“Health care may be a misnomer, and we have an effective—if expensive—“illness care system” to mend us when we break”

Ken MacQueen, Maclean’s

“It’s time for Canadian governments to stop throwing money at our fundamentally broken system. Australia is a fine example of a universal health care system that puts patients first. Canada would be wise to follow its lead on cost-sharing, activity-based funding, and private-sector involvement.”

Nadeem Esmail, Fraser Institute director of health policy studies

and author of Health Care Lessons from Australia

“Canadians are proud of their medicare system…Medicare is, to many, a badge of citizenship” 

Andre Picard, Globe and Mail

Not a week goes by that our healthcare system is not in the news. Ask any Canadian on the street about what “defines our country”, and I am sure that universal health care will frequent that list. A national issue, health care is important to us all, and especially important to federal and provincial governments, providers, educators, researchers, private enterprise, and of course, our patients.

Health care costs are escalating quickly. Presently they are the single largest public sector expense, and if left on its current trajectory, could dominate up to 80% of provincial spending within a decade. That same government, by the way, is grappling with a $15 billion-plus deficit. The spending per capita for citizens 80-plus is more than $20 thousand each year; more than triple the amount for the 65-79 age group. And, our population is growing greyer and frailer – faster.

With, perhaps, the exception of the environment, it is the single most complex issue of the day.

There have been many attempts to address the issue: studies, reports, commissions, and conferences. Although these have engendered debate, very few of these efforts have catalyzed specific action.

In collaboration with the Queen’s School of Business’ Monieson Center and the School of Policy Studies, our Faculty is participating in an event next month. The conference, which is intended to lay out a blueprint for change, is starting on June 13-14 in Toronto, and is entitled: “Toward a Canadian Healthcare Strategy”. This will be the first in a series of Queen’s Health Policy Conferences aimed at transformational change in Canadian healthcare. Let me assure this is not your average mass conference gathering in a convention center. Limited to 150 senior-level participants – this is more of a think-tank or executive retreat designed to develop a vision and template for sustainable change to our system. Attendees will benefit from seven international perspectives on change, three industry panels (healthcare associations, policy research and business), and conversations with Canadian thought leaders, including an economist, a senator, a premier, a deputy minister and a former prime minister.

I strongly encourage leaders from healthcare, government, academe and business to attend.

You can visit the conference website here: www.queenshealthpolicychange.ca

Click here to register

I have had the great pleasure of working closely with the leadership of the Monieson Centre and the School of Policy Studies to explore opportunities to work together. So why take the initiative to do something together? Simple. We have the academic and intellectual bench strength at Queen’s on the business, policy, practice and science fronts to be a catalyst, to take a leadership role in system transformation – to build the roadmap to doing a better job with a shrinking envelope of healthcare dollars.

If you have any observations or comments that you would like to share on ‘fixing’ healthcare in Canada, please comment on this blog, or better yet, drop by the Macklem House…my door is always open.

Richard

Dr. Antoine Hakim
Dr. Arnold Naimark
Dr. David H. MacLennan
Dr. Bette Stephenson
Dr. Claude Roy
The Late Dr. Ian Rusted

Find out more about the Laureates via this link: http://www.cdnmedhall.org/six-medical-heroes-named-canadas-2013-hall-fame-inductees

Collectively these eminent Canadians have made a remarkable difference to the health and welfare of our nation that all Canadians can be proud of. By the way, Canada is the only country in the world to have a hall of fame to celebrate medical heroes.

My sincere congratulations go out to Dalhousie University Dean of Medicine, Tom Marrie, Honorary Chairs Dr. Richard Goldbloom and his late wife Ruth, the members of the Halifax induction committee, and to CMHF Executive Director Janet Tufts and her team. This event is an enormous amount of work – Dalhousie and the City of Halifax have set the bar very high.

There was an exciting Queen’s connection to last night too. You see, Dr. Marrie ‘passed the torch’ to me as the next host university/city: Queen’s University and Kingston, for the first time, are going to host the 2014 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony!

Of course it is a very special privilege to host this event, to celebrate and honour six pre-eminent Canadians. But this is also an opportunity for us to open the doors of our fair city to Canada’s medical heroes and more than 500 guests from across Canada.

