Health Professionals

Radical thoughts: Dr. Lou Francescutti interview

Monday, October 1, 2012 | Categories: Health Professionals, full interviews |

We had a lot of reaction to our unemployed doctors show. Many of you reacted to the fact that you can't find a family doctor...

Will operate for food? The unemployed doc paradox

Thursday, September 27, 2012 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

You have trouble finding a family doctor. Maybe you're sitting on a long, long waiting list for a hip or knee replacement. If those complaints...

Live Online Chat: My Body, My Choice? The rise in alternative medicine

Monday, September 24, 2012 | Categories: Health Professionals |

Have you ever used complementary alternative medicine like naturopathy, massage, prayer, chiropractic, relaxation techniques or herbal remedies? If so, you're part of a growing group...

Complementary alternative medicine: a rethink and a live chat!

Friday, September 21, 2012 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Policy & Regulation |

Want to shake things up in the health care?  Stop pining for a family doctor and go searching for an expert in complementary alternative medicine...

Health Coaches: New Health Team Member?

Thursday, August 2, 2012 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Public health experts say chronic diseases like  heart disease, diabetes and arthritis are the leading causes of death and disability in Canada. According to the...

Inspiration Show

Friday, December 23, 2011 | Categories: Health Professionals, Past Episodes |

This week, let's put you and me in a holiday mood with stories around the general theme of inspiration -- what inspires people on my side of the...

Generation Rx: Mailbag

Thursday, December 8, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety, Town Hall |

Last week, we broadcast our full-edition town hall entitled "Generation Rx - The Use and Abuse of Prescription Pain Medication," recorded before a live audience at...

Your Next MD Will Be a Woman

Tuesday, December 6, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Women now make up more than half the workforce in medicine and other health related fields in Canada.  That's according to the latest research from...

Generation Rx: The Use and Abuse of Prescription Pain Medication

Friday, December 2, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Health Professionals, Past Episodes, Patient Safety, Pharma, Town Hall |

A generation ago, it was considered medical heresy to prescribe strong narcotics to people with chronic pain.  But, a new way of thinking about pain...

Generation Rx - The Role of Doctors in Opioid Abuse

Wednesday, November 30, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Pharma, Town Hall |

Our town hall entitled "Generation Rx -- The Use and Abuse of Prescription Pain Medication" is just three days away.  According to the Ministry of...

Generation Rx: Four Days to Go

Generation Rx, our town hall on the use and abuse of opioid pain relievers, airs on White Coat, Black Art this coming Saturday December 3...

Generation Rx: Some Quick Thoughts

Thursday, November 24, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety, Town Hall |

Eighty percent of world's supply of prescription opioid pain relievers are consumed in North America.  Canada is second only to the US in worldwide per...

Emergency Rooms Must Deliver Palliative Care

Thursday, November 17, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

Palliative care is a form of medicine that focuses not on curing disease but on relieving symptoms as well as suffering. A 2010 Canadian Senate report...

Unsung Heroes of Health Care Show

Friday, November 11, 2011 | Categories: Health Professionals, Past Episodes |

When you think of hospitals, you probably picture places staffed by nurses and people like me.  The image is far from complete.  There are countless others...

Marketing Medicine Mailbag

Thursday, November 10, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

This week'a show had three stories about the art of patient persuasion. In theory, I'm supposed to tell you about the benefits and the risks...

A Computer Teaches Doctors Some Empathy

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

The Canadian Cancer Society says this year alone, more than 170,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with the dreaded disease. What those patients want from their...

Marketing Medicine Show

Friday, November 4, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Health Professionals, Past Episodes |

If you were alive and kicking in the 1950s and happened to own a TV set, you probably remember hearing a pitch for a vitamin tonic...

Breaking Up Mailbag

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

For a rebroadcast, you sure had a lot of comments about our show this week on how to fire your doctor as well as when and...

