NB: This blog originally appeared in Huffington Post Canada on Nov 3, 2015. With the demise of HuffPo it’s being reposted here for future reference. As someone who had his formative years in the 1980s I can still vividly recall former First Lady Nancy Regan launching the ambitious “Just Say No” campaign. She championed this slogan as part of the “war on drugs.” This “war” was started by Richard Nixon in 1971. He declared that drug abuse was “public enemy number one” and that “the only way to fight this menace was on many fronts.” I can personally attest to having been a true believer ..read more

My thanks to guest blogger Dr. Deepa Soni, an Emergency Room Physician at Credit Valley Hospital. She has written a much more eloquent letter to her MP about the recent tax changes introduced by the federal government, and allowed me to reproduce here as an open letter. The Honourable Anita Anand, MP, Oakville, 301 Robinson Street Oakville, ON L6J 1G7   April 20, 2024 Dear Minister Anand, I’m writing to you as a constituent of your riding in Oakville regarding your government’s capital gains taxation measures introduced in this week’s budget. As an emergency physician for the last 25 ..read more

These lyrics were written by the incomparable Bob Dylan in 1963. Sad that they are still relevant today. How many roads must a man walk down  Before you call him a man?  How many seas must a white dove sail  Before she sleeps in the sand?  Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly  Before they’re forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind  The answer is blowin’ in the wind ..read more

Dr. Madura Sundareswaran guest blogs for me today. She’s a community family physician who’s resume is too long to print here. She helped found the Peterborough Newcomer Health Clinic and is a recipient of the CPSO Board Award which recognizes outstanding Ontario Physicians. This article originally appeared on her LinkedIn page. The day people stop asking this question is the day we have fixed the primary care crisis. I’m a family physician doing community-based comprehensive family practice in Peterborough, Ontario. I currently work in three different primary care models in our community ..read more

Full disclosure: I am a consultant for Medicte, a medical tourism firm that provides high quality, cost-effective medical treatments for ALL health conditions in Turkiye. Contact: info@medicte.ca for more information. Recently, former Ontario Medical Association (OMA) President Dr. Shawn Whatley wrote an opinion piece in the National Post (later reproduced in the Medical Post) quite correctly rebuking Federal Health Minister Mark Holland for insulting people who consider leaving Canada for medically necessary health care. According to an Ipsos Reid poll, that’s 42 percent of all Canadians. As ..read more

Dear Premier Ford, Just me again, your erstwhile, somewhat (but not completely) humble old country doctor. Like last time, I would point out that I am really not your harshest critic. I want to recognize that you have done much for health care infrastructure over the past few years. For reasons that I cannot fully explain, the previous Liberal regime simply stopped building the necessary infrastructure to help Ontarians. Whether it was new (badly needed) nursing homes, new hospitals, or new teams, the Liberals basically did, well, nothing in terms of infrastructure. To your credit, you’ve reve ..read more

The following blog was written by Dr. Darren Cargill (pictured inset) and originally appeared in the Medical Post in a modified form and it’s full form on his substack. It’s a great message for medical students who didn’t match on CaRMS day, and is being re-printed here with Dr. Cargill’s permission (and my thanks) so that it is more widely available in an un-gated site. J.J. McCarthy and the UnMatchable “Those Who Stay Will Be Champions” On November 14, 2020, Michigan was blown out by Big Ten rival Wisconsin by a score of 49-11, dropping the Wolverines to 1-3 in a pandemic-shortened seaso ..read more

Lots of talk on the net about how the economic model for family physicians no longer works in 2024. My own blog site has had guest posts dedicated to this issue. There has been some criticism of this position. Dr. Darren Larsen in a reply to the post linked above suggests he is “not seeing or hearing…ideas for solutions“. He further states that all paying doctors more will do is create a “better-paid, unhappy professional. Nothing has changed.” Others have made the similar comments. There is nothing philosophically wrong with the argument to reduce workload instead of raising pay. Practically ..read more

 Recently Maria DiDanieli, a system navigator with the Burlington Family Health Team who holds a Masters in Medical Bioethics, wrote an article criticizing myself, Dr. Silvy Mathew and Dr. Nadia Alam for recommending family medicine residents NOT start a comprehensive care family practices at this time. Dr. Mark Dermer responded so eloquently to that, that I asked his permission to reproduce his response as a guest blogger, and he kindly agreed. Dr. Mark Dermer, a recently retired family physician whom I’m honoured to have as a guest blogger today. As a recently retired family physician ..read more

Dr. Alex Duong, a family physician from the Vanier district of Ottawa (which amazingly enough is one of the more underserviced areas of Ontario). Recently, Maria DiDanieli, the clinical lead for system navigation at the Burlington Family Health Team, published an opinion piece in Healthy Debate that was critical of the decision of Drs. Alam/Mathew and yours truly to recommend that family practice residents bide their time instead of starting up a comprehensive care practice in Ontario. Dr. Duong replies and has kindly allowed me to reproduce his reply here. I am a full-time community family ph ..read more