Healthcare

As pharmacists at some point or another we’ve all had the thought cross our minds. Is ownership for me? For some people the idea strikes no interest. For others it’s in their blood. They knew the day they got their pharmacy school acceptance letter that this is what they wanted to do.

British Columbia's health minister says the province has hired more staff and increased operating-room hours to catch up on cancelled surgeries but a significant surge in COVID-19 cases could impact recovery. Adrian Dix said Tuesday that 32,400 procedures were postponed or not scheduled as of mid-March to retain beds that may have been needed for COVID-19 patients.

During COVID-19, most doctors have set up virtual offerings for patients so we need to double down on our efforts to ensure continuity of care

For most jurisdictions where they were legal, alcohol and marijuana were available at every stage of the pandemic. In North America, the shops selling marijuana and alcohol were deemed an “essential service” which meant that they were open throughout the pandemic, in the same way as grocery stores and pharmacies were open.

Suggest a change in legislation so they can opt out of AMA

Katrina Philopoulos, the Nova Scotia Health Authority's director of physician recruitment, told the CBC the pandemic has caused delays bringing new doctors to the province. Indeed, in April the CBC reported that 13 doctors from the United Kingdom, South Africa and the United States that were due to start working in the province were held up at the border due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. But Philopoulos said since then four IMGs have been allowed in.

A new guideline aimed at helping clinicians identify the difficult-to-diagnose acute aortic syndrome is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Acute aortic syndrome (AAS) is a life-threatening condition that underlies 1 in 2000 visits to the emergency department for severe chest or back pain. The rate of misdiagnosis is estimated to be as high as 38%, and the risk of death can increase 2% for every hour of delay in diagnosis.

While doctors were hailed as heroes early in the pandemic, some say they now feel more like cannon fodder in a war that has become increasingly divisive