The benefits of team-based care

05/26/22 • 28 min

Sound Mind: conversations about physician wellness and medical culture

The shortage of health care workers in Canada is a growing crisis. The daily tradeoffs of caring for patients while keeping up with administrative demands is leading to burnout – and prompting some professionals to trade private clinics and hospitals for team-based practices.

“Working in a team makes me feel valued. I feel like I have a team that supports me just as much as I support the physician... There's no worrying about rushing to finish your shift and having to choose between not giving care rounds to my patients or not documenting in the EMR.” – Shawna Pasiciel, HealthWORX Medical Clinic

In this episode, host Dr. Caroline Gérin‐Lajoie speaks to Vancouver family doctor Christie Newton and registered nurse Shawna Pasiciel, of Medicine Hat, Alberta, about the wellness benefits of interprofessional collaboration – both for health care professionals and their patients.
If you're looking for resources, tools, and research on the topics covered today, please visit the CMA Physician Wellness Hub at cma.ca.

Previous Episode

Rediscovering meaning in medicine

The strain of working in a health system on the brink – not to mention two years of a pandemic – can erode the sense of meaning that motivates so many physicians. But two emergency doctors, Anthony Fong in Vancouver and Daniel Kollek in Hamilton, found inspiration by going towards, rather than away, from crisis on a volunteer medical mission in Ukraine.

“We provided emergency care in a setting that was really needed... And we didn't have all the bells and whistles you might find in an emerg (ED) in downtown Vancouver. But it doesn't matter. All that matters in that case, in that situation, is that you're communicating as a team and doing as much as you can.” -- Dr. Anthony Fong, Vancouver Coastal Health

In this episode, host Dr. Caroline Gérin‐Lajoie speaks to the two physicians about the conditions they faced at the Ukraine/Poland border, the care they provided and the impact of their experiences on their sense of purpose in medicine.

“It certainly charged my batteries. It reminded me that what I’m doing is helping people in a meaningful way. It also reminded me that we are phenomenally fortunate, not only because we're away from war, but because of all the resources we have. All that context is important.” – Dr. Daniel Kollek, Centre for Excellence in Emergency Preparedness

If you're looking for resources, tools, and research on the topics covered today, please visit the CMA Physician Wellness Hub at cma.ca.

Next Episode

Being Indigenous in med school

Medical school is tough enough. For Indigenous students, it can also be fraught with racism, and the pressure to share their cultural ‘expertise’ with teachers and classmates.

“A lot of the time, the stereotypes they’ve grown up with, their internal bias, the racism they don’t realize is there, comes to the surface, and it can be very traumatic as an Indigenous student to hear that, to sit through that, to sometimes have the questions directed at you.” - Jayelle Friesen-Enns

On this episode of Sound Mind, Dr. Caroline Gerin-Lajoie speaks to Josha Rafael from McMaster University and Jayelle Friesen-Enns from the University of Manitoba, about the blessings and burdens of being an Indigenous role model, and where they find support.

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Physician Wellness: A Perspective from Indigenous Medical Students | CMA

Being a culturally safe physician | CMA

Sound Mind: conversations about physician wellness and medical culture - The benefits of team-based care

Transcript

Dr. Caroline Gerin-Lajoie:

Welcome to Sound Mind, a podcast about physician wellness and medical culture. I'm your host, Dr. Caroline Gerin-Lajoie. On a recent episode of Sound Mind called The Great Resignation Comes to Medicine, we explored how more doctors are leaving the profession due to exhaustion, burnout, and dissatisfaction. The problem is particularly acute for family doctors and private practice.

Dr. Caroline Gerin-Lajoie: