The Pulse
Winter 2012
Creating a revolving door...and leaving some of us outside it
T
he recent news of the PEI government’s plan to implement a mandatory return of service from those Islanders who fill seats at MUN has taken many Island students by surprise. Not only does the policy appear crude and coercive, it sells PEI short as a great place to someday live and work, implying that the only way to make health care professionals stay is mandate it. The greatest concerns not only lie in the fact that perhaps this violates a human right to practice in a given specialty and location of one’s choice, but that it leaves other students who actually may want to return to practice feeling the cold shoulder. The bottom line is that a strategy that may guarantee short-term return will create a revolving door of high turnover and perhaps unhappy physicians working in underserved areas of PEI. Although the public eye sees PEI as having a severe shortage of physicians and a lack of availability of timely access and services, especially in rural areas, the message being received by students from government officials is discrepant to this. With the frequent closure of emergency rooms, messages of heavy workloads, and long hours forcing physicians away, it is hard to deny that the system needs reorganization and more bodies. However, the story remains grim for many students looking for support in order to someday return to help fill the void in under-serviced areas of the Island.
choice to return to the locations of greatest need at their own free will. If the PEI government decides that the only way to recruit and retain physicians to meet the healthcare demands of Islanders is through coercion, then perhaps it is time to look at the reasons incoming physicians choose not to stay. In terms of arguments made by PEI politicians regarding a return on investment, this is only a clever distraction. The PEI government highly subsidizes university education of all types, not just medicine. Look at the provincial contributions to UPEI as a whole. When it comes to studying medicine we must leave the province and to allow for this, seats have been allocated and subsidized. In what other vocation do we control where a student must work after graduation? As previously pointed out, a more effective way to increase physician return to the Island would be to make it a more attractive system to work in. So much for the ‘gentle’ island!
In congruence with the CFMS position on mandatory return of service, these strategies do not promote retention, but force those who may not freely choose to practice in a given specialty or location to fill a gap before fleeing to what they had their initial ideas set on. The logistics of the plan would only meet the needs through dictation of the specialty and pre-determined regions to practice in order to fit the demands of the under-serviced areas upon licensure. A better investment with a more sustainable return would focus on incentives Written by PEI medical students: Joanne Reid, that promote recruitment and retention in under- Mitchell Drake, Jess Zambonin serviced areas, directed towards students who are into the medical program and have an idea of the specialty or area that they would someday like to practice in. This would thereby promote a free
Join us March 3 for a family sleigh ride. RSVP to heather@mspei.org for details.
2 THE PULSE - FALL 2011 Medical Society of PEI
MARK YOUR
CALENDAR Be sure to join us for these upcoming member events!
BMJ Online MSPEI is pleased to announce,
24/7
continuously
updated
CME resource for fast and easy access to reliable, up-to-date information diagnosis
when and
making
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Location
Time
MAR 3
Family Sleigh Ride
An annual event popular with members of all ages! Dress warm.
RSVP for details heather@ mspei.org
2:00 PM
APRIL
CLINICAL DAY TBA
To be annouced
TBA
TBA
MAY 1 TO 12
RIGHT BRAIN RELEASED - ART SHOW
Third Annual Member Art show at The Guild, Charlottetown.
RODD MILL RIVER RESORT
ALL DAY
JUNE 23
STUDENT BURSARY GOLF TOURNAMENT
CME/Golf & Fun Night - more details to come
RODD MILL RIVER RESORT
Mark your calendar today!
RODD MILL RIVER RESORT
SEPT 8 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF MSPEI
F
1
Information
will fund physician access to BMJ Best Practice online as a
M
Date Event
in partnership with Health PEI, a new member benefit. MSPEI
DECEMBER S
ALL DAY
treatment
decisions . BMJ online will be available as an icon on hospital computers as well as in the offices. This free resource is an added benefit to complement other MSPEI CME programs.