I told the audience that Kingston is a “city of heroes”: home to CFB Kingston, Royal Military College, Queen’s University, St Lawrence College and three outstanding hospitals. We are very proud of our historic city, and equally very proud of people who make a difference for our country.

I said that we are honoured and very excited to host the 2014 Induction. To emphasize this point, we screened the video below featuring three people: Bob Reid (Meds’74), Amanda Lepp (MD candidate 2015) and Stephen Mann (orthopaedic surgery resident).

I could tell you more, but watch the video: I think these three (and some Queen’s students) do the best job of telling this story.

So, the countdown to the 2014 Induction Ceremony has begun. We already have a team of prominent Kingstonians and members of the healthcare community who have volunteered to be on our Induction Committee. Vice-Principal (Advancement) Tom Harris and myself will chair this group and we are delighted that Senator Hugh Segal and Queen’s Principal Daniel Woolf have agreed to be Honorary Co-Chairs. Together, we will make the 2014 event (also the 20^th anniversary ceremony) the best yet.

In keeping with the video theme…I hope that you will join us…in our city…at our university…to celebrate Canada’s medical heroes.

If you would like to comment on the Induction Ceremony or tell us about someone who has been a medical hero in your life, please comment on this blog, or better yet, drop by the Macklem House…my door is always open.

Richard

Each year, on the first day of medical school, I deliver a short talk to the class. My message is brief. I tell them all to be restless. I reinforce that as students who have just been accepted to a very competitive program, they have a responsibility to do something special.

Paxton Bach (Meds’13) has lived up to that responsibility, exceptionally. Yesterday, he became the first recipient of the Sandra Banner Student Award for Leadership from the Canadian Residence Matching Service (CaRMS) at the Canadian Conference for Medical Education (CCME) in Quebec City.

Dr Jennifer Carpenter, Office of Global Health, Queen’s University, Paxton Bach (Meds’13),
Richard Reznick

I was very proud to introduce Paxton at the ceremony, and would like to share some of those words with you so that you can get to know this remarkable Queen’s student:

“Paxton Bach has a passionate commitment to global health advocacy, equity and social accountability. He demonstrates the adage “think globally, act locally”, becoming involved locally, nationally, and internationally in leadership positions, including serving as the 2011-2012 Vice-President Global Health of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, as well as the President of CFMS-Canada to the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. In these roles he has helped support student-run programs, steer advocacy initiatives, and foster improved global health opportunities for medical students across the country, including leading the Canadian delegations to the 2012 IFMSA meetings in Accra, Ghana and Mumbai, India.

At Queen’s, Paxton has served as Global Health Liaison and been a key organizer of the Health and Human Rights Conference, which was awarded the Queen’s Human Rights Initiative Award during his tenure. Further afield, Paxton has demonstrated his personal commitment to international health advocacy through volunteer activities in rural Uganda, Kenya and Haiti.”

This award was named to honor 25 years of leadership by CaRMS by Executive Director and CEO Sandra Banner. The financial component of the award will support Paxton’s participation in the Junior Doctors Network of the World Medical Association at this year’s General Assembly in Brazil, allowing him to bring a Canadian perspective on global health education issues to the General Assembly, and contributing to the shaping of future WMA policy.

Again, congratulations Paxton! I hope that you (and your classmates) remain equally “restless” throughout your residency and your career.
If you have any anecdotes to share about students with this “restless” spirit, please comment on this blog …or better yet, please drop by the Macklem House, my door is always open.

Richard

PS – My thanks and congratulations to the AFMC for an excellent conference and to Université Laval for being such gracious hosts. And of course, my sincere thanks to all of the Queen’s School of Medicine personnel and students who presented and volunteered at CCME 2013.

The group had as its focus the appropriate recognition of clinical faculty for their efforts in educational programs and strategy.  They defined educational scholarship as “an umbrella term, which can encompass both research and innovation in health professions education. Quality in educational scholarship is attained through work that is: peer reviewed, publically disseminated and provides a platform that others can build on.”

