CMAJ Podcasts

Interview with Dr. Andrea Boggild, clinical director in the Tropical Disease Unit at the Toronto General Hospital, and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. In this podcast Dr. Boggild gives practical advice about preventing and diagnosing Zika virus in Canada. She also shares the findings of the research article she co-authored that analyzed data coming f...

Interview with Dr. Brett Thombs, professor in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University and senior investigator of the Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. He is also chair-elect of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and chair of the tobacco guideline working group. In their guideline published in the CMAJ, Dr. Thombs and the Task Force reviewed the evidence...

Interview with Dr. Steve Morgan, professor of health policy at the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health and Dr. Nav Persaud, physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Morgan, Dr. Persaud and their co-authors published a research article in CMAJ in which...

How do lifestyle factors influence breast cancer prognosis? In a review article published in the CMAJ, Dr. Ellen Warner and Ms. Julia Hamer identify which lifestyle changes can be recommended to patients as an adjunct to standard breast cancer treatments, to reduce their risk of distant recurrence and death. Dr. Warner is a medical oncologist at the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Scienc...

Jay Rankin, news intern for CMAJ, reads the Humanities Encounters article "TB or not TB". The article is written by Adam Komorowski, a second-year medical student at the University of Limerick in Ireland. In the article, Mr. Komorowski describes the time he tested positive for tuberculosis. The story is true. Full article: www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.160828-----------------------...

Interview with Dr. Nathalie Auger, principal scientist at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CHUM) and associate clinical professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal and with Dr. Brian Potter, clinical investigator and interventional cardiologist at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, and assistant clinical professor with the department...

Interview with Dr. Ian Kitai, tuberculosis specialist with the Hospital for Sick Children and associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto School of Medicine. Dr. Kitai co-authored a review article on the diagnosis and management of tuberculosis in children. Tuberculosis is generally uncommon in children and adolescents in Canada, but among some populations we s...

Barbara Sibbald, News and Humanities editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal, reads the CMAJ Humanities Encounters article "Lives uncovered: reflections on encounters with newly arrived Syrians". The article is written by Dr. Janet Warren, a family physician at Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. In the article, Dr. Warren describes what it’s lik...

Barbara Sibbald, News and Humanities editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal, reads the CMAJ Humanities Encounters article "Cathartic narratives for chaotic thinking". The article is written by Dr. Richard Hovey, associate professor in the Division of Oral Health and Society with the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University. In the article, Dr. Hovey speaks from personal exp...

Diagnostic delay of central nervous system tumours in children has serious implications for the children and their families. Dr. Ran Goldman, Pediatrician at BC Children's Hospital, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and Chief Medical Officer for the website medschoolforparents.com, discusses how practitioners can maintain a high index of suspicion for these rare tu...

Barbara Sibbald, News and Humanities editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal, reads the CMAJ Humanities Encounters article "First, do no harm". The article is written by Dr. Sarah Tulk, a family medicine resident at McMaster University. In the article, Dr. Tulk reflects on the time she treated a terminally ill patient in the emergency department. Full article: www.cmaj.ca/loo...

Dr. Jennifer Hutcheon, researcher at BC Children's Hospital and assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, discusses a CMAJ research article she co-authored. Dr. Hutcheon and her colleagues examined whether the closure of obstetric services in smaller communities in BC affected rates of adverse events for mothers or newborns. Full research article: w...

Barbara Sibbald, News and Humanities editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal, reads the CMAJ Humanities Encounters article "Words, deeds and interpretations". The article is written by Dr. Mary Seeman, professor emerita, in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. In the article, Dr. Seeman, an older psychiatrist, recounts how acting instead of talking can n...

Stuart Kinmond reads the CMAJ Humanities Encounters article "He was a boy with a name". The article is written by Dr. Nicholas Batley, associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre in Lebanon. The article tells the true story of Dr. Batley’s encounter with a young Syrian refugee on the streets of Beirut. The patient’s name an...

Supraventricular tachycardias represent a range of tachyarrhythmias originating from a circuit or focus involving the atria or the atrioventricular node. Prompt recognition of the specific type of arrhythmia is essential to determine therapeutic management. Dr. Lior Bibas, cardiology fellow at McGill University in Montréal, Québec, discusses various approaches to treatment. He co-authored a review...

People who smoke tobacco may be interested in quitting, reducing their smoking or neither. Physicians can offer interventions for all of these groups. In this podcast interview, Dr. Robert Reid and Dr. Andrew Pipe – experts on smoking cessation from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute’s Division of Prevention and Rehabilitation – offer practical advice to guide physicians in helping their pat...

Stuart Kinmond reads the CMAJ Humanities Encounters article "Cutting through the shame". The article is written by Stephen P. Lewis, associate professor in psychology at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. In the article, the author reflects on a period of self-injury and what he learned from it. Article: https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.160119------------------------...

Physicians from many specialties may care for inpatients with opioid use disorder. An acute hospital admission is an opportunity to engage with patients who have this common, chronic disorder, discuss addiction treatment and possibly affect the course of their illness. In this podcast, Dr. Joseph Donroe, assistant professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, discusses the best approach to...

Although physicians generally recognize that social determinants influence the health of their patients, many are unsure how they can intervene. Dr. Anne Andermann, Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University in Montreal and founding director of the CLEAR Collaboration, discusses how physicians and allied health care workers can address social determinants in thei...

In this cross-sectional study of grade 9 students in the Niagara region of Ontario, reported use of e-cigarettes was common and associated with potential risk factors, including exposure to use of tobacco by family members and friends, and personal tobacco use. Most teens reported trying e-cigarettes because it was cool/fun/new rather than for smoking reduction or cessation. Dr. Michael Khoury, pa...

Interview with Dr. Mandar Jog, Director of the National Parkinson Foundation Centre of Excellence at London Health Sciences Centre, Director of the Movement Disorders Program in London, Ontario and Professor of Neurology at Western University. Parkinson disease remains a clinical diagnosis, based on motor symptoms and signs. Dr. Jog discusses what’s new in our understanding and treatment of this c...

Interview with Dr. Celia Rodd, Associate Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Manitoba. She is also clinician-scientist and epidemiologist at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. In their cross-sectional study, Dr. Rodd and her co-author Dr. Atul Sharma found that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Canadian children decreased from 30.7% to 27.0%...

Interview with Dr. Brandace Winquist, research consultant with the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council, a maternal-perinatal health researcher, and a collaborator with the Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies. In a research article she co-authored, Dr. Winquist and her colleagues found that the isotretinoin/accutane pregnancy prevention program in Canada was relatively ineffectiv...

Interview with Dr. Camilla Zimmermann, head of the palliative care program at UHN in Toronto, associate professor and Rose family Chair in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, as well as senior scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. In a research article she co-authored, Dr. Zimmermann conducted interviews with patients and their caregivers in an effort to understand att...

Michael Bliss' award-winning books introduced readers around the world to Canada’s greatest medical achievements and heroes, from the discovery of insulin to the "secular saint" Dr. William Osler, a founding father of modern medicine. For these and other contributions to the canon of medical history, Bliss will be inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame on April 14. In this...