Can We Talk? Mailbag

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

Our show this week about the way health professionals talk to you, about you and to each other generated a lot of talk from you. ...

Can We Talk? Show

Friday, October 14, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Past Episodes |

       Physician and author Siddhartha Mukherjee with host Dr. Brian Goldman. We're offering you a crash course in medical communication this week.  Not woolly medical jargon...

Respect Mailbag

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

This week's show was all about health care professionals giving and getting respect for one another in the system.  The show featured a conversation with University of...

Respect Show

This week's episode is about the importance of respect for and between health care workers. Laura Servage, a doctoral student from the University of Alberta who watches...

Nelson Dream Team Mailbag

Wednesday, October 5, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

This week's show highlighted the role of midwives in the delivery of maternal care in Nelson, BC.  It also took focused on the high degree...

Overdiagnosis = Overkill

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Ask most patients, and they say their doctor has a good reason for ordering tests and prescribing treatments.  Turns out their doctor may secretly disagree.  That's the...

Nelson Dream Team Show

Friday, September 30, 2011 | Categories: Health Professionals, Hospitals, Past Episodes |

We have an extra special episode for you this week.  I travel to Nelson, BC for an up-close look at a place that's figured out a...

Nurse Bullying Mailbag

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Last week, we explored the troubling issue of nurse bullying, also known as lateral and horizontal aggression or violence.  After our Mother's Milk show on breastfeeding,...

Nurse Bullying Show

Friday, September 16, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Communication, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Past Episodes |

There's a saying you hear in hospitals: "Nurses eat their young". Not doctors, paramedics, or physios, just nurses. This week, we explore the utterly common...

Personal Support Worker Mailbag

This week, White Coat, Black Art launched its new season with a look at duties performed by unregulated care providers at retirement homes in Ontario. ...

WCBA Season Debut: Personal Support Workers and Seniors

Friday, September 9, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics, Past Episodes, Patient Safety |

Welcome to our sixth season of White Coat Black Art on CBC Radio One and Sirius Satellite Channel 159.  Canada has an aging population.  By...

Pulling the Plug: Why Hospitals Aren't on the Same Page

Tuesday, August 30, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death for Canadians under the age of forty-five.  Up to forty percent who sustain a severe traumatic...

Do Mental Health Patients Fall Through the Cracks?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Patient Safety |

The Canadian Mental Health Association says 20% of Canadians will experience a mental health illness at least once in their lifetime.  Eight percent of Canadians will...

Right to Die: This Time May Be Different

Wednesday, August 3, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Today, the B.C. Supreme Court agreed to fast track a hearing for a Kelowna, B.C. woman with a terminal disease who wants to overturn Canada's right-to-die laws.  Gloria Taylor,...

Before You Fire Your MD - Have a Chat

The Fraser Institute says close to five million Canadians can't find a family doctor.  But having one doesn't necessarily translate into patient satisfaction. According to a...

WCBA in the Summer: Boundaries Part Two

Monday, July 11, 2011 | Categories: Health Professionals, Law & Ethics, Past Episodes |

All summer, we're bringing you the best of White Coat, Black Art. This week, Part Two of a series about the relationship boundaries between health...

WCBA in the Summer: Boundaries Part One

Thursday, June 30, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Communication, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics, Past Episodes |

This summer we'll be playing some of your favourite White Coat Black Art episodes and ours. To launch our summer season on Monday we're rebroadcasting...

The Perils of Involving MDs in Crime Prevention

Friday, June 24, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

The World Health Organization says interpersonal violence kills more than 600,000 and causes more than 17 million serious injuries a year.  A controversial program in...

Sleepy Residents Mailbag

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Patient Safety |

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the response we receive to repeat episodes of WCBA.  Our Sleepy Residents show last...

Unifinished Business Show Mailbag

Thursday, June 16, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety, Pharma |

Our Unfinished Business show featured an interview with Scott Wisner, a social worker who has the tricky task of dealing with families of patients who...