Right Brain Released announced for May 1-12, 2012 The Medical Society proudly announces the third annual Right Brain Released Art Show. Last year’s
Additional
benefits
to
robustly creative artists presented their many talents in the visual arts genre at The Guild Gallery, down-
membership with The Medical
town Charlottetown. This year we are encouraging you to get an early start on your art piece(s) to ensure
Society of Prince Edward Island
inclusion in this richly received exhibition.
include:
Maternity/Parental
Benefits;
OMA
Insurance
The MSPEI artistic membership is invited to submit their original works of art to the 2012 Right
Services; MD Financial Services;
Brain Released. Original works such as photography, paintings, ceramics, drawings, fabric or textile art,
CMPA
pottery, jewellery, sculpture, and multi-media will be accepted – notice of date for submissions will be
Rebate
Program;
Physician Support; and health
forthcoming.
benefits via Great West Life. Organized by Dr. Jenni Zelin, Dr. Jen Ashby, and MSPEI staffer, Heather Mullen, 2012 Right Brain Released will highlight the many individual perspectives of our Island physicians, residents and medical students. Stay tuned for more exciting details.
Medical Society of PEI THE PULSE - FALL 2011 3
Presents a Day Long Symposium:
Introduction to Davanloo’s IS-TDP: A Powerful Technique to Deal with Unconscious Guilt Open to professionals and students of all disciplines treating clients with neurotic illness Place: The Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax, Nova Scotia Date and Time: Saturday March 3, 2012: 9 am to 4 pm Objectives: Using vignettes from videotaped patient interviews, the symposium will: • Review basic metapsychology • Illustrate the central dynamic sequence There will a focus on: • Identifying neurobiological pathways • Achieving an affective response • Passage of unconscious guilt Presenting Faculty: Dr. Miroslaw Bilski-Piotrowski, Dr. Katharine Black, Dr. Douglas Carmody, Dr. Jody Clarke, Dr. Christopher Stewart Registration Fee: $100 for practitioners and $50 for students To Register: Please contact the office of Dr. Douglas Carmody Tel.: 902-315-0814 Fax.: 902-432-8168 E-mail: decarmody@eastlink.ca 475 Granville Street, Summerside Medical Centre, Summerside, PEI, C1N 3N9
This event is an accredited group learning activity under Section 1 as defined by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada for the Maintenance of Certification Program.
4 THE PULSE - FALL 2011 Medical Society of PEI
Photo by Dr. Shabbir Amanullah
A bargain! As humans we love a good
Then there was the auto rick-
bargain/deal, whether it’s the
shaw, which although relative-
markets of Delhi or the high
ly convenient, was expensive
streets of New York. People
on a residents pay.
line up outside stores in the
Once in town, and not on
middle of winter to get things
your own vehicle, the options
at a discounted price. Some
to move around are the motor-
do so out of economic hardship, others to get
pick up essentials. Getting to town depended on; •Owning a vehicle/ or
access to a friend’s •Riding on 3 wheels (fa-
mously known as the auto rickshaw)
driver tries to weave through chaos. To the rich in their flashy
those who insist it is too much and bargain. Why not twelve? Tired from all the peddling, the poor man has only one option, to plead. In the dead of winter all he has is a towel across his chest and a thin shirt.”Make
Would we dare bargain that way with salesmen at
for dinner and also to
viduals on the rickshaw, and the
most people give, there are
rickshaw drivers and the man in the market.
we often went to town
Often, there are up to 4-5 indi-
While fifteen rupees is what
fortunate, like fruit vendors,
While studying at of Psychiatry In India,
cost about Rs 15.00.
the end of the trip.
“We look for a deal especially from those far less
a ‘bargain’. the Central Institute
the other would in the 90’s have
•Local bus service
The local buses were generally crowded, dirty and in the peak of summer unbearable.
cars, the cycle rickshaws are
vironment friendly cycle rick-
nothing but an annoyance and
shaw. No emissions bar perspi-
if there is an accident, they may
ration and it’s a popular option.
get assaulted for ‘being in the
Powered by the ‘driver’ who
way’.
is often amongst the poorest,
Imagine navigating through
they feel blessed if they can put
the pot holes, larger Lorries,
one meal a day on the table
animals, and of course the hun-
for their families. A ride from
dreds of people. All that pales in
one end of the ‘high street’ to
comparison to what happens at
he accepts. We look for a deal es-
Harrods, Mercedes or the Rolex dealer?” ized auto rickshaw or the en-
it thirteen”. Reluctantly
pecially from those far less fortunate, like fruit vendors, rickshaw drivers and the man in the market. Would we dare bargain that way with salesmen at Harrods, Mercedes or the Rolex dealer?. One wonders if it is a real ‘deal’.
