “failed to recognize that her comments were not only both critical and laudatory but were self-evidently intended to contribute to public awareness and public discourse."

Family medicine is in a state of crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic which, eight months in, has totally disrupted primary care physicians’ ability to provide face-to-face, quality care. Things are so bad that while governments are urging everyone to get a flu shot to avoid a “twindemic” many have expressed their confusion about finding out where to get that shot, just days away from the time when people typically start getting them.

The goal here is not to admonish Canada’s most revered medical organizations, but rather to illustrate the historic and longstanding dearth of Black representation in Canadian medical leadership. Over the past few years, calls to address barriers to achieving diversity in the Canadian health workforce have been gaining momentum. Diversity exists along a broad spectrum that includes gender, socioeconomic, linguistic, and racial subsets, to mention a few. Acknowledging that there exist many populations that are also underrepresented in the highest echelons of Canadian medical leadership, this article speaks specifically to the paucity of Black Canadians in formal physician leadership roles while proposing four key recommendations for addressing this diversity gap.

Musings on the misheard: How the tangled mess of language can send patients heading to the wrong physician.

As flu-shot season approaches and more pharmacies take on COVID-19 testing, pharmacists will likely get busier and more stressed than ever. Knowing how to manage your time well will help overcome the stress associated with the increased workload.