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In this edition

View previous updates

• The " Short" Report from Dr. Christine Short
• Important dates
• In memoriam: Dr. Ron Stewart
• Member updates
• A continuation of our "Conflict and Culture" series
• Awards and recognitions
• DoM in the news
• Research
• Education
• Learning opportunities
• Quick reference / recurring content

Mi'kmaw History Month, 2024: "Food Gathers us Together"

In Mi’kmaw tradition, food doesn't just nurture people's physical health; it also nurtures communities, ceremonies, and collective well-being. Like healthcare, food and its significance in Mi'kmaw culture is rooted in care, resilience, and healing.

Learning more about Mi'kmaw culture and heritage and recognizing the values of netukulimk – living sustainably with respect for all life – can inspire holistic approaches to patient care, education, research, and community health. This month reminds us of the importance of honoring treaty relationships, including our shared responsibility to protect natural environments that support well-being for all.

Visit mikmaqhistorymonth.ca to learn more about the history and importance Mi'kmaw History Month for all of us who live and work on Mi'kma'ki; and, to learn more about this year's theme, take a closer look at the poster above – clicking on it will enlarge it.



Canadian Islamic History Month, 2024: "Health and Healing"

Canadian Islamic History Month aims to celebrate and share with fellow Canadians the rich Muslim heritage and contributions to society in sciences, humanities, medicine, astronomy, and other disciplines that have greatly benefited human progress.

This year's theme is "Health & Healing," offering a special opportunity to explore and celebrate the profound contributions of Muslim scholars and scientists to the field of medicine. Throughout history, Muslim physicians, scientists, and scholars have pioneered work in medicine, laying the foundation for modern healthcare practices. Their innovations not only advanced medical knowledge, but also introduced new approaches to healing and wellness that resonate with us even now.

Scan the QR code above or visit islamichistorymonth.ca to learn more, including a list of Muslim luminaries in the field of medicine.



Annual Flu Campaign / Departmental Flu Champions

Nova Scotia Health's Annual Flu Campaign is currently underway until mid-December. Click here to see the flu clinic schedules, and click here if you're interested in becoming a Departmental Flu Champion.

You can also get your flu vaccination from participating family doctors, nurse practitioners, family practice nurses, pharmacies, public health offices and mobile units. Options for booking an appointment (including for COVID-19 vaccines):

• online at NS Vaccine Booking Page - CANImmunize
• through the YOURHealthNS app
• by calling 1-833-797-7772
• by calling your primary care provider

If you receive your influenza immunization in the community, please report it to OHSW.

November 19 - Research Evening

Taking place on November 19 from 6:00-8:30pm at Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub (1625 Grafton Street, 13th floor, South Tower), Research Evening is an event to celebrate research in the Department of Medicine. Awards will be presented and several speakers will highlight their work in research.

Please consider attending this inspiring and illuminating event! Register on Eventbrite at this link.



December 5 - Holiday Party

Join us for our annual holiday party on December 5! This festive, drop-in event will be held at the Prince George Hotel from 6:30-9:30 pm. Mingle with your colleagues while enjoying appetizers and two complimentary drinks. All DoM members are welcome, and you are invited to bring a plus one as well.

If you haven't received a save-the-date for the party in your inbox, please email Nicole Chiasson at nicole.chiasson@nshealth.ca and she will forward it to you. See you there!



December 6 - Medicine Matters

At this full-day, educational event on Friday, December 6, from 8:25 am - 4:15 pm, CHEB, Room 170 (Collaborative Health Building, 5793 University Ave), participants can expect to:

• Learn how to recognize when change is needed, and how to incorporate effective change using change management models
• Understand the basics of harm reduction approach, and the management of bacterial complications of injection drug use
• Be able to summarize the new recommendations based on evidence and expert clinical remarks for screening (ILD in systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease, lung cancer), treatment (COPD), medications (obesity), and vaccinations.
• Learn how to integrate the new recommendations and guidelines in clinical practice
• Develop an informed approach to incorporating AI scribes in clinical encounters
• Understand the benefits and concerns of social media in medicine

Register for Medicine Matters here, and view the event program for full details.

To help further the work of our strategic plan, we are focusing on strengthening our toolkit to improve culture and address conflict in our workplace. Content is submitted by our externally contracted culture and conflict experts, Diane LeBlanc, Basia Solarz, and Brennan Dempsey.

Welcome back to Brennan Dempsey’s review of The Mindful MD by Gail Gazelle. In Part 1, Brennan examined how Gazelle identifies the root causes of burnout among physicians and the foundational mindfulness techniques she offers to help distance oneself from negative thoughts and self-criticism. Now, Brennan continues his review by exploring Gazelle’s insights on reducing emotional reactivity, cultivating compassion, and rediscovering purpose in the medical profession.

The Mindful MD – A Path to Autonomy and Burnout Relief (Part 2 of 2)



Building on the strategies we covered in Part 1 of my review, Gazelle’s next injunction is to “step out of mental stories.” Long, exhausting work days can lead to mental narratives about inefficacy, regret, and frustration. Some physicians ruminate or worry about mistakes and their impact. As one cardiologist told Gazelle, those worries are “like a drug with a terrible side effect profile.” Gazelle tells us that we should not try to banish these stories entirely, for, as she says, “what you resist, persists.” Instead, mindfulness requires seeing these stories for what they are and recognizing where they depart from reality. Even recognizing that we are caught up in a story of our own making can help us focus on what is true. 