Written by Dr. Shabbir Amanullah Charlottetown Psychiatrist
Medical Society of PEI THE PULSE - FALL 2011 5
PEI INTRODUCES THE OTTAWA MODEL Nicotine Replacement Therapy: One size does NOT fit all.
For
more
background
on NRT research we will be sending you an email shortly entitled “PDF’s
There may be nothing new in of appropriate prescribing
smokers
under
18
nicotine replacement therapy of NRTs. The Ottawa Model
of
may
safely
(NRT)
this
product
choices. follows high NRT dosing
age,
cessation
years use
product.
However, the ‘how’ and ‘to and for potentially longer on
Despite recent media reports
modification. patients’ levels of addiction.
that NRT therapy may not
receive this please contact
Recent study of NRT would Every patient is assessed
be the answer to tobacco
heather@mspei.org. The
dictate that both the medical and a dosage customized
cessation, evidence strongly
following PDF’s will be
community and pharmacy to their pattern of smoking
supports their use when
attached:
should
combined with counselling.
“Systematic approaches
the current evidence and
The
to smoking cessation in
tailor
demonstrating
the cardiac setting”
counselling of NRT.
for NRT’s” if you do not
whom’ you prescribe NRT durations may
require
be
cognizant
their
dependent
of and nicotine dependence.
prescribing/ According to the Ottawa Such Model (www.ottawa model.
Ottawa
patients
who
Model that
is
many
previously
changes could translate into ca), NRT labelling is outdated.
failed quit attempts using
“Pharmacotherapy
an increase in successful Research initially necessary
NRT were, more often than
Summary
the
quit attempts for patients. for approval to sell nicotine
not, under prescribed and
Nicotine
replacement therapies ceased
Withdrawal and Nicotine
As of January 2012, the once the developers of NRT
If your patient is attempting
Dependence”
Queen Elizabeth Hospital and products got their green
cessation without success,
Prince County Hospital have light. The recommendations
continue to encourage them.
adopted the “Ottawa Model,” currently on NRT products
Patients are most likely to
a systematic approach to are now at least 30 years old.
succeed when approached
helping patients quit smoking The latest research shows
in a nonjudgmental way and
during their hospital stay and that those recommendations
consistently reminded that
following
from may be quite inadequate
‘quitting is the single most
the hospital. This approach depending on a smoker’s
important thing you can do
to smoking cessation and level of addiction. In addition,
for your health,’.... that, and a
how
fair patients previously excluded
combination of adequately
following discharge is to a from using NRT, for example,
prescribed pharmacotherapy
high degree dependent on those
and counselling.
Treatment
for of
“Higher dosage nicotine patches increase one-year smoking cessation rates: results from the European CEASE trial” “Rethinking
Stop-
Smoking
Medications:
Treatment
Myths
Medical Realities”
and
your
discharge
patients
with
cardiovascular
your support and knowledge disease, pregnant women,
received
no
counselling.
6 THE PULSE - FALL 2011 Medical Society of PEI
5th Annual Turkey Dinner Drive
Once again, because of the generosity of Island physicians, and the tireless zeal of “Chief Turkey Collector,” Dr. Charles Trainor, by December 16, 2011, $12,000.00 had been collected from Island physicians and MSPEI staff in support of the island-wide, Annual CBC Turkey Drive. Such generosity translated into 300 turkey dinners - including vegetables and cranberry sauce - for Island families who would have otherwise done without this wonderful holiday tradition. And we all know the holiday is just not the same without.
PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT
UPDATE
OCTOBER 2011 - JANUARY 2012
Sheila MacLean, RPR Physician Recruitment Coordinator Recruitment and Retention Secretariat Department of Health and Wellness.,
New Physicians DR. AARON SIBLEY
Emergency Medicine - QEH
January, 2012
DR. TOM BRONAUGH
Emergency Medicine - QEH
January, 2012
DR. VANDANA VAISHNAV
Anesthesia - PCH
January, 2012
DR. ANNA COOLEN
Obs/Gyn - Charlottetown
January, 2012
DR. JANET W ALKER
Medical Oncology Clinical Associate QEH
January, 2012
Committed to Begin Practice
(Signed letters of offer)
DR. ELIZABETH SCHNEIDER
Psychiatry – Summerside
March, 2012
DR. COLIN GASTON
Pediatrics - QEH
April, 2012
DR. PEREZ CARTAGENA
Anesthesia/Pain Management
May, 2012
DR. KRISTEN MEAD
Pathology - QEH
July, 2012
DR. KATHERINE BURLEIGH
Family Medicine - West Prince
July, 2012
DR. NICOLE FANCY
Family Medicine - Montague
July, 2012
DR. JOCELYN PETERSON
Family Medicine - Charlottetown
July, 2012
DR. HAL MACRAE
Family Medicine - West Prince
July, 2012
DR. AAKRITI CHAWLA
Family Medicine - Charlottetown (2 year return in service)
July, 2012
DR.. JOHN CARROLL
Family Medicine - Souris/Charlottetown
October 19 - 21, 2011
DR. JOHN HAYDEN
Family Medicine - Souris/Montague
October 20-24, 2011
DR. NABEEL ALANSARI
Family Medicine - Souris / Family Medicine - Montague
11/22/11 (Souris) 01/30/12 (Montague)
DR. INGRID STAPPER
Family Medicine - Souris/Charlottetown
December 7 - 11, 2011
DR. JOHN ESMOND
Family Medicine - Souris/Charlottetown
December 7 - 11, 2011
DR. BING WANG
Medical Microbiology
January 4-7, 2012
DR. ZAHID LATIF
Psychiatry
January 15-18, 2012
DR. SYED NAVEED ASIF RIZVI
Psychiatry
January 17-21, 2012
Site Visits
Medical Society of PEI THE PULSE - FALL 2011 7
Dalhousie Students Visit PEI
On Wednesday, December.21st, 15 Dalhousie students had the opportunity to see what PEI had to offer for a future practice.
At 6:00am, the non-Islanders in the group left Halifax to make the trip “across”. The day began with their arrival at 9:30am at the Prince County Hospital where they were greeted by the Recruitment Committee and fellow Islanders. Following a tour of the facility, students traveled to Central Queens Community Health Center to see what a smaller, more rural practice had to offer. At the clinic, students were greeted by local health care providers, where they had a chance to chat about advantages of collaborative care, as well as receive an on-site tour. From there, students traveled to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a lunch and informal information session about contemporary and future health care and recruitment with the Minister of Health, Doug Currie. Students had the opportunity to meet staff and tour the facility. That evening, the MSPEI provided a warm welcome to all students at the annual Christmas Reception held at Mavor’s Bistro & Bar. Students had a great time, meeting with local physicians, having some great refreshments, and dancing up the night! Ranging from 1st to 4th year, students had a variety of different motivations and curiosities for making the trip. The majority were interested in seeing how practice on the Island compared with that of other regions, such as Halifax. The demographics of the area, resources available, collaboration in practice, and career opportunities were all hot topics for students. However, equally important, was the lifestyle that the Island has to offer for not only a future physician, but their family.
Several aspects of the trip were memorable for students. The ability to have an interdisciplinary practice despite being in
a smaller community, and perhaps the greater necessity for this organization in the provision of holistic care was recognized. This was especially highlighted in Hunter River, where pharmacists, physicians, and a nurse practitioner all work in harmony to optimize patient welfare. The potential for community involvement and care at a more personal level were aspects that most found appealing. The ability to provide comprehensive care to not only a single patient, but often the extended family, and to have opportunities for a generalist approach to enhance skills without over-reliance on extensive specializations were recognized. Students left the trip with a better understanding of the dynamic nature of health care on PEI. Despite being smaller in geography and population, medical practice on PEI is large in personalized patient care and a welcoming community atmosphere!
