Health e-News

Stay informed: University and Faculty COVID-19 news

As the situation continues to evolve, McGill University and the Faculty of Medicine will continue to provide updates to keep our community informed.
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Dr. Olivia Tse appointed Assistant Dean, Resident Affairs

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Olivia Tse to the role of Assistant Dean, Resident Affairs, Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Tse replaces Dr. Paola Fata who has held the position since 2017. We thank Dr. Fata for her contributions in this position over the past few years and very much appreciate her dedication and responsiveness to our residents, as well as her efforts to expand programs and supports to promote resident wellness.
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Student and Faculty Awards for Teaching Innovation

As part of our ongoing Proud to Teach campaign in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Office of the Vice-Dean, Education, has launched two new teaching awards: one for faculty members and one for students. The goal of these awards is to recognize individuals who have developed and implemented innovative teaching strategies that are learning- and learner-focused.
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Fall 2021: Rising to the next challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched us all. Some have been marked by profound loss. Many more are struggling with stress and hardship, or are concerned for people in their lives who are struggling. This has been challenging for everyone.
The University has since been able to continue to function safely and effectively because of the tireless collective efforts of our entire community, and the thoughtful, measured guidance of the Emergency Operations Centre and the Academic Planning Executive Committee.
We continue to face immediate, serious challenges, with Montreal remaining a red zone. Fall 2021 will still not look like Fall 2019—but, importantly, nor will it look like Fall 2020.
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Principal’s Prize for Public Engagement through Media

Over the past year, at a time when it has been the most needed, members of the McGill community have been unstintingly generous in their work with the media and the public. Whether it has been to share knowledge about COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, the US elections, or best-practices in distance education, to name just a few subjects, you have come forward in unprecedented numbers. This work is more important now than ever before.
Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier created the Principal’s Prize for Public Engagement through Media to recognize outstanding achievement among those who share their knowledge with the public and the media.
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Academic freedom and inclusiveness

Message from the Principal

As Principal of our University, my most important role is to protect and uphold the principles that are central to McGill University’s Mission: academic freedom, integrity, responsibility, equity, and inclusiveness. The value of each of these individual principles is evident. At times, however, they may appear to clash with one another. This has been apparent in recent events within Canadian institutions of higher education, which reveal a tension between academic freedom on one hand, and equity and inclusiveness on the other.
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The 2020 RI-MUHC Annual Report is now online!

It is our pleasure to present the online version of the 2020 Annual Report of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) with the theme “Driving Personalized Medicine.”
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In conversation about anti-Indigenous and anti-Black racism: Part 1

In the first part of this two-part series, we speak with Dr. Saleem Razack, Director of the Office of Social Accountability and Community Engagement and Dr. Kent Saylor, Director of the Indigenous Health Professions Program, about how recent tragedies have sparked appeals for institutional change. We also discuss important differences between Indigenous and Black histories and experiences, along with opportunities to work together.
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Innovative school clinic puts children at heart

The Heart & Hands Pediatric Clinic celebrated its first anniversary this past October, serving as Quebec’s only school-based pediatric clinic and Canada’s only resident-led school clinic.
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Why health care education needs anti-racist pedagogy

The School of Physical & Occupational Therapy (SPOT) recently launched a new series consisting of four scholarly presentations, called SPOT’s Scholars’ Rounds, to address the problems of racism and inequity in health care pedagogy.
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COVID-19 testing: Timing may be everything

We all know that 14 days of self-isolation is mandatory for healthcare workers and others following unprotected exposure to a confirmed case of COVID-19. But this infection control strategy can put a serious strain on workforce capacity. New research by MI4 (McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity) scientist Benjamin Smith, BSc’01, MCDM’05, MSc’12, is evaluating a shorter infection control strategy.
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Anorexia: McGill Study Reveals a New Neurobiological Mechanism That Paves the Way to a Treatment

A new biological mechanism that explains certain severe forms of anorexia has been identified by Dr. Mathieu Favier as part of the team led by Dr. Salah El Mestikawy, a researcher at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre. The study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows the essential role of the striatum. Among other functions, the striatum manages the creation of habits and of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.
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Colorectal cancer sleuth finds higher risk at lower age

Age 50 has long been recommended as the time to start screening for colorectal cancer because of the higher risk to those in the 50–54 category. But a study published early this year by Jordan Karlitz, MDCM’00, shows a steep CRC rate rise from the age of 49 to 50, putting that recommendation into question.
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Franco Carnevale is awarded the Badge of merit of the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec

On November 9, the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec awarded the 2020 Badge of merit to Franco Carnevale, nurse emeritus, for his contribution to the advancement of nursing. Congratulations Franco!
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Six early-career researchers receive leadership grants

Six McGill University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences researchers — Boris Bernhardt, Mark Brandon, Yasser Iturria-Medina, Jean-Francois Poulin, Jo Anne Stratton and Masha Prager-Khoutorsky — have received grants to support their work in the early-career stage, after being chosen from 150 talented applicants. Congratulations to all six!
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Medical education during a pandemic – The learner’s and teacher’s perspective

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic greatly altered normalcy with respect to daily life across the globe, and medical education was not spared, though the leadership and dedicated teachers across the School of Medicine at McGill moved swiftly to find alternative means of providing valuable learning opportunities for students. McGill medical student Jad Abi-Rafeh and McGill resident Dr. Tyler Safran, decided to, first, look at the impact on medical education from the student’s perspective, publishing a commentary on the topic in CMEJ, and subsequently collaborate on to develop a series of virtual lectures intended for students. The two recently took some time to speak with us and answer some questions about the various initiatives they have been leading over the past months, and the impact these have had.
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