On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Eve Purdy makes it clear what’s at stake when it comes to incivility in medicine. "It's very simple. Incivility kills patients, and that needs to be the single line of every healthcare leader responsible for managing and leading teams.” Dr. Purdy joins Dr. Sarah Kim and hosts, Drs. Blair Bigham and Mojola Omole, for an urgent panel discussion that looks into the deep-seated reasons behind incivility in medical settings. Dr. Eve Purdy is an emergency...

On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole closely examine anorexia nervosa in male adolescents, a topic that frequently escapes notice. Their discussion highlights the disorder's prevalence, especially among high-risk groups like LGBTQ+ individuals and those from varied racial and ethnic backgrounds. It also underscores the severity of anorexia nervosa in young males and stresses the critical need for early recognition and intervention. This episode features...

On this episode, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole explore a clinical case involving a rare infection in a returned traveler, highlighting the critical role of travel history in diagnosing unusual diseases. They discuss the case of a woman in her 60s who presented with fever and ankle pain after returning from India. Initial concerns for septic arthritis led to further investigation when standard treatments failed to alleviate her symptoms. Dr. Mara Waters is the lead author of the...

On this episode, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole explore two articles in CMAJ focused on the critical importance of trust in the health care system. They speak with Louis Lochhead, who shares his experiences navigating the health care landscape as a caregiver after his wife's serious accident, which resulted in a coma lasting nearly two months. Lochhead highlights the difficulties in building trust with the medical team, pointing to challenges in communication and empathy. He recounts...

On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Catherine Varner, deputy editor of CMAJ, sits in for Dr. Blair Bigham and joins Dr. Mojola Omole to explore two articles published in the journal that highlight troubling findings concerning the treatment of opioid use disorder. They begin with a study that revealed significant gaps in treatment for opioid overdose patients, where only 5.5% received opioid agonist therapy within a week of their hospital visit. This comes five years after the release of...

On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole examine an article published in CMAJ titled, 'Tackling barriers to Canadian medical school admissions for students with disabilities.' The analysis highlights how medical education has historically devalued or excluded trainees with disabilities and emphasizes the need for more flexible and inclusive admission processes.  They are joined by Shira Gertsman, the lead author and a medical student at McMaster University,...

On this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole discuss the practice article in the journal entitled, “Five things to know about…Novel obesity treatments". They discuss the impact of new medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide in treating obesity with Dr. Shohinee Sarma, the lead author. Dr. Sarma explains the significant effects these drugs have on weight loss and cardiometabolic health. They also discuss how these treatments can be combined with behavioral...

On this episode, Dr. Emmanuel Bujold addresses the gross underutilization of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) in Canada during pregnancy, a treatment highly effective in preventing preterm preeclampsia among those at risk. Dr. Bujold is an OB-GYN in Quebec City and a professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Laval University's School of Medicine. He is a co-author of the commentary in CMAJ entitled, “Screening for preeclampsia risk and prophylaxis with acetylsalicylic acid”. Dr. Bujold presents...

On this episode, we revisit and update one of the most-read articles on the CMAJ website. The article is titled, “Smartphones, social media use, and youth mental health.” It reviews the extensive literature linking poor mental health in adolescents with smartphone and social media use. The article details a variety of studies that implicate smartphone and social media use in increased mental distress, self-injurious behaviour, and suicidality among youth. It also indicates that there's a...

On this episode, Drs. Blair Bigham and Mojola Omole discuss the CMAJ paper "Cost-effectiveness of pharmacogenomic-guided treatment for major depression". The paper examines the potential of pharmacogenomic testing in the treatment of major depression and its implications for health care costs. The study suggests that implementing pharmacogenomic testing for adults with moderate to severe major depressive disorder in British Columbia could save the health system about $956 million over 20...

On this episode, Drs. Blair Bigham and Mojola Omole delve into the evolution and advancements in virtual urgent care since the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion centers around the study published in CMAJ entitled "Healthcare utilization and outcomes of patients seen by virtual urgent care versus in-person emergency department care," which analyzed patient usage and outcomes during the height of the pandemic.  The study didn’t specifically track how many patients were redirected from emergency...

On this episode, Drs. Mojola Omole and Blair Bigham speak with two vaccine experts about the necessity, timing and availability of vaccines as we move into the season when influenza, RSV and COVID-19 are on the rise. Dr. Scott Halperin, co-author of a CMAJ practice paper on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in pregnancy, emphasizes the importance of vaccination to protect against COVID-19 infection during pregnancy. He notes that while there is awareness among healthcare practitioners, it is crucial...

In this episode, Drs. Blair Bigham and Mojola Omole delve into the pressing issue of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in Canada with Dr. Evan Wood, the lead author of the “Canadian guideline for the clinical management of high risk drinking and alcohol use disorder” published in CMAJ.  They explore the concerning prevalence of AUD in Canada, contrasting it with other countries and shedding light on the diagnostic criteria that underscore the significance of assessing clinically significant...