Update on Alleged Plagiarism by University of Alberta's Dean Baker

There's been a development in the story we've been following here at White Coat, Black Art Blog.  Last Friday, Dr. Philip Baker, Dean of the...

Getting Past Vaccine Skepticism

Researchers are working on a whole host of new vaccines to help prevent everything from leprosy to diabetes.  But, despite the potential benefits, many people...

Medical Deans Who Plagiarize Should Resign

Last Friday, Dr. Philip Baker, Dean of the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine, gave a speech to the graduating class at the convocation banquet...

Mental Health Show Mailbag

Thursday, June 9, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

This week, we rebroadcast our show from last season on the treatment people like me give patients with mental health problems.  According to the Public...

Mental Health Show

This week, we're rebroadcasting our show from last season on a subject I'm not too proud of: how often people like me stigmatize people who...

To Err Is Medicine Mailbag

Preventable medical mistakes kill as many as 24,000 Canadians a year. This Monday, White Coat, Black Art aired a special one-hour edition about medical errors. ...

Nursing Home Violence Show Mailbag

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

Our show this week looked at growing problem of violence at Canada's long-term care facilities:  nursing home residents who act violently against fellow residents and staff. ...

The Black Art of Delivering Bad News to Patients

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics |

This week, a CBC News series explores what it means to have "A Good Death" in Canada.  One of the areas they're looking at is...

Mother's Milk Mailbag

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Last week's show on the difficulties mothers face breastfeeding their newborns generated an unprecedented number of emails from you.  Some were critical of the approach...

"Is There a Doctor on Board?"

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

In-flight medical emergencies aren't all that common, but they can be deadly.  With the growing number of air travelers and an aging population, the number...

Mother's Milk Show

One of the things I love most about White Coat, Black Art is that we never shy away from controversy.  This week's show may be...

Healthy Skepticism Mailbag

Wednesday, May 4, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Policy & Regulation |

When it comes to information on healthcare, it pays to maintain a healthy skepticism.  Our Healthy Skepticism show made true believers out of you, judging...

Early Screening Test for Autism Shows Promise

Monday, May 2, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

With all the talk about Dr. Andrew Wakefield and his bogus research that fraudulently linked autism to MMR vaccine, you might have been left with the...

Nurses and Physician Assistants: Make Nice and Get Along!

When you think health care, your gut reaction may be to think physician.  This election campaign has once again focused on a lack of family...

MS Zamboni: Here We Go Again

Friday, April 15, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

Here we go again!  New research is casting doubt on a controversial treatment for Multiple Sclerosis.  Italian physician Paolo Zamboni pioneered the so-called "liberation therapy". ...

Overdiagnosed Mailbag

Thursday, April 14, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

Last week's featured an interview with Dr. Gilbert Welch, co-author of the book 'Overdiagosed:  Making People Sick In The Pursuit Of Health'.  In the book...

Beware of "Off-Label" Prescribing

Regulators like Health Canada approve prescription drugs for specific diseases.  Doctors and other professionals who prescribe medications have had a time-honored right to prescribe drugs...

Older Doctors: Update

Last month White Coat, Black Art examined the issue of older doctors still in practice.  As Canada's population ages, it's no surprise that the average...

Will to Die Part 2 + Overdiagnosed

Friday, April 8, 2011 | Categories: Health Professionals, Law & Ethics, Past Episodes, Policy & Regulation |

Last week's episode was one of our most controversial shows ever.  We had an extraordinarily frank conversation with Nagui Morcos, a man in his early...

Former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein Diagnosed with Dementia

Friday, April 8, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Sooner or later, no one - rich or poor, famous or not-so-famous - can escape from the jaws of illness.  According to the Alzheimer's Society of Canada, half...

Take Two Pills and Skype Me in the Morning

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

A 2010 survey by the US market research firm Spyglass found more than 90% of MDs use a smart phone to help them take care of...

