U of T Supports Launch of WHO’s Vision for Global Diabetes Prevention and Management

U of T Supports Launch of WHO’s Vision for Global Diabetes Prevention and Management

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a comprehensive vision for the management and prevention of diabetes at a Global Diabetes Summit hosted by the WHO and the Government of Canada with the collaboration of the University of Toronto.

The summit comes on the same day as U of T’s “100 Years of Insulin – Celebrating Its Impact on Our Lives,” a public event to commemorate the centennial of the discovery of insulin at the university, and precedes U of T’s two-day Insulin100 Scientific Symposium that brings together leading diabetes researchers from around the world.

Insulin was discovered in a U of T laboratory by Ontario surgeon Frederick Banting, then-U of T student Charles Best and U of T graduate James Collip, working under the direction of U of T physiology professor J.J.R. Macleod.

“Today, insulin is still out of reach for millions around the globe, and its costs and accessibility have become a major challenge for public health and public policy the world over,” U of T President Meric Gertler said in an address to the summit.

“The discovery of insulin is one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine, and the University of Toronto is enormously proud to have played a leading role in this breakthrough.

“It is in this spirit that we are so pleased to help launch the Global Diabetes Compact.”

The Global Diabetes Compact notes that health systems are failing to diagnose and care for people living with diabetes. Despite the discovery of insulin 100 years ago, the WHO says in an introductory document, many individuals with type 1 diabetes still struggle to access insulin, and people with diabetes have accounted for a high proportion of patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19.

“The need to take urgent action on diabetes is clearer than ever,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said in a statement.

“The Global Diabetes Compact will help to catalyze political commitment for action to increase the accessibility and affordability of life-saving medicines for diabetes and also for its prevention and diagnosis.”

The compact identifies “eight key asks,” including developing global coverage targets for diabetes care accompanied by a “global price tag” that quantifies the costs and benefits of meeting the new targets; improving access to diabetes diagnostics, medicines and health products in low- and middle-income countries; and advocating for governments to fulfil commitments to integrate diabetes prevention and management with primary health care and universal health coverage.

Professor Tracey Galloway

Tracey Galloway, an associate professor of anthropology at U of T Mississauga, says global price monitoring and integrative diabetes care would help reduce the burden on patients.

“An extra layer of knowledge will be gained from global price monitoring,” says Galloway, whose research focus includes chronic disease and public health policy. “The high cost of insulin and essential items like glucose test strips and glucometers are barriers to healthy, active living for people – even here in Canada.”

The compact comes at a time when public health conversations have been dominated by COVID-19, which has caused severe disruption of diabetes services, according to the WHO.

“Through large-scale strategies like these, global organizations like the WHO and UN keep diabetes front-and-centre for politicians, policy-makers and donors,” Galloway says.

“By launching this initiative right now, the WHO is trying to ensure the needs of the world’s 420 million people living with diabetes are not overlooked during this public health emergency.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a comprehensive vision for the management and prevention of diabetes at a Global Diabetes Summit hosted by the WHO and the Government of Canada with the collaboration of the University of Toronto.

The summit comes on the same day as U of T’s “100 Years of Insulin – Celebrating Its Impact on Our Lives,” a public event to commemorate the centennial of the discovery of insulin at the university, and precedes U of T’s two-day Insulin100 Scientific Symposium that brings together leading diabetes researchers from around the world.

Insulin was discovered in a U of T laboratory by Ontario surgeon Frederick Banting, then-U of T student Charles Best and U of T graduate James Collip, working under the direction of U of T physiology professor J.J.R. Macleod.

“Today, insulin is still out of reach for millions around the globe, and its costs and accessibility have become a major challenge for public health and public policy the world over,” U of T President Meric Gertler said in an address to the summit.

“The discovery of insulin is one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine, and the University of Toronto is enormously proud to have played a leading role in this breakthrough.

“It is in this spirit that we are so pleased to help launch the Global Diabetes Compact.”

The Global Diabetes Compact notes that health systems are failing to diagnose and care for people living with diabetes. Despite the discovery of insulin 100 years ago, the WHO says in an introductory document, many individuals with type 1 diabetes still struggle to access insulin, and people with diabetes have accounted for a high proportion of patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19.

“The need to take urgent action on diabetes is clearer than ever,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said in a statement.

“The Global Diabetes Compact will help to catalyze political commitment for action to increase the accessibility and affordability of life-saving medicines for diabetes and also for its prevention and diagnosis.”

The compact identifies “eight key asks,” including developing global coverage targets for diabetes care accompanied by a “global price tag” that quantifies the costs and benefits of meeting the new targets; improving access to diabetes diagnostics, medicines and health products in low- and middle-income countries; and advocating for governments to fulfil commitments to integrate diabetes prevention and management with primary health care and universal health coverage.

Professor Tracey Galloway

Tracey Galloway, an associate professor of anthropology at U of T Mississauga, says global price monitoring and integrative diabetes care would help reduce the burden on patients.

“An extra layer of knowledge will be gained from global price monitoring,” says Galloway, whose research focus includes chronic disease and public health policy. “The high cost of insulin and essential items like glucose test strips and glucometers are barriers to healthy, active living for people – even here in Canada.”

The compact comes at a time when public health conversations have been dominated by COVID-19, which has caused severe disruption of diabetes services, according to the WHO.

“Through large-scale strategies like these, global organizations like the WHO and UN keep diabetes front-and-centre for politicians, policy-makers and donors,” Galloway says.

“By launching this initiative right now, the WHO is trying to ensure the needs of the world’s 420 million people living with diabetes are not overlooked during this public health emergency.”