8 THE PULSE - FALL 2011 Medical Society of PEI
Weighing In Mandatory return of services will work, but they won’t work well, or in the way we need them to. As a 3rd year medical student, I certainly remember the stress of the application process, and I (like most applicants) would have been willing to accept all sorts of restrictions in order to get one of those elusive spots. If you had told me that I needed to work on PEI for a few years in order to get it, I would have said yes, and I bet that most young applicants would have agreed.
Island born IMG’s, an untapped resource I am an Islander. I am also a 3rd year medical student; I chose to get my medical education at St. George’s University Shami Hariharan, (MS III, St. George’s University) In response to The Guardian article,
about the large population of Cana-
increasing amount of students losing
“P.E.I. wants more medical students to
dian medical students at SGU who
hope, and deciding that the chance of
practice on the Island” (January 21,
want to come to Canada for training
getting a residency in Canada may be
2012): the province is very concerned
opportunities and to practice.
too slim to make it worth entering the
about having Island medical students
Canadian match. Why would anyone
return home to P.E.I. to begin their
Every year, the Executive Director of
careers as physicians, and ideally, to
the Canadian Match program comes to
stay there. It seems that the province
our campus in Grenada to speak with
I’m now planning on coming back to PEI to work. This was a decision I made after a few years leaving the Island, in which I remembered all of the reasons I loved it, and wanted to stay. If all goes well, I’ll come back to PEI, and dedicate 30ish years of service into the Island health care system. I’ll learn the idiosyncracities of our people, our system, our unique health problems, and hopefully help to find some solutions to those problems. I’ll do it willingly and put my full effort into it.
rarely, if ever, acknowledges the many
the Canadian students about how we
The heart of the issue that brought
Island students who get their medical
can optimize our chances of “coming
out the aforementioned article in
educations at universities outside of
home.” She provides us with a realistic
The Guardian is that of encourag-
Canada.
picture of our chances of being able to
ing Island medical students to return
get residencies in Canada. Nearly every
home to P.E.I. to begin their careers as
I am an Islander. I am also a 3rd
time, students leave this talk feeling
physicians, and ideally, to stay there
year medical student; I chose to get
discouraged. As International Medi-
to practice. I believe that Island stu-
my medical education at St. George’s
cal Graduates (IMGs) we are lumped
dents attending medical schools out-
University (SGU) – I completed my first
in with every other foreign medical stu-
side of Canada are a great, untapped
two years of medical school on the
dent and graduate looking to come to
resource. Health minister Currie and
In contrast, forcing people to come back will certainly fill the spots, but it’ll fill them with people who are young, inexperienced, here for only a short time, and who may well be slightly resentful of the fact that they have to stay. You’ll have family docs, but not ones who know all of their patients in and out. You’ll have specialists, but not ones who have honed their clinical experience with years of practice. You’ll have a rotating cast of new faces, many of whom may well be itching to leave as soon as their term of service is over.
Windward Island of Grenada, and
Canada. We aren’t considered as Ca-
the province could easily tap into this
now I am spending my 3rd and 4th
nadians who would like to come back
resource if they would only recognize
years doing clinical training in differ-
to our country to help fill the growing
us as existing, and acknowledge us as
ent hospitals around the U.S. As many
need for health care practitioners.
a subdivision of the larger category of
But...
folks know, an increasing amount of
want to go somewhere where they feel unwelcome?