In this episode, Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole speak with two co-authors of a new guideline published in CMAJ entitled "Preventive care recommendations to promote health equity". Dr. Nav Persaud and Dr. Aisha Lofters explain the importance of embedding health equity into healthcare and discuss specific ways public policy and individual primary care physicians can work together to promote equity in their practices. The conversation highlighted some key recommendations such as: Begin...

In this episode, Drs. Blair Bigham and Mojola Omole speak with two leading experts: Dr. Samira Jeimy, an allergist, and Dr. Isaac Bogoch, a specialist in infectious diseases, about the increasing prevalence of allergies and infections in Canada attributed to insects. Dr. Jeimy authored the article in the CMAJ titled “Five things to know about… tick-borne red meat allergy (α-gal syndrome)”. Dr. Jeimy describes how tick bites introduce a carbohydrate, alpha-gal, leading the human body to...

Canada’s emergency departments are in crisis: hospital occupancy rates exceed 90% for many days in a row, and many Canadian hospitals have been exceeding 100% occupancy for months on end. As a result, quality of care has decreased, staff retention has become problematic and overcrowding of emergency departments, a symptom of the problem, is assured. On this episode, Drs. Omole and Bigham speak with Dr. Catherine Varner, an emergency physician in Toronto, deputy editor of CMAJ, and author of...

On this encore episode, we revisit and update one of the most-read articles on the CMAJ website. The article is titled, “Smartphones, social media use, and youth mental health.” It reviews the extensive literature linking poor mental health in adolescents with smartphone and social media use. The article details a variety of studies that implicate smartphone and social media use in increased mental distress, self-injurious behaviour, and suicidality among youth. It also indicates that there's...

== This is an encore presentation of an episode originally published on Jan 30, 2023 == Migraine is a common condition that affects around 12% of adults, with a higher prevalence in women (18%) than men (6%). Global burden of disease estimates in 2019 found migraine to be the leading cause of disability in women aged 15-49 years and the second leading cause of disability overall.  On this episode, Drs. Mojole and Bigham interview three authors of two review articles on the topic published in...

The award-winning essay in the CMAJ, "Sometimes, often," beautifully showcases the power of narrative to forge a deep connection between physicians and patients. The article clearly resonated with our readers, as it was the most-read humanities piece this year. On this episode, the author, Dr. Simran Sandhu, delivers a powerful reading of her article. She then speaks with Drs. Blair Bigham and Mojola Omole about what inspired her to write the essay and how storytelling enables her to build...

Radon gas exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, accounting for approximately 3,000 cases annually in Canada. A “Five things to know about…” paper in CMAJ entitled “Radon and lung cancer risk" encourages physicians to ask patients to test their home and workplace for the invisible gas. Dr. Silvina Mema and Greg Baytalan are co-authors of the article, and on this episode, they detail the significant public health risk radon poses, the relative ease of testing, and the...

Major hemorrhage is life-threatening and can occur in a variety of clinical settings. A review paper in CMAJ, entitled "Nonsurgical management of major hemorrhage," advocates for the implementation of massive hemorrhage protocols across all types of hospitals to optimize patient care. Dr. Jeannie Callum, the article's lead author and the Director of Transfusion Medicine at Kingston's Health Sciences Centre speaks with Drs. Blair Bigham and Mojola Omole about her work standardizing massive...

Many women complain that physicians are reluctant to treat menopause with the full range of available therapies, often dismissing symptoms as 'natural' and something to be endured. A review article in CMAJ  finds that physician fears around menopausal hormone therapy and lack of knowledge regarding treatment options often impede patients from receiving treatment. On this episode, Drs. Mojola Omole and Blair Bigham speak with Dr. Iliana Lega, the lead author of the review entitled "A pragmatic...

On this episode, Dr. Greg Hundemar, co-author of the practice paper in CMAJ “Screening for primary aldosteronism in primary care” discusses primary aldosteronism, its implications and the need to expand screening guidelines.  Primary aldosteronism, also known as primary hyperaldosteronism or Conn's syndrome, is an endocrine disorder where the adrenal glands secrete too much aldosterone, leading to hypertension. This condition was once thought to be a rare cause of hypertension, but recent...

Allopurinol hypersensitivity syndrome (AHS) affects approximately 1 in 1,000 patients prescribed allopurinol, with reported mortality rates between 20% and 25%. The risk of AHS is nearly 100 times higher in carriers of the HLA-B*58:01 allele than in noncarriers. Populations with a high allele frequency include Han Chinese (6%-8%), Korean (12%), and Thai (6%-8%) people. In this episode, Drs. Wid Yaseen and Jonathan Zipursky discuss their paper published in CMAJ, titled "Five things to know...