U of T Supports Launch of WHO’s Vision for Global Diabetes Prevention and Management
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Author
Yanan Wang
Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
A woman wears a "Beat Diabetes" T-shirt during a walkathon that aimed to spread awareness about diabetes in Bangalore, India (photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP via Getty Images)
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom
Feature on Home Page
Off
Feature on News Listing
Off

Med School Orientation Stressful for Some Diverse Students: U of T Study

Med School Orientation Stressful for Some Diverse Students: U of T Study

A new study led by the University of Toronto and University Health Network reveals that medical school orientation can be a source of lasting tension and uncertainty for students, particularly those of diverse backgrounds.

Students entering medical school are quickly introduced to many of the social and professional aspects of the medical profession. Orientation is meant to be an informative period that welcomes students and sets the stage for a positive medical school experience.

Unfortunately, if inclusion is not a priority in its design, orientation can cause students stress and uncertainty as they begin to develop their professional identity.

Asia Van Buren and Wid Yaseen
MEDICAL STUDENTS ASIA VAN BUREN AND WID YASEEN

To understand the source of this stress and uncertainty, fourth-year medical students Asia Van Buren and Wid Yaseen explored student experiences during medical school orientation. Van Buren and Wid Yaseen were mentored by Marcus Law, director of foundations for the MD Program at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

The research team interviewed 16 students from five Canadian medical schools. From these interviews, several issues emerged that were related to students' personal identities and feelings toward their medical school orientation.

Students described being indirectly introduced to the identity of the dominant medical professional (e.g., white, heterosexual, high socioeconomic status and a science-based education background). Students felt tensions when they were introduced to this identity, particularly if it differed from their own. These tensions were especially distressing and long-lasting for students from underrepresented groups.

"Students from underrepresented groups were welcomed into medical school, but once they arrived, they felt pressures to hide their unique qualities and backgrounds in order to match what they thought a doctor looks like," says Law, who is also a professor of family and community medicine at Temerty Medicine and an education investigator at The Institute for Education Research at UHN.

Students also described sensing a gap between their school's investment in diversity and the way that it approached inclusion. Some students felt that their faculty voiced the importance of including students of all backgrounds, but their words were not backed by actions.

The study indicates that medical schools can achieve diversity, but still fall short when it comes to ensuring that everyone feels like they belong.

"We encourage medical schools to take a second look at their orientation programs to ensure that they are inclusive of students with diverse backgrounds and experiences, particularly those from marginalized groups," says Law. "Increasing diversity is not enough.

"Schools need to safeguard inclusion from the moment that students walk through the doors."

This work was supported by The Institute for Education Research and the UHN Foundation.

A new study led by the University of Toronto and University Health Network reveals that medical school orientation can be a source of lasting tension and uncertainty for students, particularly those of diverse backgrounds.

Students entering medical school are quickly introduced to many of the social and professional aspects of the medical profession. Orientation is meant to be an informative period that welcomes students and sets the stage for a positive medical school experience.

Unfortunately, if inclusion is not a priority in its design, orientation can cause students stress and uncertainty as they begin to develop their professional identity.

Asia Van Buren and Wid Yaseen
MEDICAL STUDENTS ASIA VAN BUREN AND WID YASEEN

To understand the source of this stress and uncertainty, fourth-year medical students Asia Van Buren and Wid Yaseen explored student experiences during medical school orientation. Van Buren and Wid Yaseen were mentored by Marcus Law, director of foundations for the MD Program at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

The research team interviewed 16 students from five Canadian medical schools. From these interviews, several issues emerged that were related to students' personal identities and feelings toward their medical school orientation.

Students described being indirectly introduced to the identity of the dominant medical professional (e.g., white, heterosexual, high socioeconomic status and a science-based education background). Students felt tensions when they were introduced to this identity, particularly if it differed from their own. These tensions were especially distressing and long-lasting for students from underrepresented groups.

"Students from underrepresented groups were welcomed into medical school, but once they arrived, they felt pressures to hide their unique qualities and backgrounds in order to match what they thought a doctor looks like," says Law, who is also a professor of family and community medicine at Temerty Medicine and an education investigator at The Institute for Education Research at UHN.

Students also described sensing a gap between their school's investment in diversity and the way that it approached inclusion. Some students felt that their faculty voiced the importance of including students of all backgrounds, but their words were not backed by actions.

The study indicates that medical schools can achieve diversity, but still fall short when it comes to ensuring that everyone feels like they belong.

"We encourage medical schools to take a second look at their orientation programs to ensure that they are inclusive of students with diverse backgrounds and experiences, particularly those from marginalized groups," says Law. "Increasing diversity is not enough.

"Schools need to safeguard inclusion from the moment that students walk through the doors."

This work was supported by The Institute for Education Research and the UHN Foundation.

Med School Orientation Stressful for Some Diverse Students: U of T Study
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
Students during medical school orientation
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom
Feature on Home Page
Off
Feature on News Listing
Off

Faces of U of T Medicine: #FrancoMed

Faces of U of T Medicine: #FrancoMed

A group of MD students in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine is supporting learners across Canada working to strengthen their medical French language skills.

The University of Toronto Medical Communauté Francophone (UTMCF) is helping create an online educational platform called FrancoMed. The platform is expected to launch on the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) website in the next couple of months.

The team has contributed over 400 vocabulary terms, 10 papers with more than 50 multiple choice questions per section and 20 podcasts and videos to assist students in improving their French medical speaking and writing skills.

UTMCF members Melanie Elhafid, Tatiana Yeuchyk and Elya Quesnel recently told writer Erin Howe more about the initiative.

What is FrancoMed?

FrancoMed is a centralized online program for learning medical French. There are three main sections: medical vocabulary; written comprehension; and audio comprehension.

After completing all exercises and the associated quizzes, successful participants will receive a certificate from AFMC and U of T.

FrancoMed is open to all Canadian students, and will benefit people interested in using medical French as future physicians.

What inspired the creation of FrancoMed?

In Canada, more than 20 per cent of people speak French as a first language, and over one million people live in official language minority communities outside Québec. In many of these places, healthcare in French is limited or even absent, which can reduce quality and access to care, despite speaking an official language.

One targeted approach to address this gap in care is to invest in growing the number of French-speaking physicians across the country, starting in medical school.

In recent years, several resources have been made available to help learners improve their clinical French, from vocabulary lists and podcasts to videos of history-taking in French. But there wasn’t an organized program with targeted lessons and exercises in one place. This creates a serious challenge for a medical students and residents looking to balance their stringent program demands with a desire to build their French medical skills long term.

Who is helping make FrancoMed a reality?

It took a big team to make this happen! Our Temerty Medicine colleagues Kwasi Jnr Nkansah, Omar Ghabala, Rahna Rasouli, Rehona Zamani, Misha Dhuper, Clemence Ongolo Zogo and Alexi Gosset played an important role in the initiative. Armand Bahabi, a recent graduate of Polytechnique Montréal’s engineering program, recorded the podcasts and designed the website. FrancoMed was also developed in collaboration with Ike Okafor, Temerty Medicine’s senior officer, service learning and diversity outreach and Aida Banghoura, project coordinator at AFMC. We also had help from the University of Ottawa’s office of Francophone Affairs.

Are there many French speakers in the Temerty MD Program? Has this helped the development of FrancoMed or helped highlight the importance of creating this kind of support?

There are many students, both current and past, who are Francophone or Francophile in the Temerty Medicine community. The UTMCF organizes opportunities for students to practice their French in the context of medicine. These events usually attract 10 to 15 students from the first two years of the program. More broadly, there are hundreds of French-speaking medical students studying at Anglophone faculties of medicine across the country.

What is your hope for FrancoMed?

We’re extremely excited that FrancoMed will be available on the AFMC website, nationwide, and to any students in medicine and the healthcare professions who want to improve their French medical skills.

We expect to launch FrancoMed in the next couple of months. Our biggest hope is that FrancoMed becomes a well-known and established resource for anyone interested in growing their French listening and reading comprehension, as well as their French medical vocabulary. Ultimately, this would allow FrancoMed to become a continuously growing resource to support medical learners across Canada and improve access and quality of care for francophone minority populations in Canada.

What’s next for FrancoMed?

In the future, we’re excited to set up a committee of students who will be in charge of FrancoMed together with AFMC. This committee will be open to any interested student from faculties of medicine across Canada. It will be an exceptional opportunity for Francophone and Francophile future physicians to collaborate on a national scale.

What ties, or past experiences, have the members of FrancoMed have had in French prior to pursuing this project? How did those motivate them?

All the students working together to create FrancoMed are Francophone or Francophile. Some students studied in France prior to medical school, others are bilingual and many have experience advocating for better Francophone resources in medicine to increase access to care for all patients. We’re all eager to create a learning platform to benefit all students with a desire to use French in their future clinical practice.

A group of MD students in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine is supporting learners across Canada working to strengthen their medical French language skills.

The University of Toronto Medical Communauté Francophone (UTMCF) is helping create an online educational platform called FrancoMed. The platform is expected to launch on the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) website in the next couple of months.

The team has contributed over 400 vocabulary terms, 10 papers with more than 50 multiple choice questions per section and 20 podcasts and videos to assist students in improving their French medical speaking and writing skills.

UTMCF members Melanie Elhafid, Tatiana Yeuchyk and Elya Quesnel recently told writer Erin Howe more about the initiative.

What is FrancoMed?

FrancoMed is a centralized online program for learning medical French. There are three main sections: medical vocabulary; written comprehension; and audio comprehension.

After completing all exercises and the associated quizzes, successful participants will receive a certificate from AFMC and U of T.

FrancoMed is open to all Canadian students, and will benefit people interested in using medical French as future physicians.

What inspired the creation of FrancoMed?

In Canada, more than 20 per cent of people speak French as a first language, and over one million people live in official language minority communities outside Québec. In many of these places, healthcare in French is limited or even absent, which can reduce quality and access to care, despite speaking an official language.

One targeted approach to address this gap in care is to invest in growing the number of French-speaking physicians across the country, starting in medical school.

In recent years, several resources have been made available to help learners improve their clinical French, from vocabulary lists and podcasts to videos of history-taking in French. But there wasn’t an organized program with targeted lessons and exercises in one place. This creates a serious challenge for a medical students and residents looking to balance their stringent program demands with a desire to build their French medical skills long term.

Who is helping make FrancoMed a reality?

It took a big team to make this happen! Our Temerty Medicine colleagues Kwasi Jnr Nkansah, Omar Ghabala, Rahna Rasouli, Rehona Zamani, Misha Dhuper, Clemence Ongolo Zogo and Alexi Gosset played an important role in the initiative. Armand Bahabi, a recent graduate of Polytechnique Montréal’s engineering program, recorded the podcasts and designed the website. FrancoMed was also developed in collaboration with Ike Okafor, Temerty Medicine’s senior officer, service learning and diversity outreach and Aida Banghoura, project coordinator at AFMC. We also had help from the University of Ottawa’s office of Francophone Affairs.