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The definition emphasizes the broad notion of education scholarship, one that includes the concepts of innovation, curricular development and teaching strategies. In adopting a comprehensive framework for our understanding of what constitutes scholarship, the task force emphasized the need, in order for this type of work to be appropriately recognized, for it to be published or presented, for the work to peer reviewed, and importantly, that it must add to a conceptual framework on which future work can build.

The authors found that:

• The application of achievements in educational scholarship in the promotions process varies widely in Canada,

• the boundaries between scholarship, teaching and leadership are blurred,

• the department head is a key figure in promoting (or not) education scholarship as a bona fide career path,

• incentives for doing educational scholarship tend to be intrinsic, as opposed to extrinsic,

• there are many opportunities for clinicians to become engaged in educational scholarship.

The task group concluded with six recommendations: 1) the need to adopt a common language to differentiate teaching, leadership and educational scholarship, 2) the importance of developing guidelines that specify what constitutes scholarship and how to measure it, 3) ensuring that leaders understand how faculty can integrate educational scholarship into an academic career, 4) underscoring the importance of mentorship in this arena, 5) specifically defining how the various roles that academic clinicians play can qualify as scholarship, and 6) ensuring that schools are explicit in their criteria and provide faculty with a guide for the translation of their educational scholarship into recognized academic productivity.

Our clinical faculty spend thousands of hours each year dedicated to improving the education of their colleagues and our learners. Too often, this activity goes unrecognized and undervalued. The key, according to authors of the report, is that the work be translated into “true scholarship”, the notion of which can be broad, but the quality of which needs to be rigorous.

If you have any thoughts about the importance of education scholarship, comment on the blog…or better yet, please drop by the Macklem House, my door is always open.

Richard

1. http://www.came-acem.ca/docs/positionpapers/CAME-Position-Paper-April-2013-en.pdf
2. http://www.came-acem.ca/

I have the good fortune to talk with exceptional young people from Queen’s Faculty Health Sciences all the time.  Last week though, I met the 40 candidates who were here being interviewed for one of ten coveted spots in the new Queen’s University Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMS) initiative.  It was immediately clear to me that this is no ordinary group of 17 year olds, but don’t take my word for it: let the facts do the talking.

Of the 870 Queen’s Chancellor’s Award nominees from high schools across Canada, 516 (59%) had indicated on their applications that they wished to be considered for QuARMS. We received the top 203 ranked Chancellor’s Award nominees – asked these students to submit a supplemental QuARMS application and one letter of recommendation. Further rigorous screening led to a top “40″ list; these students were invited to interview at Queen’s last Wednesday.  Candidates were from Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and, India.

I asked Michael Kawaja, Vice-Dean Life Sciences for his thoughts on these first interviews: “As a co-director of QuARMS, having reviewed 40 applications of the 203 applications, and having interviewed 8 of 40 invitees, I can say that this cohort of high school students was quite impressive – there was an exceptionally high level of maturity, competency, and enthusiasm.  The vast array of life experiences that have led them to this decision to apply for QuARMS was so awe inspiring – volunteering in other countries to pursuing competitive figure skating to active involvement in their home communities.”

I echo Mike’s comments completely; and I am absolutely confident that this fall, our first 10 students in QuARMS will be among the most talented high school graduates to enter any Canadian university. I am equally confident that these students can be great physicians – great physicians that will benefit Canadian patients two years sooner, and for two years longer, than the norm.

These first interviews were a great success and there are a number of people who should take a bow: QuARMS co-director Dr. Hugh MacDonald, our Associate Dean, Tony Sanfilippo, the ten faculty interviewers, fifteen undergraduate medical student interviewers and the staff members (a special note of thanks to UGME Admissions Officer Rebecca Jozsa for organizing the applications and the interview day).

The ten successful candidates will enter into the Faculty of Arts and Science this fall and spend two years pursuing general studies. During this time they will receive enrichment experiences delivered by the Faculty of Health Sciences. The students, assuming they maintain an academic standard we predict they will achieve, will then enter the first year medical school class in the fall of 2016.

If you have any comments on this “rebuttal” to the eminent Mr. Shaw, or the QuARMS initiative, respond to this post; or better yet…please drop by my office at the Macklem House, my door is always open.

