The newsletter is back after a one-month hiatus to allow our production team to enjoy summer! I do hope that every Department member was able to benefit from some holidays for rest and relaxation.
In July, a delegation from Japan visited the Department of Family Medicine, with the goal of learning how to improve training in our discipline in their country. Currently, less than 3% of medical students choose family medicine for residency training in Japan, a fact which left me feeling very proud of the status of family medicine in Quebec!
On July 19, along with Associate Chair and Director of Decentralized Medical Education, Dr. Dominique Archambault, I visited the new family medicine clinic at the Lakeshore General Hospital, which is intended to become a university family medicine group in July 2025!
Left to right: Dominique Archambault and Shady Abid.
The 2024-25 academic year promises to be a special one as the Department launches its 50th anniversary celebrations! Please watch for notices of events throughout the year!
The celebratory events in the first half of this anniversary year are as follows:
- Indigenous Speakers Series: Giving Life to Joyce鈥檚 Principle in the Academy. Register here.
- McGill International Palliative Care Congress from October 15-18. . The Department will have a table at the reception on October 16.
- Department of Family Medicine Retreat on October 24-25. Register here.
- North American Primary Care Research Group reception of the 4 departments of family medicine in Quebec, in Quebec City on November 21. More info coming soon.
- McGill Annual Refresher Course for Family Physicians 鈥� November 25-27. . There will be a pre-event party on November 24 and a new Procedures Workshop on November 29.
Events coming in the second half of the academic year, from January to June 2025, will be announced over the coming months as details become available!
Other notable events in September include:
- Dr. Isabelle Leblanc will be presenting her work at the St. Mary鈥檚 Research Centre on September 5. . I highlight this event to underscore the importance of department members engaging in scholarly activity. As the new co-director of the McGill Practice-Based Research Network, Dr. Machelle Wilchesky, wrote in her introductory letter: 鈥�If we want more evidence-based practice, we need more practice-based evidence鈥� (citing Lawrence W. Green). The four departments of family medicine in Quebec have committed to trying to develop 20 new clinician scientists by 2030!
- On September 18, the Canadian Medical Association will be issuing a formal apology for the medical harms caused to First Nations, Inuit and M茅tis Peoples. I highlight this point as part of our Department鈥檚 commitment to honouring Joyce鈥檚 Principle, that was endorsed by our Executive Committee in September 2023.
As I write these lines, some department members are at the Association of Medical Education in Europe conference in Basel, Switzerland, presenting results of the research conducted in our department on a 3-year residency program, in the Outcomes of Training Project! We are very proud of this team!
Left to right: Julie Lane, Fanny Hersson-Edery, Ren茅e Barter and Keith Todd.
Wishing you all a smooth return to class,
Marion