Will to Die Mailbag

Monday, April 4, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics |

We've had some pretty strong reaction to our Will to Die show feautring Nagui Morcos.  If you missed it, you can catch it today at 11:30...

Older Doctors Mailbag

Sorry it took me an extra few days to open the mailbag.  We had an enormous response to our show on aging MDs that aired...

Taking Better Care of Seniors in the ER

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

I've been out of town for much of the past week.  I had intended to blog a bit more during my absence but found myself...

Older Doctors Show

Friday, March 18, 2011 | Categories: Health Professionals, Past Episodes, Patient Safety |

Our population is aging.  No surprise then that Canada's doctors are getting older as well.  Turns out a surprising number of MDs just don't know...

Concierge Mailbag

This week's show on concierge medicine generated a strong difference of opinion from you.  Provital Health & Wellness, based in Calgary is one such clinic. Provital...

Does Your Doctor Check Your Medical Tests?

You go to see your doctor for a medical problem and your physician orders some tests.  Too many tests, it turns out.  The people who...

Breaking Up Mailbag

Thursday, March 10, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics |

This week's show featured several conversations on how and why patients fire their doctors.  As usual, you had many things to say in reaction to...

Breaking Up: Reaction to Your Reaction

Monday, March 7, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Family Medicine, Health Professionals |

This week's episode of White Coat, Black Art is all about patients who fire their doctor - how they do it and why they do...

Breaking Up Show

Friday, March 4, 2011 | Categories: Family Medicine, Health Professionals, Past Episodes, Past Episodes |

All relationships have their ups and downs, and not every doctor-patient relationship is a marriage made in heaven. In medical school, they teach us the proper technique for firing patients....

A Leaky Medical Gadget?

This week, Apple launched the iPad 2 with great fanfare.  CEO Steve Jobs returned from his self-imposed medical leave to introduce the updated gadget himself. ...

Good Samaritan show

Friday, February 25, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Past Episodes |

We've all heard the call go out: is there a doctor in the house? And we take for granted that if there is one, he...

Listen to Me Mailbag

Thursday, February 17, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Patient Safety |

Our Listen to Me show this week generated some thoughtful comments from you.  Click on the title to jump to your emails.  Thank you so...

Beware the Blood Test Not Checked

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Patient Safety |

Doctors order blood work, x-rays and lots of other tests to figure out what's wrong with you.  When your life is on the line, you...

Listen to Me show

Friday, February 11, 2011 | Categories: Health Professionals, Hospitals, Past Episodes, Past Episodes |

This week on the show, we hear from you, on your side of the gurney. Patients speak up about their experiences and they aren't just ranting, they're demanding...

No Appointment Show Mailbag

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Family Medicine, Health Professionals, Technology & Innovation |

Love them or hate them, walk in clinics are filling a growing gap in health care.  We toured the hub of Appletree Medical Clinics, which...

Reverse Medical Tourism?

Call it reverse medical tourism.  Last month, a group of Canadian hospital executives ventured to the Middle East to sell our health care consulting skills...

Mailbag on Euthanasia (Corridor) Show

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics |

This week, we replayed our show from last season in which we looked euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide from your point of view as well as...

Shared Medical Visits Help People Lose Weight

Monday, January 31, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Family Medicine, Health Professionals |

If you're like many patients, you've had the unfortunate experience of calling to see the doctor, only to find that the next available appointment is...

Hospital Fixer Mailbag

Before we turn our attention to this week's show, here's a quick mailbag of responses to last week's show on Vickie Kaminski, the new CEO...

Surgeons and Suicidal Thoughts: Behind the Mask

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

When you think of surgeons, you likely picture heroes deftly using scalpels to pull patients back from the brink. But sometimes, as much as surgeons...

