CFP Podcast

"Dr Ian McWhinney’s fifth principle—the need for the family doctor to feel or see themselves as part of a broad community network of health and support services —belies the complexity of our lives from a biological, physiological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual point of view that compels us to understand the needs of various perspectives."   So begins Sister Dr. Monique Bourget an...

Dans cet épisode inaugurale en français du balado du Médecin de famille canadien , la Dre Marie-Dominique Beaulieu discute de l’évolution de la médecine familiale vers une approche davantage centrée sur la santé populationnelle et la responsabilité communautaire. L’entretien explore les défis liés à l’intégration des soins primaires et de la santé publique, l’importance du travail interprofessionn...

What should Dr. Ian McWhinney’s legacy be? Join  CFP  Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott and Associate Editor Dr. David Ponka in a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Iona Heath about her essay  “Continuity of care should be Dr. Ian McWhinney’s lasting legacy” . This layered essay is a contemporary reflection on Ian McWhinney’s third principle that the family physician sees every contact with h...

For anyone who has practiced family medicine in Canada long enough, it can feel like the health care system lurches from crisis to crisis – from overcrowded emergency rooms to long wait times to see specialists to complete lack of access to a family physician or other primary health care professional for millions of Canadians. Join  CFP  Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott and Associate Editor Dr. D...

Join CFP Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott and Associate Editor Dr. David Ponka as they explore the meaning and importance of context in family medicine with Dr. Anna Stavdal. Dr. Stavdal is the lead author of the third article in the “Foundations for Tomorrow” series in the journal celebrating the centenary of Dr. Ian McWhinney’s birth. Dr. Stavdal’s essay is entitled “Understanding the Context of Illness”...

In a time of rapid change and many challenges in the practice of family medicine, how do we maintain the heart of our discipline – our deep relationships with our patients? Join  CFP  Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott and Associate Editor Dr. David Ponka in conversation with Dr. Alan Ng Cheng Hin from the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Ng is the author of the second...

This year – 2026 – marks the centenary of Dr. Ian McWhinney’s birth. Ian McWhinney is considered the “father of family medicine” in Canada and founded the first academic Department of Family Medicine in Canada at Western University in 1970. Join  CFP  Associate Editor Dr. David Ponka and Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott as they interview Dr. Tom Freeman, Professor Emeritus at Western University t...

Join  CFP’s  Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott and Associate Editor Dr. David Ponka for their final podcast of the year as they review some of their favourite articles published in the journal in 2025. Together they cover a wide range of topics from a report on the role of primary care in Ontario in the Covid-19 pandemic ( https://www.cfp.ca/content/71/1/31 ) to the Journey of a Pill ( https://www...

With climate change the distribution of ticks is extending throughout Canada and along with that the increasing risk of tick-borne infectious diseases. Join CFP Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott and Associate Editor Dr. David Ponka as they discuss the rise in tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease along with previously less commonly seen diseases like Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis and Powassan virus with Dr....

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Rourke Baby Record (RBR), a tool first developed by Drs. James and Leslie Rourke in their family practice in Goderich, ON to help them better care for babies and toddlers in their practice. The first version of the RBR was published in  Canadian Family Physician  in 1985 and since its initial publication it has gone on to be widely used in...

Have you ever wondered how commonly prescribed medications are manufactured and distributed, eventually making their way to your friendly neighborhood pharmacist and ready for you to prescribe? Have you ever wondered what the environmental and climate impacts are? Find out in this episode of the  CFP  Podcast as Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott and Associate Editor Dr. David Ponka talk to fa...

The June 2025 issue of  Canadian Family Physician  is a special research-themed issue dedicated to the current crisis in family medicine in Canada and ways to address the many challenges – from ensuring that family medicine remains an attractive and rewarding career choice for medical students to placing the needs of patients at the heart of any future redesign of our primary health care system. ...

Canadian Family Physician  is pleased to bring listeners the last  “Planet Family Doc" Podcasts hosted by Dr Clayton Dyck. “Planet Family Doc” is a production of the Besrour Center, formerly at the College of Family Physicians of Canada. In a two-part podcast Dr Dyck interviews Dr Sonia Tsukagoshi about integrative medicine.  Dr Tsukagoshi is a family physician practicing in London, UK. She is the...

