Chair's Message
As we publish our last newsletter of the year and approach the holiday season, I want to reflect on the year that has been – and what a year 2022 was.
It seems it was just yesterday that I wrote my first Chair’s message in February after becoming the 5th Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. At the time, although we were feeling tired and burnt out from weathering two years of pandemic, there was some hope and optimism looking into spring. Case counts were declining, hospitalizations and deaths were decreasing and, maybe, there was some return to normal on the horizon. Public health restrictions were relaxing. Our children (and ourselves!) were returning to extracurricular activities. Travel restrictions were starting to ease, and families were re-uniting.
As the spring progressed, there were many positive and encouraging moments that occurred. Compared to some of our peers across the country, we had a relatively successful CaRMS match. More than 50 per cent of medical students from Schulich chose to enter family medicine – the highest in several years and against the trend in the rest of the country. We celebrated faculty achievements with Drs. Rice, Vandewalle and Vingilis receiving Schulich Awards of Excellence for their hard work and dedication to teaching. But there was also tragedy with the sudden passing of our colleague, friend, and mentor Dr. John Sangster in a car accident in March. It was a shocking and devastating loss for so many.
Throughout this period, and leading into the summer, we experienced increasing clinical volumes as patients started to return to catch-up on preventive screening, diabetic check-ups, immunizations, and other care that had been left behind during the pandemic. I know many of you were able to get away for vacation time over this summer – perhaps the first time in a few years, which was desperately needed and well deserved. However, the patients just seemed to keep coming. Instead of a relative decline, respiratory illness activity seemed to start in the summer and clinics continued to be as busy as ever.
As we moved into the fall, we saw the successful in-person re-launch of the McWhinney Lecture delivered by Dr. Lawrence Loh, the new executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Our Graduate studies program once again hosted physicians from across the country, and the world, for the two-week on-site portion of the program. Our pre-clerkship students started to attend our clinics as a part of their primary care based Longitudinal Clinical Experience along side our clerkship and elective students.
In October, the full-time faculty attended a retreat to design and plan our strategic directions for the next five years. This is exciting work that I am eager to share early in the new year.
In parallel to these exciting events, we have seen our health care system come under more and more strain. The system, and our patients, are looking to us to work harder and longer. The combined effects of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV have clogged emergency departments, hospitals, and our offices. Across the system we are dealing with human resource shortages affecting our ability to provide care. Wait lists for diagnostics and specialists only seem to be growing. Almost unexpectedly, it continues to be a challenging time working in the health care system as a family physician. Somehow this is far from the return to normal I was imaging in the spring.
Despite the challenges, I continue to see people stepping up and supporting each other. This is so important. We are in this together and will get through this together. For me, looking ahead to the winter does not bring optimism for how patients and providers will experience the health care system. It will be challenging, but we will do it. I encourage you to stay connected with your colleagues over the next few months. Check-in on them. Listen to them and provide a supportive ear when they need it. I also ask you to take care of yourself. Reach out to a trusted colleague, a friend, or your family after “one of those days.” Please try to find some time over the holiday season to rest and recharge. You deserve it.
To close, I want to wish you the very best over the coming season as 2022 ends. Thank you for everything you do to support clinical care, education, research, and most importantly, each other. Notwithstanding the challenges we faced, we had many successes in 2022. Looking forward, although the year may start with ongoing challenges, I hold optimism and hope for far better 2023.
Your feedback and comments are always appreciated. You can reach me at smckay28@uwo.ca or @FMChairChief on Twitter.