Are there many French speakers in the Temerty MD Program? Has this helped the development of FrancoMed or helped highlight the importance of creating this kind of support?

There are many students, both current and past, who are Francophone or Francophile in the Temerty Medicine community. The UTMCF organizes opportunities for students to practice their French in the context of medicine. These events usually attract 10 to 15 students from the first two years of the program. More broadly, there are hundreds of French-speaking medical students studying at Anglophone faculties of medicine across the country.

What is your hope for FrancoMed?

We’re extremely excited that FrancoMed will be available on the AFMC website, nationwide, and to any students in medicine and the healthcare professions who want to improve their French medical skills.

We expect to launch FrancoMed in the next couple of months. Our biggest hope is that FrancoMed becomes a well-known and established resource for anyone interested in growing their French listening and reading comprehension, as well as their French medical vocabulary. Ultimately, this would allow FrancoMed to become a continuously growing resource to support medical learners across Canada and improve access and quality of care for francophone minority populations in Canada.

What’s next for FrancoMed?

In the future, we’re excited to set up a committee of students who will be in charge of FrancoMed together with AFMC. This committee will be open to any interested student from faculties of medicine across Canada. It will be an exceptional opportunity for Francophone and Francophile future physicians to collaborate on a national scale.

What ties, or past experiences, have the members of FrancoMed have had in French prior to pursuing this project? How did those motivate them?

All the students working together to create FrancoMed are Francophone or Francophile. Some students studied in France prior to medical school, others are bilingual and many have experience advocating for better Francophone resources in medicine to increase access to care for all patients. We’re all eager to create a learning platform to benefit all students with a desire to use French in their future clinical practice.

Faces of U of T Medicine: #FrancoMed
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
ELYA QUESNEL, MELANIE ELHAFID AND TATIANA YEUCHYK
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom
Feature on Home Page
Off
Feature on News Listing
Off

James and Louise Temerty Named Philanthropists of the Year

James and Louise Temerty Named Philanthropists of the Year

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Greater Toronto Chapter has named James and Louise Temerty as Outstanding Philanthropists of the Year for 2020. The award honours individuals and families with a proven record of exceptional generosity who, through direct financial support, demonstrate outstanding civic and charitable responsibility, and whose generosity encourages others to take philanthropic leadership roles on a community, national or international level.    

“On behalf of the entire University of Toronto community, our deepest congratulations to James and Louise Temerty on this remarkable recognition of their philanthropy,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “As just the most recent example of the Temertys’ long record of generosity, their landmark gift to U of T lifts Canadian philanthropy to an unprecedented level. James and Louise have long been making a true difference in improving the lives of Canadians. This award pays tribute to their deep concern for their communities.”

Among their many other philanthropic initiatives, James and Louise Temerty recently made a $250 million gift to the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine. Their donation—the single largest in Canadian history—will support collaboration, innovation, entrepreneurship, equity and student well-being across the newly named Temerty Faculty of Medicine and its affiliated hospital network, advancing its leadership as a global centre of excellence in research and care.

At the announcement of the gift to U of T in September, James Temerty described his approach to philanthropy. "As far as leadership goes,” he said, “we mean it in the way of being first. Leading the way. Setting a new standard and to never be satisfied with the status quo.”

Founded in 1997 by James and Louise Temerty, the Temerty Foundation has provided significant philanthropic support to health care, education and culture in Toronto and beyond. In the health-care space, their contributions have established the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Louise Temerty Breast Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and the world’s first international tele-simulation centre in medical education at University Health Network. The Temertys are also donors to the Royal Ontario Museum, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and Help Us Help. In 2008, James, with Louise’s encouragement, founded the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE), a multinational project that aims to build a sound foundation for future interaction among Ukrainians and Jews.

Both James and Louise are recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to their community. Between them, James and Louise have five honorary doctorates, and through the Temerty Foundation, they have supported a number of endowments and scholarships in Canada and abroad.

“The Temerty family, through their generosity, is eminently worthy of this award,” said Temerty Faculty of Medicine Dean, Trevor Young. “Among so many other causes, their support for medical science in Canada is helping us push the boundaries of what is possible. They are providing the means to change the world—through collaboration, nurturing new ideas, and by embracing our city’s diversity. Their vision and dedication to bettering the lives of all Canadians make them greatly deserving of this award.”

This current accolade recognizes James and Louise Temerty’s longstanding commitment to philanthropy in Canada. Other institutions and organizations joined the University of Toronto in nominating the Temertys for this award, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation, the Sunnybrook Foundation, the Royal Ontario Museum Governors, the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Shevchenko Foundation. Previous winners of AFP’s Outstanding Philanthropist Award with close ties to U of T include the Rogers Foundation, Marcel Desautels, Joseph and Sandra Rotman, and Margaret McCain.

“Congratulations to Jim and Louise Temerty on receiving this award,” said David Palmer, Vice-President Advancement, who was honoured with AFP’s Outstanding Fundraising Professional Award in 2011. “They have built a lifetime legacy of giving, including the philanthropic milestone they’ve set at the University of Toronto—truly a landmark moment in the history of Canadian philanthropy. Their peerless generosity across a range of priorities will have an impact for generations to come. Canada is fortunate indeed to have such remarkable individuals as Jim and Louise Temerty, who are so selflessly dedicated to improving the lives of others.”