Richard

Peter Aitken, Communications Office in FHS, assisted in the writing of this blog

On March 27, 2013, The National Advisory Council on Prescription Drug Misuse released its report entitled: First Do No Harm: Responding to Canada’s Prescription Drug Crisis. This comprehensive report was developed by a partnership that includes the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), the Coalition on Prescription Drug Misuse (Alberta) and the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness, and Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch’s Prescription Drug Abuse Coordinating Committee (PDACC). ¹

This is a major problem in Canada. We rank as the second largest per capita consumer of opioids. In the last decade, the use of these often-dangerous drugs has increased 200%. ²

Dr. Andrea Fulran, of the University Health Network, said the strategy is a step towards eliminating overdose deaths. Quoting Dr. Furlan form CTV’s website, she indicates “My vision, and I think the vision of everybody that’s involved in this national strategy, is to have zero overdose deaths,” she said. “That’s unacceptable that people are dying because of an overdose of a prescription drug that is supposed to help them.”³

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The strategy was developed in response to an ever-growing concern about the deleterious effects of opioids, sedatives and stimulants. The authors of the report suggest “the management of acute and chronic pain and the use of prescription opioids are often linked, as are the treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders and the use of benzodiazepines. However, the use of these medications is associated with risk of harm such as addiction and death from overdose.”¹ The report also emphasizes that certain sectors of Canada’s population, are especially vulnerable. The report references “environmental and social conditions that increase risk for women, youth, seniors, First Nations and Inuit, and newborns” and recommend that health care workers pay special attention to these groups at risk.

The report lists 12 recommendations which are reproduced below and include: ¹

1. Educate and empower the public and promote healthy and safe communities;

2. Promote appropriate prescribing and dispensing practices among healthcare practitioners;

3. Increase timely, equitable access to a range of effective treatment options throughout the continuum of pain and addictions treatment;

4. Identify effective, evidence-informed practices and policies and build upon them;

5. Develop a standardized pan-Canadian surveillance system to improve our understanding of the nature and extent of the harms associated with prescription drugs in Canada;

6. Establish prescription-monitoring programs in each province and territory to share information about prescribing and dispensing practices across disciplines and jurisdictions on a timely basis and take timely action;

7. Ensure that law enforcement has adequate tools, training and resources to address the diversion of prescription drugs;

8. Engage industry, governments, regulatory bodies and others with a stake in this issue to join forces, commit to specific recommendations, leverage existing resources and strengthen system capacity to address this issue;

9. Develop or clarify legislation and regulations to reduce barriers to effective treatment and prevent harms;

10. Conduct research to address knowledge gaps and promote effective strategies to deal with this important issue;

11. Engage industry in concrete, responsible actions that promote patient safety, improved patient outcomes and risk mitigation; and

12. Provide a contextual lens to First Nations, geographically remote, isolated and rural populations.

This is an excellent reminder to all of us in the health care field to better understand the growing issue with medication abuse, to be constantly vigilant as prescribers, and to be mindful of social conditions and vulnerable populations which may make some individuals especially susceptible to this issue.

If you have any comments about the report, comment on the blog, or better yet, pleased drop by the Macklem House, my door is always open.

Richard

1. http://www.ccsa.ca/Eng/Pages/Home.aspx?utm_source=NR&utm_medium=NewsRelease&utm_campaign=Rx2013
2. http://www.680news.com/2013/03/27/national-strategy-blueprint-for-tackling-prescription-drug-abuse-crisis-in-canada/
3. http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/medication-abuse-strategy-calls-for-more-monitoring-of-prescriptions-1.1213048
4. http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://i2.pcimg.org/news/u/2009/01/opioidabuselessthanimagined-amongpainclient.jpg&imgrefurl=http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/01/21/opioid-abuse-less-than-imagined-among-pain-clients/3675.html&usg=__mf69_b-xnHUdh4Mxpy8cKRaBQ8I=&h=183&w=280&sz=7&hl=en&start=6&sig2=eybppXNPo8FuUwXnNBpoiw&zoom=1&tbnid=Zsd9YDpABBMk9M:&tbnh=75&tbnw=114&ei=HrdYUb2zKsP7yAGx-4HYDQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dopioids%2Babuse%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&sa=X&ved=0CDcQrQMwBQ

The Passover seder (in the Diaspora it is customary to have two seders) is the main celebratory event of an eight-day holiday, commemorating the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt in 1313 BCE. Traditions that have persisted in Jewish homes for 3300 years abound.¹

The youngest in the house starts the proceedings by asking four questions focused on the learning why things are different during Passover. For example, he or she asks why for 8 days during Passover, Jews only eat Matzah, or unleavened bread; while the rest of the year, consumption of either is permissible.

