Commentary
Québec’s Emergency Room Overcrowding and Long Wait Times: Don’t Apply “Band-Aids”, Treat the Underlying Disease!
03 November 2017 | Svetlana PuzhkoA report by Québec Health and Welfare commissioner Robert Salois, released on June 2, 2016, stated the obvious: our province has “the worst emergency [department] (ED) wait times in the Western world”.
Small Town, Big Picture
03 November 2017 | Kevin Gorsky and Tyler SafranTime moves a bit slower in the countryside. The people are friendly, neighbours look out for one another, and denizens are grateful for the miles that separate them from the high-octane hustle of city life. When a city-slicker tries to integrate into this new world, certain dichotomies quickly become apparent.
The Role of Nurses in Primary Care Reform: “The Wheel and Hub of Health Care System
03 November 2017 | Nina MamishiThe McGill Primary Healthcare Symposium in 2016 highlighted the interdisciplinary accord on the challenges that the Québec primary healthcare system has chronically been facing. It was accentuated that all proposed reform models lacked a focus on the role of nurses, reflecting the solitary medical team dominance.
Poor primary care access in Quebec: Barriers and solutions to access during an acute episode
03 November 2017 | Claire Godard-Sebillotte, Mélanie Le Berre, Nadia Sourial, Isabelle VedelOne likely cause of Quebec’s poor primary care access is the practice of annual exams among the healthy population. This practice is widespread in North America; in 2009, annual exams were the second leading cause of medical consultation in Canada and in the United States (3)
Canada Versus the World: The Validity and Usefulness of Ranking Healthcare Systems by Country
03 November 2017 | Gabriel CartmanCanada is frequently defined by its healthcare system, which can be seen by Canadians as a source of both pride and frustration. Fans and critics of Canadian healthcare often compare our system to those of other countries in order to emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of our model.
Family Physician Hospitalists: the Good and the Bad
03 November 2017 | Satya Rashi KhareHospitalists are physicians whose primary professional focus is the general medical care of hospitalized patients without the responsibility for care post-discharge (1,2). In Canada, the majority of hospitalists are family physicians (3).
Bill 20: Improvement of Access to Healthcare or Mass Exodus?
03 November 2017 | Jamie DeMoreThe current version of Bill 20, formally titled, "An Act to enact the Act to promote access to family medicine and specialized medicine services and to amend various legislative provisions relating to assisted procreation", was passed on November 10, 2015 amidst great controversy.