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Greater Toronto Chapter has named James and Louise Temerty as Outstanding Philanthropists of the Year for 2020. The award honours individuals and families with a proven record of exceptional generosity who, through direct financial support, demonstrate outstanding civic and charitable responsibility, and whose generosity encourages others to take philanthropic leadership roles on a community, national or international level.    

“On behalf of the entire University of Toronto community, our deepest congratulations to James and Louise Temerty on this remarkable recognition of their philanthropy,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “As just the most recent example of the Temertys’ long record of generosity, their landmark gift to U of T lifts Canadian philanthropy to an unprecedented level. James and Louise have long been making a true difference in improving the lives of Canadians. This award pays tribute to their deep concern for their communities.”

Among their many other philanthropic initiatives, James and Louise Temerty recently made a $250 million gift to the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine. Their donation—the single largest in Canadian history—will support collaboration, innovation, entrepreneurship, equity and student well-being across the newly named Temerty Faculty of Medicine and its affiliated hospital network, advancing its leadership as a global centre of excellence in research and care.

At the announcement of the gift to U of T in September, James Temerty described his approach to philanthropy. "As far as leadership goes,” he said, “we mean it in the way of being first. Leading the way. Setting a new standard and to never be satisfied with the status quo.”

Founded in 1997 by James and Louise Temerty, the Temerty Foundation has provided significant philanthropic support to health care, education and culture in Toronto and beyond. In the health-care space, their contributions have established the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Louise Temerty Breast Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and the world’s first international tele-simulation centre in medical education at University Health Network. The Temertys are also donors to the Royal Ontario Museum, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and Help Us Help. In 2008, James, with Louise’s encouragement, founded the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE), a multinational project that aims to build a sound foundation for future interaction among Ukrainians and Jews.

Both James and Louise are recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to their community. Between them, James and Louise have five honorary doctorates, and through the Temerty Foundation, they have supported a number of endowments and scholarships in Canada and abroad.

“The Temerty family, through their generosity, is eminently worthy of this award,” said Temerty Faculty of Medicine Dean, Trevor Young. “Among so many other causes, their support for medical science in Canada is helping us push the boundaries of what is possible. They are providing the means to change the world—through collaboration, nurturing new ideas, and by embracing our city’s diversity. Their vision and dedication to bettering the lives of all Canadians make them greatly deserving of this award.”

This current accolade recognizes James and Louise Temerty’s longstanding commitment to philanthropy in Canada. Other institutions and organizations joined the University of Toronto in nominating the Temertys for this award, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation, the Sunnybrook Foundation, the Royal Ontario Museum Governors, the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Shevchenko Foundation. Previous winners of AFP’s Outstanding Philanthropist Award with close ties to U of T include the Rogers Foundation, Marcel Desautels, Joseph and Sandra Rotman, and Margaret McCain.

“Congratulations to Jim and Louise Temerty on receiving this award,” said David Palmer, Vice-President Advancement, who was honoured with AFP’s Outstanding Fundraising Professional Award in 2011. “They have built a lifetime legacy of giving, including the philanthropic milestone they’ve set at the University of Toronto—truly a landmark moment in the history of Canadian philanthropy. Their peerless generosity across a range of priorities will have an impact for generations to come. Canada is fortunate indeed to have such remarkable individuals as Jim and Louise Temerty, who are so selflessly dedicated to improving the lives of others.”

James and Louise Temerty Named Philanthropists of the Year
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
Temerty Family
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom
Feature on Home Page
Feature on Home Page
Feature on News Listing
Feature on News Listing

Children’s book helps kids learn how to prevent COVID-19 spread

Children’s book helps kids learn how to prevent COVID-19 spread

Two students at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine are helping kids learn about COVID-19 prevention through a new book.

Sabrina Wang, a first-year MD student and Nairy Khodabakhshian, a Master’s student in the Institute of Medical Science (IMS), co-wrote the story with Jenny Zhu, a second-year MDstudent at McMaster University.

The book – Ronnie Bear’s Health Scare: A Children’s Book on COVID-19 Safety – hasrhyming text and colourful illustrations to tell the story of a young bear’s experience with COVID-like symptoms.

The students self-published the book.

Proceeds from the book will fund the donation of copies of the book to pediatric hospitals across Ontario, and schools in communities impacted by COVID-19.

They recently spoke with writer Erin Howe about their book.

What inspired this project?

Sabrina: I used to volunteer at children’s hospitals where I would read to the kids during my shifts, and I saw how happy it made them.

Since I like drawing, I wanted to illustrate my own book for them.

I reached out to Jenny, who enjoys writing and has a background in clinical pediatric research.

Nairy, who has extensive clinical pediatric experience, has also worked with book sales and publishing.

Given our shared interests and passion to give back to our communities, we worked together to develop a children’s book.

Can you tell us more about the book?

Jenny: Our book is geared toward kids between 4 to ten years old.

The story focuses on a young bear, who learns about how to prevent illness for himself and the friends and family around him, by handwashing, social distancing, and wearing a mask.

Growing up, I loved reading Berenstein Bears and Little Bear books — they were the inspiration for the main characters in our book.

We hoped that friendly, relatable animal characters could help convey key lessons about COVID-19 precautions in a memorable way.

We also wanted to emphasize the concept of social responsibility by highlighting Ronnie Bear’s wish to stay safe to protect his grandfather, parents and classmates.

We hope to help kids see how their actions might impact others and transform their fear into positive motivation.

Who has helped support this initiative?

Nairy: This book was developed over six months through extensive collaborations and a revision process with several medical and health care students, as well as work with Ronald McDonald House Charities and people in publishing programs.

We also received support from Dr. Stacey Bernstein, Dr. Tanvi Agarwal, and Dr. Vitor Guerra.