Gazelle goes on to explain that mindfulness is also about reducing our mental and emotional reactivity. Frustration over electronic medical systems and paperwork, charting, impositions from above, and dysfunction can lead to an emotional storm that is difficult to escape. In Gazelle’s experience, physicians share common triggers that drive their emotions: being told they are not doing a good job, a sense of being treated unfairly, and feeling like they are not being respected. Like negative thoughts, these triggers by themselves are often transitory; the problem is that we get caught in a feedback cycle of emotions we struggle to escape. She suggests that we can reduce this reactivity by taking purposeful pauses as short as three breaths to create a gap between ourselves and our emotions. We can also become observers of our own inner state: rather than standing under the waterfall of our feelings, we can watch it cascade from a more distant vantage point. Finally, Gazelle recommends a meditation practice to reduce emotional reactivity, which is empirically proven to have a positive effect on burnout. 



NSH Quality Awards - Open for Nominations until November 13

The annual NS Health Quality Awards competition is open for submissions! This is an opportunity to share the great quality work that your team is doing across NS Health and to showcase your team’s commitment to excellence, quality improvement, patient experience, and patient safety.

Nova Scotia Health Quality Awards are modeled on the Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) National Awards Program. Apply by 4 pm on Wednesday, November 13. All details can be found in the submissions forms online at this link.



Making Waves Awards - Open for Nominations until November 15

The Making Waves Awards recognize the exemplary efforts and contributions of employees, physicians, researchers and volunteers who advance Nova Scotia Health’s values and strategic directions.

If you are interested in nominating a colleague, nominations are now open for the 2024 awards until November 15! Visit this page to make your nomination, and review this list of the most recent winners for the eligible categories.

Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Awards - Open for Nominations until November 30

The Canadian Medical Association’s annual awards celebrate changemakers from across the country for their significant contributions to health, health care and the medical profession.

Recipients of the CMA Awards come from different career stages, specialties and backgrounds, and from rural and remote areas as well as big cities. They also reflect the diversity of the profession and the communities we serve.

The nomination period for the 2025 CMA Awards is now open and closes on November 30. Learn how to make your nomination, here.

‘Revolutionizing’ cancer treatment: How donor CAR T-cells changed Debbie Purchase’s life

In this article by Nova Scotia Health, they recount how CAR T-cell therapy transformed the life of Debbie Purchase after other treatments failed. Dr. Mahmoud Elsawy, from our Division of Hematology, led the way, offering a donor-based CAR T-cell infusion—a groundbreaking approach with curative potential.

Debbie’s journey proves the power of clinical research and personalized care, and Dr. Elsawy's work reflects our department’s commitment to advancing treatments that change lives. Read the full article to learn more.

UIMRF Competition, 2024

Don't miss out! UIMRF is currently accepting applications for grant and fellowship funding for the following categories and deadlines:

• Matching Research Funds – deadline 4 weeks prior to external application deadline

If you haven't received them already, please contact DoMResearch@nshealth.ca for information and application forms.

Canadian Patient Safety Week Webinars

For Canadian Patient Safety Week, October 28 to November 1, Nova Scotia Health and Healthcare Excellence Canada are hosting a series of events and learning opportunities over Zoom. We think the following will be of particular interest:

• Expanding Perspectives: Understanding and Reducing Healthcare Harm, October 28, noon to 1:00 pm ET: "Gain a comprehensive understanding of healthcare harm, including physical, psychological, social, and spiritual harm." Sign up at this link.

• First Nations, Inuit and Metis Experiences with Racism and in Healthcare Systems, October 19, noon to 1:30 pm ET: "In this webinar, learn about the impact of distinctions-based experiences of racism in healthcare systems.” Sign up at this link.

• Let's Talk About Safer Care in the Community, October 30, noon to 1:30 pm ET: "Explore a broadened understanding of harm and what safety means to those providing and receiving health and social care in the community." Sign up at this link.



Creating Healthy Learning Environments: A Dalhousie Webinar Series

In this webinar series from October 21-November 29, open to all faculty at Dalhousie's Faculty of Medicine, you will:

• Recognize how the learning environment is linked to student/trainee and faculty wellness; develop approaches to support student/trainee wellness.
• Learn what is meant by student/trainee mistreatment, how it occurs, and what can be done about it in relation to its impact on the learning environment.

Sign up and learn more here.



Medical Education Research Roundtables

Held on MS Teams from 12-1 pm, roundtables will be taking place on the following dates:

• November 12: Help me Understand…Authorship Dr. Sarah Burm
• December 10: Rigour in Qualitative Inquiry Dr. Jacqueline Torti
• January 14: Developing and revising an interview guide for quality interviews: A real-life example Dr. Dawn Burleigh & Dr. Sarah Burm

(February to June dates TBD.)

For more information, please contact sara.burm@dal.ca.



Department of Medicine

Mental Health & Well-Being

Nova Scotia Health

Additional Links

We Teach, Research, and Serve our patients on Mi’kmaw territory, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people. The people of the Mi’kmaw Nation have lived on this territory for millennia, and we acknowledge them as the past, present, and future caretakers of this land. We are all Treaty people.



We recognize that African Nova Scotians are a distinct people whose histories, legacies, and contributions have enriched that part of Mi’kma’ki known as Nova Scotia for over 400 years.