To get the answers to the questions, we read the story of the escape from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians from the Haggadah, a ritual story-telling book used exclusively for Passover. In it we are reminded of the 10 plagues that the Lord cast down on the Egyptians that facilitated the delivery from bondage. We are told that the reason for eating Matzah is to commemorate the quick escape the Jews had to make, and in so doing, had to eat a cracker-like version of bread, because during their haste to escape, they didn’t have time to wait for the bread to rise.

The Haggadah is filled with other rituals, such as the eating of bitter herbs, to remind us of the suffering of our ancestors and everyone’s favourite, the drinking of four cups of wine, scheduled into the ceremonial recitations.

For our family, the best part of the Seder is the singing of ritual songs that help in telling the story of Passover. I remember as if it were yesterday, when our three kids were very young, gathering around me each evening for about a week before the Seders, so I could teach them the songs. And then, each year, I would sit around the Passover table with pride as they sang (at the top of their lungs) the traditional verses.

Passover is happy holiday. A time of family, a time of remembering and re-telling a people’s history, a time to reflect that we are carrying on traditions that have lasted for over 3000 years, and a time to count our blessings and celebrate life.

On behalf of our family (Cheryl, Joanna, Joshua, Gabriel (and Jake)), we wish all of our Jewish students, faculty, staff, colleagues and alumni a happy Passover.

If you have any Passover stories, just comment on the blog, or better yet…please stop by the Macklem House, my door is always open.

Richard

1. http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/871715/jewish/What-Is-Passover.htm

The first Jesuit Pope, Cardinal Bergoglio chose the name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, Founder of the Franciscan Order, and known for his work with impoverished people of his day. The new pope’s history appears to predict that the poor and disenfranchised will be a focus for his papacy.

Social Determinants of Health

If even modestly successful in impacting the issues of poverty, hunger, housing, and access to clean water, the impact of this new pope on world health issues may be quite profound. The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as “… conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels. The social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities – the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries.”¹ It has been discussed by many in the field of public health, that the most major threats to global health, emanate from very fundamental inequities. For example, the CDC, in a recent white paper, outlined a strategic vision for reducing health disparities and promoting health equity; especially as it relates to globally impactful diseases, such as HIV, STD’s, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis.²

There is strong evidence that the new Pope will focus on issues of hunger and poverty. In 2007, he is quoted as saying (of Argentina) “We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least. The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers.”³

Recently, Pope Francis gave us a glimpse of his views on the intersection between the Catholic church and poverty, when he said: that “he wants a more austere Catholic Church – that it should be poor and remember that its mission is to serve the poor.”⁴

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, expressed a desire to pursue common goals (with the new Pope) “from the promotion of peace, social justice and human rights, to the eradication of poverty and hunger.” ⁵

Organizations worldwide that focus on the disenfranchised have commented positively on the election of Bergoglio as Pope. For example, Bread of the World suggested that “It is a major accomplishment for hungry and poor people that a Jesuit choosing to be named after St. Francis of Assisi is named the new pontiff of the Catholic Church. The pope is not only the head of the Catholic Church, but a powerful world leader. We pray Pope Francis’s new position will shed a new light on the needs of the poor and help emphasize the importance of ending global poverty.”⁶

There are many social issues that face the Catholic Church. It is unlikely that we will see major changes to the church’s current policies on the important issues such gay marriage, abortion, contraception and women in the priesthood. This notwithstanding, if Pope Francis, using his influence as a world leader, can “move the needle”, even slightly, on issues such as poverty and hunger, he will leave an important legacy on global health.