Additionally, we consulted with parents and teachers to ensure that our book was conveying the story in an inclusive, empathetic and understandable way.

Colleagues at Temerty Faculty of Medicine helped us develop a free list of links to COVID-19 resources like educational videos and games, and information for parents about food security, physical activity, accessing mental health services and vaccinations during the pandemic.

Who has the book impacted?

Sabrina: Since publishing in January, we have sold more than 200 copies of the book and won an award for our book.

We were also able to deliver our first round of books to Ronald McDonald House in Toronto and several pediatric hospitals. Various IMS faculty are also sharing the book.

Our book sales have expanded internationally.

It is such an incredibly heartwarming feeling to know that what had started out as a creative idea back in 2020 is now a tangible book able to positively impact children and their families.

Two students at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine are helping kids learn about COVID-19 prevention through a new book.

Sabrina Wang, a first-year MD student and Nairy Khodabakhshian, a Master’s student in the Institute of Medical Science (IMS), co-wrote the story with Jenny Zhu, a second-year MDstudent at McMaster University.

The book – Ronnie Bear’s Health Scare: A Children’s Book on COVID-19 Safety – hasrhyming text and colourful illustrations to tell the story of a young bear’s experience with COVID-like symptoms.

The students self-published the book.

Proceeds from the book will fund the donation of copies of the book to pediatric hospitals across Ontario, and schools in communities impacted by COVID-19.

They recently spoke with writer Erin Howe about their book.

What inspired this project?

Sabrina: I used to volunteer at children’s hospitals where I would read to the kids during my shifts, and I saw how happy it made them.

Since I like drawing, I wanted to illustrate my own book for them.

I reached out to Jenny, who enjoys writing and has a background in clinical pediatric research.

Nairy, who has extensive clinical pediatric experience, has also worked with book sales and publishing.

Given our shared interests and passion to give back to our communities, we worked together to develop a children’s book.

Can you tell us more about the book?

Jenny: Our book is geared toward kids between 4 to ten years old.

The story focuses on a young bear, who learns about how to prevent illness for himself and the friends and family around him, by handwashing, social distancing, and wearing a mask.

Growing up, I loved reading Berenstein Bears and Little Bear books — they were the inspiration for the main characters in our book.

We hoped that friendly, relatable animal characters could help convey key lessons about COVID-19 precautions in a memorable way.

We also wanted to emphasize the concept of social responsibility by highlighting Ronnie Bear’s wish to stay safe to protect his grandfather, parents and classmates.

We hope to help kids see how their actions might impact others and transform their fear into positive motivation.

Who has helped support this initiative?

Nairy: This book was developed over six months through extensive collaborations and a revision process with several medical and health care students, as well as work with Ronald McDonald House Charities and people in publishing programs.

We also received support from Dr. Stacey Bernstein, Dr. Tanvi Agarwal, and Dr. Vitor Guerra.

Additionally, we consulted with parents and teachers to ensure that our book was conveying the story in an inclusive, empathetic and understandable way.

Colleagues at Temerty Faculty of Medicine helped us develop a free list of links to COVID-19 resources like educational videos and games, and information for parents about food security, physical activity, accessing mental health services and vaccinations during the pandemic.

Who has the book impacted?

Sabrina: Since publishing in January, we have sold more than 200 copies of the book and won an award for our book.

We were also able to deliver our first round of books to Ronald McDonald House in Toronto and several pediatric hospitals. Various IMS faculty are also sharing the book.

Our book sales have expanded internationally.

It is such an incredibly heartwarming feeling to know that what had started out as a creative idea back in 2020 is now a tangible book able to positively impact children and their families.

Children’s book helps kids learn how to prevent COVID-19 spread
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
Sabrina Wang and Nairy Khodabakhshian hold books
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom
Feature on Home Page
Feature on Home Page
Feature on News Listing
Feature on News Listing

Fortifying the Foundation of Health Professions Education

Fortifying the Foundation of Health Professions Education

Professor Nicole Woods wants to see more expertise from fields beyond the basic sciences incorporated into medical education.

Traditionally, the study of medicine has focused heavily on disciplines like physiology, biochemistry and anatomy, says Woods. Though it’s a strong foundation, she believes it could be enhanced with a greater emphasis on knowledge from fields like psychology or anthropology.

In her role as the Richard and Elizabeth Currie Chair in Health Professions Education Research at the Wilson Centre — an appointment she began on January 1, 2021 — Woods works to embrace multiple disciplines and rethink what kinds of knowledge are viewed as foundational to medical practice.

“If the role of basic science is to help you understand “why” — which is what my research shows — any form of knowledge that helps people understand why they do what they do could be considered a ‘basic science’ and could be foundational to medicine,” says Woods, who is also the Wilson Centre’s Associate Director of Operations and an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Woods sees opportunity to incorporate understanding from other disciplines into medical education. She’d like other disciplines to play a greater part in shaping training for future health care practitioners.

“What about integrating the behavioural, cognitive or social sciences? If you have a physician who has a really good understanding of social dynamics, sociology and other areas like these, how would that change what they do with their patients tomorrow? That’s a big opportunity for us,” she says.

Woods, who is also the Director of The Institute for Education Research at University Health Network, holds a PhD in cognitive psychology. Her work focuses on human memory and categorization.

Just as Woods’ work broadens the range of subjects that could be considered essential to medical education, her Excel Lab attracts students from a similarly wide range of programs. The lab works to develop new ways of thinking about how to design curriculum and teach future health care providers.

