On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Eve Purdy makes it clear what’s at stake when it comes to incivility in medicine. "It's very simple. Incivility kills patients, and that needs to be the single line of every healthcare leader responsible for managing and leading teams.” Dr. Purdy joins Dr. Sarah Kim and hosts, Drs. Blair Bigham and Mojola Omole, for an urgent panel discussion that looks into the deep-seated reasons behind incivility in medical settings. Dr. Eve Purdy is an emergency medicine physician and applied anthropologist at Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service in Australia. Sh ..read more

On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole closely examine anorexia nervosa in male adolescents, a topic that frequently escapes notice. Their discussion highlights the disorder's prevalence, especially among high-risk groups like LGBTQ+ individuals and those from varied racial and ethnic backgrounds. It also underscores the severity of anorexia nervosa in young males and stresses the critical need for early recognition and intervention. This episode features an in-depth conversation with Sterling Renzoni, a fourth-year biochemistry student at Trent University ..read more

On this episode, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole explore a clinical case involving a rare infection in a returned traveler, highlighting the critical role of travel history in diagnosing unusual diseases. They discuss the case of a woman in her 60s who presented with fever and ankle pain after returning from India. Initial concerns for septic arthritis led to further investigation when standard treatments failed to alleviate her symptoms. Dr. Mara Waters is the lead author of the clinical case entitled “Melioidosis with septic arthritis in a returning traveller,” published in Canadian Me ..read more

On this episode, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole explore two articles in CMAJ focused on the critical importance of trust in the health care system. They speak with Louis Lochhead, who shares his experiences navigating the health care landscape as a caregiver after his wife's serious accident, which resulted in a coma lasting nearly two months. Lochhead highlights the difficulties in building trust with the medical team, pointing to challenges in communication and empathy. He recounts moments where the lack of clear, compassionate communication from health care providers compounded the s ..read more

On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Catherine Varner, deputy editor of CMAJ, sits in for Dr. Blair Bigham and joins Dr. Mojola Omole to explore two articles published in the journal that highlight troubling findings concerning the treatment of opioid use disorder. They begin with a study that revealed significant gaps in treatment for opioid overdose patients, where only 5.5% received opioid agonist therapy within a week of their hospital visit. This comes five years after the release of guidelines for opioid use disorder management in Canada, which recommended starting opioid agonist the ..read more

On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole examine an article published in CMAJ titled, 'Tackling barriers to Canadian medical school admissions for students with disabilities.' The analysis highlights how medical education has historically devalued or excluded trainees with disabilities and emphasizes the need for more flexible and inclusive admission processes.  They are joined by Shira Gertsman, the lead author and a medical student at McMaster University, who shares her personal battle with Crohn's disease and the hurdles she encountered applying to me ..read more

On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole discuss the practice article in the journal entitled, “Five things to know about…Novel obesity treatments". They discuss the impact of new medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide in treating obesity with Dr. Shohinee Sarma, the lead author. Dr. Sarma explains the significant effects these drugs have on weight loss and cardiometabolic health. They also discuss how these treatments can be combined with behavioral therapies for improved results, while considering potential side effects and complications. Next, Dr. As ..read more

On this episode, Dr. Emmanuel Bujold addresses the gross underutilization of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) in Canada during pregnancy, a treatment highly effective in preventing preterm preeclampsia among those at risk. Dr. Bujold is an OB-GYN in Quebec City and a professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Laval University's School of Medicine. He is a co-author of the commentary in CMAJ entitled, “Screening for preeclampsia risk and prophylaxis with acetylsalicylic acid”. Dr. Bujold presents evidence showing ASA's effectiveness in preventing more than 80% of severe preeclampsia cases. He advis ..read more

On this encore episode, we revisit and update one of the most-read articles on the CMAJ website. The article is titled, “Smartphones, social media use, and youth mental health.” It reviews the extensive literature linking poor mental health in adolescents with smartphone and social media use. The article details a variety of studies that implicate smartphone and social media use in increased mental distress, self-injurious behaviour, and suicidality among youth. It also indicates that there's a dose-response relationship, with the effects appearing to be most pronounced among girls. The lead ..read more

On this episode, we revisit and update one of the most-read articles on the CMAJ website. The article is titled, “Smartphones, social media use, and youth mental health.” It reviews the extensive literature linking poor mental health in adolescents with smartphone and social media use. The article details a variety of studies that implicate smartphone and social media use in increased mental distress, self-injurious behaviour, and suicidality among youth. It also indicates that there's a dose-response relationship, with the effects appearing to be most pronounced among girls. The lead author ..read more