“IMGs.”
students (in Canada, the U.S., and else-
I chose to go to medical school so
where) are choosing to get their medi-
I could work in primary care (Family
Ways of persuading medical stu-
cal educations at Caribbean medical
Medicine particularly), and fill an area
dents to practice in PEI could include
schools. I can speak for my school in
of need in society. I chose to go to SGU
more opportunities for training (clini-
saying that we receive high quality
for my education, and I’m happy about
cal rotations and post-graduate), and
educations and diverse experiences,
that decision. Family medicine is the
encouraging students to join profes-
Its a solution, but it may not be the one we need. PEI is going to be uniquely attractive as a place to work and live in the future - many of my own classmates who are not Islanders are itching to work here, simply because its such a good place to live, to raise a family, to grow old and whatnot. Rather than force home grown talent to stick around here if they don’t want to, we may be better off trying to attract talent from wherever we can, home grown or not. We should be trying to convince people to create a life here, and spent a career here, rather than a few cranky years while they’re still wet behind the ears.
score well on national board exams,
cornerstone of health care in Canada.
sional groups like MSPEI to enhance
and graduate with fully accredited
This is unfortunately not the same view
networking and allow the province to
MD degrees (St. George’s University is
that is held in the U.S., where all too
have a better picture of where Island
not new to this scene – the School of
often, Family Medicine is seen as a field
students are getting their medical ed-
Medicine was established in 1976).
that gets “all the leftovers,” so to speak.
ucations. I hope that in the province’s
For this rather important reason, many
upcoming “Physician Resource Plan”
At SGU, we are fortunate to have
of my colleagues and I hope to do our
there can be some mention of IMGs
a very active Canadian Medical Stu-
post-graduate training in Canada. As
from P.E.I. We are Islanders, we are
dents Association, whose main pur-
4th year quickly approaches, we are
IMGs, and we want to practice in P.E.I.;
pose is to make connections with Ca-
in the midst of researching residency
we just want to feel welcome home.
nadian residency program directors
programs and deciding where we
and the Canadian Resident Match-
may want to begin our careers as phy-
Keith Baglole, Dalhousie Med 3
ing Service (CaRMS), to let them know
sicians. Lately, I have been seeing an
Medical Society of PEI THE PULSE - FALL 2011 9
MEDICAL SOCIETY’S
HOLIDAY RECEPTION
It’s becoming synonymous with holiday fun, the Annual Holiday Reception, once again welcomed Island medical student home for an evening of networking - and a healthy dose of partying - courtesy, Bad Habits, who proved medicinal in alleviating holiday stress! Thanks to TD Meloche Monnex, OMA Insurance, MD Financial, Health PEI and MSPEI staff for joining forces for this holiday tradition.
10 THE PULSE - FALL 2011 Medical Society of PEI
MSPEI:Abortion
Doctors, like the general public, have their own personal beliefs on abortion. The Medical Society of PEI, a provincial association whose mandate is to represent the province’s physicians, and to advocate for high standards of health and healthcare for Islanders, to date, has elected to provide information versus commenting via spokesperson on the provision of abortion services in PEI. Some have questioned why. As President of the Society, I would like to explain the rationale behind this decision. Even though the current debate is suppose to be specific to access to abortion services in PEI, predictably and perhaps understandably,
the mere mention of the “A” word polarizes groups and yes, that includes doctors. It must be stated that to achieve consensus on the issue of abortion within any group is impossible and invariably divisive. Instead, the Medical Society directed media outlets to the policy of its national organization, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), on induced abortion. MSPEI endorses this policy which acknowledges that although abortion is a legal medical procedure, no physician is obliged to recommend or perform the procedure. However, personal beliefs must not affect the health and safety of a woman seeking an abortion by delaying
access to the procedure since and gynaecology, and the risks of complications of anaesthesia. induced abortion are lowest in early pregnancy. No discrimination should he directed against doctors who The following excerpts provide abortion services. from the CMA policy offer Irrespective of personal guidelines to physicians: beliefs, the Medical Society recognizes that all doctors A physician whose moral or must be fully aware of their religious beliefs prevent him obligation to their patients. or her from recommending As such, the Medical Society or performing an abortion will circulate information should inform the patient of provided by Health PEI to this so that she may consult all practicing physicians another physician. on referral and access to abortion services as well as No discrimination should be the complete CMA policy, directed against doctors who Induced Abortion, as to the do not perform or assist at rights of patients and the induced abortions. Respect rights of doctors. for the right of personal decision in this area must Submitted to the Guardian be stressed, particularly for Dr. Rachel Kassner, President doctors training in obstetrics