Canadian Family Physician  is pleased to bring listeners the last  “Planet Family Doc" Podcasts hosted by Dr Clayton Dyck. “Planet Family Doc” is a production of the Besrour Center, formerly at the College of Family Physicians of Canada. In a two-part podcast Dr Dyck interviews Dr Sonia Tsukagoshi about integrative medicine.  Dr Tsukagoshi is a family physician practicing in London, UK. She is the...

In this two-part “Planet Family Doc” podcast Dr Clayton Dyck interviews Dr Jane Philpott about her new book “Health For All” and her life-long work to make health care more socially accountable and to strengthen primary care. In part 2 of the podcast Dr Dyck and Dr Philpott discuss more personal issues such as the role of spiritual health in maintaining resilience as a physician in the Canadian co...

In this two-part “Planet Family Doc” podcast Dr Clayton Dyck interviews Dr Jane Philpott about her new book “Health For All” and her life-long work to make health care more socially accountable and to strengthen primary care. In part 1 of the podcast Dr Dyck and Dr Phillpott discuss her work as the Dean in the Faculty of Medicine at Queen’s University, the ways to strengthen primary care in Canada...

Join Editor Dr Nick Pimlott and Deputy Editor Dr Sarah Fraser for their year-end review of some of the best and most interesting content in Canadian Family Physician for 2024. Sarah and Nick each chose half a dozen (okay, well Nick cheats just a bit) of their favorite articles to review and discuss why they think they are a worth a second look for CFP readers. Together the articles cover everythin...

What is virtual care?  What are the different types? Are some forms of virtual care better than others, depending on whether it is through the public or private system? In this CFP podcast, Dr Sarah Fraser and Dr Nick Pimlott interview Dr Sheryl Spithoff. She is the lead author of an important Commentary in our combined November-December issue, entitled “ A typology of virtual primary care in Cana...

As a family medicine teacher or Program Director, have you ever had a highly capable resident learner fail the Simulated Office Oral (SOO) portion of the CCFP examination? Have you ever wondered why that might happen? In the September CFP Podcast, Editor Dr Nick Pimlott interviews Dr Kendall Noel from the University of Ottawa about his article in the September issue of the journal entitled Perenni...

Have you ever heard of graphic medicine? Have you wondered what is the difference between a comic and a cartoon? And how is this related to your work in the clinic? In this episode of the CFP podcast, Drs Nick Pimlott and Sarah Fraser interview author Susan MacLeod about all things graphic medicine. We dive into Susan’s professional experiences in government health communications and her transitio...

In this episode of the CFP Podcast, join Deputy Editor Dr Sarah Fraser and Editor Dr Nick Pimlott in a wide-ranging discussion about health data, health informatics and digital health with Dr Rashaad Bhyat, a family physician and Senior Clinical Leader at the Centre for Clinical Innovation in Digital Health, a branch of Canada Health Infoway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...

When are sleep aids indicated? What is the evidence behind melatonin? Why do sedatives put patients at risk for pneumonia? Learn all this and more in this week’s episode of the CFP Podcast. Drs Sarah Fraser and Nick Pimlott interview two pharmacists about the topic of insomnia and deprescribing sedatives. Dr David Gardner is a pharmacist and the Director of Research in Community Psychiatry at Dalh...

Join CFP Editor, Dr. Nick Pimlott, and Deputy Editor, Dr. Sarah Fraser, as they interview Dr. Allan Peterkin on the release of the 25th anniversary edition of the book “Staying Human During Residency Training: How to Survive and Thrive after Medical School”, which he co-authored with Dr. Derek Puddester. They discuss topics ranging from the pervasiveness of burnout in medicine, the value of the me...

Join CFP Deputy Editor, Dr. Sarah Fraser, and Editor, Dr. Nick Pimlott, as they interview Dr. Samantha Green and Dr. Ilona Hale about the concept of planetary health and the role that family doctors can and must play in ensuring it. Dr. Green is an academic family doctor in Toronto and the President-Elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). Dr. Hale is a rural fam...

Join CFP Editor Dr. Nick Pimlott as he interviews Dr. Alan Katz and Dr. Alex Singer, family physicians and family medicine researchers at the Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Dr. Katz is a Professor in the Departments of Community Health Sciences and Family Medicine. Dr. Singer is an Associate Professor and the Director for the Office of Research & Quality Improvem...