Graduate students in the lab, which Woods leads with professor Maria Mylopoulos, come from disciplines that have included dentistry, pharmacy and audiology. This academic diversity is one aspect of work that excites Woods.

“We’re all working to develop models of expertise and ways to build experts, so I get to collaborate with people who I wouldn’t have a chance to interact with in a siloed program where everyone is in a single field,” Woods says.

“This work speaks to people across many professions. Cognitive psychology is about the everyday human experience and reasoning. And when people enter professional programs and move into the professional realm, their minds don’t fundamentally change. They just think about different things. So, as long as I’m studying the process of thinking, I can talk to anybody. And it’s a lot of fun doing that.”

In addition to expanding the scope of health professions education research, Woods is also working to make the field more inclusive.

“It’s important for young Black people to see that science is possible for them. I want to create space for them to be here with me,” says Woods. “That’s part of my idea for the chair. I hope down the line there will be young Black men and women who know this is an option for them as a career. That they can be an education scientist or an institute director. We can be leaders in science and medicine.”

The inspiration for a career in education scholarship was sparked by one of Woods’ PhD supervisors – and current colleagues — Geoff Norman, a professor of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics and affiliated scientist at the Wilson Centre.

The two met when Woods was a third-year undergraduate student in one of Norman’s classes at McMaster University. He quickly noticed Woods’ talent and welcomed her to do an independent study in his lab.

Norman says he was not surprised to learn of Woods’ appointment to the Currie Chair.

“In graduate work, students often follow the lead of their supervisor, and create studies that are an extension of the program. Dr. Woods really opened up a new line of research that she has continued to the present day,” says Norman.

Professor Nicole Woods wants to see more expertise from fields beyond the basic sciences incorporated into medical education.

Traditionally, the study of medicine has focused heavily on disciplines like physiology, biochemistry and anatomy, says Woods. Though it’s a strong foundation, she believes it could be enhanced with a greater emphasis on knowledge from fields like psychology or anthropology.

In her role as the Richard and Elizabeth Currie Chair in Health Professions Education Research at the Wilson Centre — an appointment she began on January 1, 2021 — Woods works to embrace multiple disciplines and rethink what kinds of knowledge are viewed as foundational to medical practice.

“If the role of basic science is to help you understand “why” — which is what my research shows — any form of knowledge that helps people understand why they do what they do could be considered a ‘basic science’ and could be foundational to medicine,” says Woods, who is also the Wilson Centre’s Associate Director of Operations and an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Woods sees opportunity to incorporate understanding from other disciplines into medical education. She’d like other disciplines to play a greater part in shaping training for future health care practitioners.

“What about integrating the behavioural, cognitive or social sciences? If you have a physician who has a really good understanding of social dynamics, sociology and other areas like these, how would that change what they do with their patients tomorrow? That’s a big opportunity for us,” she says.

Woods, who is also the Director of The Institute for Education Research at University Health Network, holds a PhD in cognitive psychology. Her work focuses on human memory and categorization.

Just as Woods’ work broadens the range of subjects that could be considered essential to medical education, her Excel Lab attracts students from a similarly wide range of programs. The lab works to develop new ways of thinking about how to design curriculum and teach future health care providers.

Graduate students in the lab, which Woods leads with professor Maria Mylopoulos, come from disciplines that have included dentistry, pharmacy and audiology. This academic diversity is one aspect of work that excites Woods.

“We’re all working to develop models of expertise and ways to build experts, so I get to collaborate with people who I wouldn’t have a chance to interact with in a siloed program where everyone is in a single field,” Woods says.

“This work speaks to people across many professions. Cognitive psychology is about the everyday human experience and reasoning. And when people enter professional programs and move into the professional realm, their minds don’t fundamentally change. They just think about different things. So, as long as I’m studying the process of thinking, I can talk to anybody. And it’s a lot of fun doing that.”

In addition to expanding the scope of health professions education research, Woods is also working to make the field more inclusive.

“It’s important for young Black people to see that science is possible for them. I want to create space for them to be here with me,” says Woods. “That’s part of my idea for the chair. I hope down the line there will be young Black men and women who know this is an option for them as a career. That they can be an education scientist or an institute director. We can be leaders in science and medicine.”

The inspiration for a career in education scholarship was sparked by one of Woods’ PhD supervisors – and current colleagues — Geoff Norman, a professor of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics and affiliated scientist at the Wilson Centre.

The two met when Woods was a third-year undergraduate student in one of Norman’s classes at McMaster University. He quickly noticed Woods’ talent and welcomed her to do an independent study in his lab.

Norman says he was not surprised to learn of Woods’ appointment to the Currie Chair.

“In graduate work, students often follow the lead of their supervisor, and create studies that are an extension of the program. Dr. Woods really opened up a new line of research that she has continued to the present day,” says Norman.

Fortifying the Foundation of Health Professions Education
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Author
Erin Howe
Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
Professor Nicole Woods
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom
Feature on Home Page
Off
Feature on News Listing
Off

Women’s Health Site Combats ‘Cracks in the Health Care System’

Women’s Health Site Combats ‘Cracks in the Health Care System’

DR. MODUPE TUNDE-BYASS, DR. TANZILA BASRIN AND SALWA FAROOQI

Three women from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine have created an online video series and information forum focused on women’s health, in response to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The forum – known as Women's Health Education Made Simple (WHEMS) – destigmatizes topics like pregnancy loss, mental health, and period health.

The group has produced more than 20 videos to date featuring health care professionals including obstetricians, gynaecologists, and psychiatrists who combat popular stereotypes.