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1. http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/
2. http://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/
3. http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/Pope+Francis+things+watch/8107220/story.html
4. http://www.bnltimes.com/index.php/daily-times/headlines/international/14183-pope-francis-wants-church-to-be-poor-and-for-the-poor
5. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-hailed-by-international-leaders/
6. http://www.bread.org/media/releases/bread-for-the-world-4.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20bread%2Freleases%20%28Bread%20for%20the%20World%20Press%20Releases%29
7. http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/gty_pope_waving_francis_nt_130313_mn.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/03/13/pope-francis-is-in-some-ways-a-cautious-choice/&usg=__cSR4-n-xgaht0pVk7MoyNPsUIR0=&h=240&w=320&sz=23&hl=en&start=20&sig2=AQwFCQTpogcKp5o4i6Z4WA&zoom=1&tbnid=KQdT2_RtX9zQbM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=118&ei=Z_FFUbT5LaXUygGv04GYCA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpope%2Bfrancis%2Bglobal%2Bhealth%2Bpoverty%2Bhunger%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&sa=X&ved=0CE8QrQMwEw

The faculty include some of our top investigators at Queen’s from the School of Rehabilitation Therapy, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and the departments of Surgery, Global Development Studies, Kinesiology and Health Studies, Community Health and Epidemiology and Family Medicine. Prominent international keynote speakers include John Bartlett (Duke University’s Global Health Institute) and Luis Ortiz Hernández (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City). Areas of study during the weeklong course include global health with vulnerable populations, service reconstruction in areas of conflict and innovation in the area of global health.

This past weekend, Associate-Dean Tony Sanfilippo and his team in the Undergraduate Medical Education office welcomed the first group of young people to Queen’s for the 2013 medical school interviews. As always, these candidates are special – highly talented and accomplished. With 3818 applications for our 100 positions this past year, just getting to the interview stage (three times the national average!) is an achievement onto itself. Before being invited to an interview here, applications are closely scrutinized on several factors: GPA, MCAT score, autobiographical sketches and reference letters.

At Queen’s, like most Canadian medical schools, we use the multiple mini interview system to assess an applicants empathy, critical thinking, ethical decision-making and communication skills. Ninety minutes long, each candidate goes through a series of eight-minute interactions involving faculty members and students at stations set up throughout the Medical Building.

Make no mistake this is a rigorous process, and one that the candidates often dedicate many an hour to (and probably a few sleepless nights) with intense preparation. Doing a quick check, I found that the ‘dreaded’ med school interview has begat a cottage industry of sorts that includes tutors, online tools for fee and many books (321 on Amazon Canada alone!). Facebook pages/tweets by the thousands, forums (like premed101.com, pictured above), and blogs abound, some with tens of thousands of hits.

By Dr. Sanfilippo’s own admission, the medical admission system is not perfect (click here to read his excellent blog on the topic) and choosing from such exceptional people is a daunting task. Regardless, what I find special about our interview weekend is that yes, we put the candidates through their paces, but we do so in a way that speaks volumes about the character quality of Queen’s.

First off, Tony and his staff go out of their way to ensure that every candidate is treated with the utmost of professionalism and feels genuinely welcomed by our staff and faculty to our medical school. The students get into this too, in a big way. The class of 2016, has worked with the UGME office to set up a dedicated website https://meds.queensu.ca/central/community/mdinterviews with information about the interview weekend and student blogs/testimonials about studying medicine at Queen’s. One of the highlights of the weekend is the playing of a video produced by the first-year class. Below is a link to this year’s video (teaser only, we have another interview weekend and I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise) and to some from past years:

2013 video (teaser) – class of 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmOIQV5y-p4

2012 video (class of 2015)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GadCgcoFq4o

2011 video class of 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9-BHY1NT1Y

We have one more interview weekend coming up on March 23, 24, but I would like to take this moment and thank Tony Sanfilippo, our faculty, staff and students for all of their hard work in making this important weekend a success. My sincere thanks also to Hugh MacDonald (Director of Admissions) and his committee; and to the many, many Queen’s faculty who have assisted with the admissions process. I am greatly looking forward to welcoming the successful candidates to campus this fall as our class of 2017!

If you have any stories of medical school interviews that you would like to share, please respond to this blog, or better yet, drop by the Macklem House…my door is always open.

Richard