February 2023 Newsletter

    • Chair's Message
      Why Choose Family Medicine? It seems right now that you can’t turn on the TV or radio without hearing a story about the primary care crisis and shortage of family physicians across the region, province, and nation. For those more technically inclined, you can read the same things as you scroll your social media. With all the “bad news” surrounding family medicine right now, why would you want to be a family doctor? The long hours, the complex patients, the paperwork… it’s no wonder applicants to family medicine residency have dropped in the past few years.

    • Undergraduate Report
      What are the medical students up to? Meds 2026: By now, all students will have been paired with a family physician for their Longitudinal Clinical Experience and identified a supervisor for the Research Project components of Experiential Learning. Meds 2025: The class received their Clerkship rotation schedules. Michele Vanderspank, Undergraduate Program Coordinator for FM, gave a presentation to the class, along with Distributed Education, outlining their options for FM Clerkship next year.

    • Postgraduate Report
      CaRMS interviews were hosted once again in a virtual format in 2023 and were a great success. This is always an exciting time of year where we have an opportunity to show our enthusiasm and showcase our residency training program.  As a department, we interviewed at total of 531 (CMG/USMG/IMG) applicants – many excellent candidates. All of this was done virtually through Zoom and the postgraduate team would like to extend a sincere thank you to all staff, faculty, and residents who participated in the process. Your participation is essential to the recruitment process and we could not do it without you. Match day is March 22, 2023.

    • Graduate Report
      Congratulations to Dr. Nisha Arora on successfully defending her MClSc thesis titled “The Attainment of Obstetrical Competency in Postgraduate Family Medicine Training: A Qualitative Study” on February 24.

    • Research Report
      Do you work with a Registered Nurse? Dr. Maria Mathews and team are looking for family physicians and registered nurses who work together to take part in qualitative interviews. Please contact Leslie.Meredith@schulich.uwo.ca for more information.

    • In the Media
      A study by Western researchers that found return of service contracts adds significant stress to international medical graduates was featured with comments from Schulich Medicine & Dentistry professor Maria Mathews.

    • Doctor shortage? Meet 3 young people who want to practice family medicine in Ontario
      Laura Caracas, Neil Sengupta, Montana Hackett are students at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. They each want to practice family medicine.

    • We Want Your Feedback
      The Department of Family Medicine has been working on a new mission, vision, and strategic priorities since the fall of 2022 that will guide us for the next five years. The plan is almost finalized and it’s time to engage a broader range of stakeholders including staff, adjunct faculty, residents, students and other community partners.

    • Celebrating Faculty Achievements
      Dr. Kevin Pottie will be leading the Health Equity Component of the recently announced Public Health Agency of Canada Post COVID-19 condition guidelines. Dr. Sonja Reichert has recently achieved a Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM).  This certification allows her to give expertise on obesity medicine to her patients. Congratulations to both Dr. Pottie and Dr. Reichert.

    • Ontario government releases provincial plan, “Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care"
      The recent release of the Ontario government’s provincial plan, “Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care” is a step in the right direction. As a department, we are pleased to read the ambitious plan, and heartened to see that our government supports family physicians as the foundation of our province's health care system. This is a plan that aims to put patients first, while recognizing the significant human and infrastructure investments we need. 

    • Call for Nominations
      Do you know a deserving colleague who you'd like to recognize for their contributions? Consider nominating them for an Award of Excellence to celebrate their achievements. The Awards of Excellence honour the outstanding contributions of faculty and staff across the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. 

    • Apply or nominate an outstanding resident for an award
      The Department of Family Medicine Resident Awards for 2023 are now posted on the Department's website. If you wish to nominate yourself for any of the awards, or to nominate another resident, please visit the website for details on eligibility and nomination requirements. All nomination letters and forms (where necessary) must be received by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 19, 2023. 

    • CIHR transitions in care funding
      How can we improve health care for Canadians experiencing “transitions in care” to ensure they don’t fall through the cracks as they move through the health care system? That’s the question two Western researchers are aiming to answer, with the support of nearly $1.5 million in federal funding announced today at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.