The Hospital Fixer Show

In April 2009, Nancy Mojica-Fisher went to the hospital in Clarenville, Newfoundland to receive the drug Remicade, a treatment for psoriasis.  By mistake, she received...

Wednesday Mailbag

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

When you think of tourism, may you figure on taking in the sites.  But, for several thousand Canadians per year, traveling means a visit to...

Surgeons Need Some Understanding

Tuesday, January 18, 2011 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Patient Safety |

When you think of surgeons, you probably think of heroic exploits pulling patients back from the brink in the operating room.  Maybe you picture an...

Thursday Mailbag

Patient privacy is drummed into MDs and other health professionals from the first day of class.  But until recently, inside the sliding doors, we've been...

Prepare for H3N2 Seasonal Flu!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

The H1N1 pandemic that struck Canada and much of the rest of the world in 2009 seems increasingly like a distant memory.  Now, a new...

Patient Privacy: More to Come

Patient privacy is one of the driving forces in health care today.  This week's White Coat, Black Art explores the tension between privacy of health...

Patient Privacy show

Patient privacy is drummed into MDs and other health professionals from the first day of class.  But until recently, inside the sliding doors, we've been way too...

Wednesday Mailbag

Wednesday, January 5, 2011 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

This week White Coat, Black Art teamed up with CBC radio, television and on-line to heal launch Live Right Now to help inform Canadians on how they...

More on Haiti

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Our show on December 11 and 13 featured a searing interview with Dr. Ofer Merin, Head of the Trauma Unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center...

MS Zamboni Treatment: Dr. Goldman Interview

Monday, December 13, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world.  Established treatments aren't reliably effective for patients with the disease.  Thus, it's not...

Lights and Sirens show

Friday, December 10, 2010 | Categories: Health Professionals, Past Episodes, Past Episodes |

When you call 911, you expect help to come as quickly as it can. This week, we ride along with paradmedics racing to a call. Find out what...

Sneek Peek: Our "Lights and Sirens" show

Thursday, December 9, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

This week, we're looking at calls for emergency help from the perspective of those coming to the rescue and those in need.  At my ER,...

Public Health, Private Lives: Thank Yous

Wednesday, December 8, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

Today's live chat held in conjunction with the CBC News series Public Health, Private Lives was a great success.  If you joined the chat as it unfolded,...

Public Health, Private Lives: Live Chat on December 8, 2010

Wednesday, December 8, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

When lives are at stake, we depend on doctors and nurses to pull us through. This week, the CBC News series Public Health, Private Lives gives...

The Stress Show

This week, we look at health care under pressure. From over crowded ERs ... to stressed out health care workers. You'll hear from ER doctor Raj...

Thursday Mailbag

Thursday, December 2, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Family Medicine, Health Professionals |

This week's show was a rebroadcast of our funniest show from last season on the 'Unmentionables'.  That didn't stop many of you from taking the...

Sneak Peek: Public Health, Private Lives

Thursday, December 2, 2010 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Patient Safety |

The Canadian public entrusts our health care professionals to be there for us when we're ailing and in need of care. But what happens when...

Does 'Telemonitoring' of Patients Improve Care?

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

An aging population means more and more frail patients who can't make it to the clinic for appointments. One way for doctors to keep tabs...

Sneak Peek of Our Unmentionables show

Thursday, November 25, 2010 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Are there things you wouldn't dream of discussing with your doctor? Things you're too embarassed to reveal? This week we're rebroadcasting one of our most popular shows...

Wednesday Mailbag

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Policy & Regulation |

In 2002, a report by the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada headed by Roy Romanow described home care as the next...

MS Zamboni Treatment: Where are We Now?

Monday, November 22, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

There have been some additional developments on the MS Zamboni story since I blogged about it last week.  Mahir Mostic of St. Catherines, Ontario became...

Home Care Episode

Friday, November 19, 2010 | Categories: Health Professionals, Past Episodes, Past Episodes |

The philosophy behind home care is to help ease the burden on hospitals, and patients, by sending patients back home whey they no longer require...