INDUCED ABORTION The CMA’s position on induced abortion is as follows: • Induced abortion is the active termination of a pregnancy before fetal viability. • The decision to perform an induced abortion is a medical one, made confidentially between the patient and her physician within the confines of existing Canadian law. The decision is made after conscientious examination of all other options. • Induced abortion requires medical and surgical expertise and is a medical act. It should be performed only in a facility that meets approved medical standards, not necessarily a hospital. Induced abortion, as interpreted by the CMA, is the active termination of a pregnancy before fetal viability. In this context viability is the ability of the fetus to survive independently of the maternal environment. According to current medical knowledge viability is dependent on fetal weight, degree of development and length of gestation; extrauterine viability may be possible if the fetus weighs over 500 g or is past 20 weeks’ gestation, or both (Gestation begins at conception). In January 1988 the Supreme Court of Canada struck down section 251 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The CMA’s position is that there is no need for this section to be replaced. The following are the CMA’s positions in other matters related to induced abortion. • Induced abortion should not be used as an alternative to contraception. • Counselling services, family planning services and information on contraception must be readily available to all Canadians. • The provision of advice and information on family planning and human sexuality is the responsibility of practising physicians; however, educational institutes and health care agencies must share this responsibility. • The patient should be provided with the option of full and immediate counselling services in the event of unwanted pregnancy. • Since the risks of complications of induced abortion are lowest in early pregnancy, early diagnosis of pregnancy and determination of appropriate management should be encouraged. • There should be no delay in the provision of abortion services.
• A physician should not be compelled to participate in the termination of a pregnancy. • No patient should be compelled to have a pregnancy terminated. • A physician whose moral or religious beliefs prevent him or her from recommending or performing an abortion should inform the patient of this so that she may consult another physician. • No discrimination should be directed against doctors who do not perform or assist at induced abortions. Respect for the right of personal decision in this area must be stressed, particularly for doctors training in obstetrics and gynecology, and anesthesia. • No discrimination should he directed against doctors who provide abortion services. • Abortion services should meet specific standards in the areas of counselling, informed choice, medical and surgical procedures, nursing and follow-up care. • Induced abortion should be uniformly available to all women in Canada. • Health care insurance should cover all the costs of providing all medically required services relating to abortion including counselling. The CMA stresses the importance of considering fetal viability when active termination of a pregnancy is being discussed by a patient and her doctor. It must be remembered that when the fetus has reached the stage where it is capable of an independent existence, termination of pregnancy may result in the delivery of a viable fetus. Elective termination of pregnancy after fetal viability may be indicated under exceptional circumstances.
© 1988 Canadian Medical Association. You may, for your non-commercial use, reproduce, in whole or in part and in any form or manner, unlimited copies of CMA Policy Statements provided that credit is given to the original source. Any other use, including republishing, redistribution, storage in a retrieval system or posting on a Web site requires explicit permission from CMA. Please contact the Permissions Coordinator, Publications, CMA, 1867 Alta Vista Dr., Ottawa ON K1G 3Y6; fax 613 565-2382; permissions@cma.ca. Correspondence and requests for additional copies should be addressed to the Member Service Centre, Canadian Medical Association, 1867 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa, ON K1G 3Y6; tel 888 855-2555 or 613 731-8610 x2307; fax 613 236-8864. All polices of the CMA are available electronically through CMA Online (www.cma.ca).
December 1988
Medical Society of PEI THE PULSE - FALL 2011 11
2012 Medical Student Bursary GOLF TOURNAMENT
MSPEI members and their guest are invited to play in the annual Medical Student Bursary GOLF TOURNAMENT, Saturday June 23 at Rodd Mill River Resort. Not at the top of your game.... just a beginner? That’s okay. Actually, that’s ideal because regardless of ability, with a fair mix of team players and “Best Ball” format for friendly competition, this may just be the most golfing fun you’ll experience all season! Golfing‘s not your thing? That’s okay too because all members are welcome to take in CME in the morning and of course stay to enjoy the annual Lobster Smorgasbord – details to follow! NOTE: This annual MSPEI social event is free, however, please remember the event is a fund raiser for the Medical Student Bursary and donations are appreciated!
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