White Coat, Black Art with Dr. Brian Goldman
Latest
These easy wins could alleviate wait times at hospital ERs, experts suggest
Online triage, rapid assessment zones, and more accountability could decrease record-high wait times at emergency rooms.
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What do I need to know about IUDs?
Intrauterine devices, also known as IUDs, are a popular form of birth control in this country. This week on The Dose, Dr. Renée Hall, medical director of Kelowna General Hospital's Women’s Services Clinic, shares what you need to know about IUDs.
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The trouble with IUDs (Part 2)
After hearing from dozens of women about their experience with IUD pain in Part 1, we find out how some gynecologists like Dr. Fiona Mattatall are making the experience of getting an IUD more comfortable, though there’s no standardized pain control methods proven to work for everyone.
The Dose
What should I do when the mask mandates are lifted?
Mask mandates have been lifted in several provinces, though some hospitals and long-term care homes are still insisting on masks. Omicron and subvariants have not disappeared. So this week we’re asking: What should I do when the mask mandates are lifted? Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa, helps us navigate.
The Dose
Neuroscientists offer 3 lifestyle choices to help boost your memory
Worries about dementia often rank high in polls of Canadians' health concerns, but a neurologist says there are ways to keep our cherished memories strong.
Women have sucked up the pain of birth control devices for decades, but do they have to?
A growing chorus of women are demanding better education and pain management for those who experience discomfort during the insertion of the tiny T-shaped birth control devices known as IUDs.
The Dose
How much could drug decriminalization help with harm reduction?
British Columbia has become the first jurisdiction in Canada to legalize the possession of small quantities of hard drugs, which means no criminal penalties for carrying small amounts of street drugs like crystal meth. This move is part of a big idea called harm reduction. So how much could drug decriminalization help with harm reduction? Dr. Hakique Virani, an addiction medicine and public health physician in Edmonton, explains.
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The Recovery Sessions
The Recovery Sessions explores the challenges of Canadians as they deal with collateral damage from the pandemic: anxiety, weight gain and other health effects. We chose three volunteers and paired each with a health professional for coaching sessions on moving forward.
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Sonali's story
On his 45th wedding anniversary, Ramesh Karnick was at home with his wife, Sandhya, when he appeared to lose consciousness. He was taken to a hospital. Ramesh was in a coma for five weeks before he passed away. His daughter Sonali has spent years trying to answer the question: how did her father die?
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Foreseeable deaths
Canada's assisted dying law now includes deaths that are not reasonably foreseeable for people with serious and incurable illnesses or disabilities who aren't dying in the near future. Dr. Stefanie Green, president of the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers, and Dr. Naheed Dosani, a palliative care physician and health justice activist, share how the law opens the door to Canadians seeking MAiD as a means of escape from intolerable lives.
The Dose
What do I need to know about monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a viral infection that’s usually found in parts of Africa. But the current outbreak has shown up in countries including the U.K., Spain, Portugal, Australia, the U.S. and Canada. That’s just one of several things that has doctors puzzled. So this week we’re asking: What do I need to know about monkeypox? We get some clues from Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases specialist with the University of Alberta.
First Person
How I'm taking small steps to feel comfortable around people again post-pandemic
Kealey Pringle, who lives in Saanichton, B.C., has health risk factors for COVID-19 and has been dealing with anxiety during the pandemic. As cases come down, she's taking steps to re-enter the world outside her home and create more connections with people.
Q&A
Maria Boutilier: housekeeper and health-care hero
Maria Boutilier is an unsung hero of the pandemic for keeping up with the frenetic pace of cleaning and getting rooms and stretchers ready for patients sick with COVID.
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The Recovery Sessions 1 - Kealey and AnnMarie
BONUS PODCAST: Listen to the one-on-one coaching sessions between Kealey Pringle and AnnMarie Churchill, a social worker in St. John’s. She's helping Kealey take baby steps towards overcoming her COVID fears and rekindling her in-person social life.
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What do we know about severe acute hepatitis in kids?
More than a dozen possible cases of severe acute hepatitis in children have popped up in Canada and many –including parents and researchers– are trying to figure out why.
She was sterilized without her consent at 14. Now she wants the practice made a crime
Author and activist Morningstar Mercredi is calling for an end to forced and coerced sterilization, in the hopes that women — especially First Nations, Inuit and Métis women — will never suffer the physical and mental trauma it inflicted upon her.
THE DOSE
Q&A: What running can do for your health, according to a sport medicine physician
Running is said to be one of the best cardio exercises you can do to stay in shape. One sport medicine physician speaks to the research.
Q&A: Two family doctors on why they needed to cut back
Some family doctors are struggling with huge patient loads, paperwork and the pandemic and have opted to cut back or cut out of medicine altogether.
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What can vitamin D actually do for my health?
Vitamin D has been touted as a "wonder treatment" with a lot of health benefits. But what can vitamin D actually do for my health? This week on The Dose, Dr. Peter Lin, a Toronto-based family physician, speaks about what the research shows, dosage amounts, and much more.
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Damaged
Childhood neglect and abuse can lead to serious health problems in adults. Toronto psychiatrists Dr. Bob Maunder and Dr. Jon Hunter are calling for radical change to deal with this national epidemic in their new book, "Damaged: Childhood Trauma, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution."
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What do we know about long COVID?
Since the first days of the pandemic, people who have recovered from the coronavirus have complained of long COVID symptoms. There’s still a lot to learn about the condition, but researchers are looking for answers. We spoke with Manali Mukherjee, assistant professor of medicine at McMaster University and affiliate scientist with the Research Institute of St. Joe’s Hamilton.
First Person
Cancer taught me the hard truth about speaking up for myself
As a little girl, Jennifer Fotheringham was shushed for asking about cancer. As a grown woman, she was dismissed for asking about a mammogram. Now as a cancer survivor, she knows not to be silenced.
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What do we know about how seasonal allergies are changing?
This year's allergy season has come early in parts of Canada, with some specialists saying there's growing evidence to suggest a connection to climate change. We spoke with Dr. Anne Ellis, professor of medicine and chair of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Queen's University.
Canada's guidelines say most women in their 40s don't need a mammogram. This breast cancer survivor disagrees
Currently, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) doesn't recommend a mammogram for women aged 40 to 49 if they don't have any pre-existing factors that put them at risk of breast cancer. Some experts and breast cancer survivors worry that women are getting the wrong message.
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What do I need to know about Paxlovid?
The sixth wave of COVID-19 has seen an increase in hospitalizations and more ICU admissions. What’s different this time is that we have a new medication called Paxlovid that can keep at-risk people out of hospital. We hear all the details on Paxlovid from Kelly Grindrod, a pharmacist and associate professor at the school of pharmacy at the University of Waterloo.