Thursday Mailbag

Thursday, November 18, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

We've received an avalanche of emails in response to our coverage on this week's show of health care workers who show up for duty despite...

Sneak Peek of our Home Care Show

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Family Medicine, Health Professionals |

There was a time when home care meant exactly that, being looked after by qualified health professionals in the comfort and privacy of your own...

Can Doctors Impose Do Not Resuscitate Orders? They Can

Patients and their families expect doctors to pull out all the stops to prolong life. Now, a growing number of physicians want the right to...

MS Zamboni Treatment: new developments

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Patient Safety |

Our debut episode of WCBA gave a critical appraisal of the reaction - inside and outside the medical community - to the Zamboni procedure for patients with multiple...

In Sickness and In Health

Friday, November 12, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Past Episodes, Patient Safety |

A year ago people were in a panic to get the H1N1 vaccine. Today, it almost seems like the outbreak never happened.  This week we ask what the fuss about H1N1 was...

Wednesday Mailbag

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Patient Safety |

Last week's show was all about the impact of design of hospitals and medical equipment on your health, your safety and your life.  This is...

Don't Label Patients Difficult

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics |

When it comes to caring for the sick, it's often assumed that health professionals and their patients usually get along.  But that's not always true. ...

Duty to Refuse Death-Delaying Treatment?

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Law & Ethics |

Last Saturday, I hosted 'To Be or Not to Be', a public forum sponsored by George Street United Church in Peterborough, Ontario.  The full-day gathering...

Healthy Design

Modern medical gizmos save lives.  But sometimes, they kill.  On this week's episode of  White Coat Black Art, life and death... by design. Healthy design is...

More From Our Residents' Panel on End-of-Life

Friday, November 5, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

Many of you were struck by the honesty and clarity of thought from our panel of residents on last week's show.  Well, we have a...

Join Me Sat. November 6 at a Public Forum on Palliative Care

Friday, November 5, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics |

Last week, our show explored end-of-life issues.  Tomorrow, I'm hosting a one-day public conference on End-Of-LIfe issues entitled 'To Be or Not To Be'.  The...

Hospice Care for Patients with Dementia

Thursday, November 4, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

Last week's episode of WCBA dealt with patients as they approach the end of life and how dificult that time can be for them and...

When Your Life is Circling The Drain Episode

Friday, October 29, 2010 | Categories: Family Medicine, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Past Episodes, Past Episodes |

Most of us aren't ready to face or even talk about the end of life.  Patients and their families aren't.  How could they be?  What...

Thursday Mailbag

Thursday, October 28, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals, Patient Safety |

Last week's episode of WCBA was eclectic in that it features an interview with investigative journalist Ray Moynihan about his new book 'Sex, Lies +...

ER Wait: Shame on ERs!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

You've probably experienced that age-old ritual of cooling your heels in an ER waiting room hoping that it won't be too many hours before a...

Sex, Lies and Medical Mistakes Episode

It's been a little more than ten years since the drug Viagra was approved in Canada and the United States. The launch of that little...

Wednesday Mailbag

On this weeks episode of WCBA, we presented our townhall 'To Err Is Medicine - Minimizing and Managing Medical Errors' held at Glenn Gould Studio...

More Excerpts from Our Townhall

This week's episode of WCBA features our townhall entitled 'To Err Is Medicine'.  As many as 24,000 Canadians die each year from preventable medical errors...

'To Err is Medicine' Townhall Episode

Saturday, October 16, 2010 | Categories: Health Professionals, Hospitals, Law & Ethics, Past Episodes, Past Episodes, Patient Safety |

This week's episode of WCBA is our first townhall since the show began three years ago.  This was our first opportunity to do a show...

Sneak Preview of Our Medical Errors Town Hall

This week on the show, we'll be airing highlights from our recent town hall, To Err is Medicine: Minimizing and Managing Medical Errors. It was...

Pain: a Terrible and Misunderstood Affliction

Saturday, October 9, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Family Medicine, Health Professionals, Patient Safety, Pharma |

 In 1931, the French physician and medical missionary Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote, "Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself."  In...

To Err is Medicine? Anatomy of a Modern Problem

When I was a resident in internal medicine many years ago,  I saw an elderly woman who came to the ER complaining of chest pain and shortness of...

Wednesday Mailbag

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Dr. Brian's Blog, Family Medicine, Health Professionals |

We received quite a few comments on on our show on social networking in health care.  On the show, we argued that health care professionals...

Social Medicine

You've heard of social media. What about social medicine? That's when health professionals blog and tweet and text, not only to each other --...

Money, money everywhere?

Thursday, September 30, 2010 | Categories: Dr. Brian's Blog, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals |

If you want to start the eye-rolling among Canadians, you need only to talk about the pay packets of their doctors. They make a good living,...

Bonus Interview on Political Activism with Quebec College President

On my way to Sept-Iles to interview the doctors who threatened to resign to stop Terra Ventures from exploring for uranium, I swung my Montreal...

Wednesday Mailbag

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 | Categories: Accountability, Dr. Brian's Blog, Green Health Care, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics |

We had our usual high volume response to last week's show on MDs who are political activitists.  Mary-Sue Haliburton of Nepean, Ontario writes: "Dear Dr....

Put down the scalpel and raise a fist

Friday, September 24, 2010 | Categories: Family Medicine, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics, Past Episodes, Past Episodes |

You've probably heard it said it's impossible to fire a doctor, but have you ever wondered: what would it take to make one quit? Turns out a major threat...

My Book: 'The Night Shift - Real Life in the Heart of the ER'

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 | Categories: Communication, Dr. Brian's Blog, Health Professionals, Hospitals |

I wanted to let you know about something very exciting that is happening to me.  My first book, 'The Night Shift - Real Life in...

Hospitals Go Green on WCBA

Friday, September 17, 2010 | Categories: Health Professionals, Hospitals, Past Episodes, Past Episodes, Technology & Innovation |

You may not know this, but hospitals are among the most environmentally unfriendly places on the entire planet.  In the United States, hospitals account for...

Telling Tales

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 | Categories: Communication, Family Medicine, Health Professionals, Law & Ethics, Past Episodes |

Some alert listeners have noted that we didn't podcast the WCBA episode that aired Monday September 6 - our Telling Tales show. That's because it's a rerun...

Sneak Peek at WCBA's Next Show on Green Hospitals

Good environmental citizens reduce, reuse, and recycle. But hospitals have been slow to put the 3-Rs into practice in part because of fears that doing...

WCBA Season Debut

Saturday, September 11, 2010 | Categories: Health Professionals, Past Episodes, Past Episodes, Pharma, Technology & Innovation |

I'm thrilled to say we're back with a new season of new episodes of White Coat, Black Art beginning with today's episode.  And this season,...

Euthanasia Debate Heats Up in Quebec

This week, a committee of Quebec's National Assembly begings public consultations on a controversial proposal to allow patients with terminal diseases to request a doctor's...

Medical Errors: a list you don't want to ignore

Medical errors have been in the news lately.  An Ontario provincial review probing unnecessary surgeries at a Windsor hospital found significant concerns with the work of...

Pharma-Sponsored Research: Good News Means Bias

A new study finds that published research paid for by drug companies is more likely than not to be favorable to the company's product.  Researchers...

MDs at the Root of Big Pharma's Influence

Big Pharma's influence on the practice of medicine is pervasive.  From med school to retirement, pharmaceutical companies nurture relationships with health professionals.  What strikes me...

MDs and Patients as Facebook Friends? Think Twice

Well, it was bound to happen.  With the plethora of social networks, it was inevitable that a patient would cross the boundary and ask their...

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