The goal of the initiative is to debunk health myths and stop misinformation, say WHEMS’ founders Dr. Modupe Tunde-Byass, an assistant professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and President of Black Physicians’ of Canada, Dr. Tanzila Basrin, a family and emergency doctor and Temerty alumna, and Salwa Farooqi, a fourth-year student in the MD program.

In a recent conversation, the founders shared their perspectives on why the project was needed with writer Gabrielle Giroday.

Why did you create this forum?

Farooqi: In March 2020, when the pandemic hit, medical students weren’t able to attend in-person classes for four months. I wanted to do something meaningful.

Due to changes caused by the pandemic, a lot of clinics were being transferred online. Medical professionals were changing their clinic schedules or having to reduce in-person appointments.

Around this time, one of my close friends told me she was pregnant and sent me an image of her first ultrasound. She told me she was anxious about testing and follow-ups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My friend’s anxiety inspired me to think about how the health care system could better support pregnant women and their families during the pandemic, and help alleviate their stressors through sharing trusted information.

I reached out to Dr. Tunde-Byass, who I knew from my clerkship at the North York General Hospital, where she’s a staff obstetrician-gynaecologist. During my core rotation at the hospital, she mentored me and took me under her wing.

I then reached out to Dr. Basrin after seeing her online videos about the pandemic. Both women wanted to help.

In May 2020, we launched WHEMS videos on YouTube and Facebook. In August 2020, we launched the WHEMS website and Instagram site.

Now, we have nine members of WHEMS led by the three of us. We're all BIPOC women.

What are the barriers you’re trying to address through this initiative?

Tunde-Byass: Some barriers that existed, and still exist, have to do with language, short visits and the technological barriers of telemedicine.

The pandemic has caused disruptions to the way we all provide health care. Encounters between doctors and patients in offices are limited and short.

Patients often can’t bring their partners or their families to their appointments. In the second wave of the pandemic, we’re seeing the cracks in the health care system.

We also know there are barriers in BIPOC communities in terms of accessing health care systems. Access for BIPOC people can be very limited.

With our initiative, we wanted to create accurate, evidence-based information that people could access online when they had questions.

How have you seen a knowledge gap about women’s reproductive health impact the health care system?

Basrin: What I have seen, as a family and emergency doctor, is that during appointments we’re not always able to answer every question a patient may have, especially during a pandemic.

What I realized is that a knowledge gap not only disempowers patients, it encourages people to seek out information on Google and other online sites. When this happens, it can be hard to differentiate online what’s accurate and what’s not. If I wasn’t a doctor, I would have no idea how to look for good and bad information.

Look at topics like period health – this is something that impacts every woman, but not something that is talked about. I have seen women come in thinking that a three month long period is normal, since that’s all she has known.

One of the cornerstones of WHEMS is that we want to be evidence-based and patient-centred. We don’t use big words. We try not to use medical jargon. We’re trying to really get feedback from family and friends who are not in medicine about what’s easy to understand.

We want to empower women with knowledge so that they can advocate for their health and better recognize when to seek care.

What are some future areas you’d like to focus on?

Tunde-Byass: In the future, our project will address vaccine hesitancy in Canada and how to convince and encourage people that vaccines are safe.

For me, it’s important to focus on social responsibility, and to acknowledge how COVID-19 has affected the BIPOC community. There is a significant disparity in the way COVID-19 has impacted the BIPOC community, in terms of the rate of deaths and hospitalizations.

The pandemic heavily affects people who are low-wage workers and essential workers, who may have no sick pay and who have to go to work, whether they like it or not.

In the long term, we still have to deal with the social determinants of health, like income, education, housing and employment. The disparities are ingrained in our health system, but exposed by the pandemic. If we can correct this narrative now, we’ll have a more fair and equitable system.

Our initiative gives patients fair and unbiased information in areas that might not typically be talked about, so they can make informed decisions.

When you empower women, you empower all of society.

How has this initiative emphasized the importance of mentorship?

Basrin: I come from a South Asian family. In my experience, which many BIPOC women may be able to relate to, I was encouraged to prioritize balancing my work life with family, more than my male counterparts.

For this reason, I was thought I should choose the least busy schedule.

So, I put away my passion for emergency medicine, over fears about how shift work would impact my family or how I’d be able to manage my life outside medicine. The fear took away my initial urge to apply for emergency medicine.

These worries sound ridiculous to me now, but they did subconsciously impact me.

However, this is where mentorship changed the course of my career.

During medical school, I learned about medical education and leadership from my mentor, Dr. Parisa Rezaiefar.

During residency, I was inspired by another mentor, Dr. Walter Himmel, who urged me to apply to a fellowship for emergency medicine.

He still mentors me, and I’m now doing my three-month emergency medicine fellowship, called the SEME program.

In this initiative, Dr. Tunde-Byass continues to inspire me with her knowledge and leadership skills, further debunking the limitations that I had once created for myself.

Farooqi: I think for me personally mentorship has been a really, really important part of career development, and pursuing my goals.

I come from a background where I have no physicians in my family. I grew up in a homogenously non-affluent immigrant neighbourhood.

I’m an immigrant myself, so growing up I didn’t have many role models working in medicine around me. My mother and father used to work in blue-collar jobs. They still do.

I didn’t have the same opportunities that a lot of people in medicine would.

So, for me, it was important to find people that could empower me and help me find the direction I wanted to go in.

When I started medical school, I was in search of mentorship that showed how we, as BIPOC women, could carve out an identity for ourselves in medicine.

When I met Dr. Tunde-Byass and saw how she functions in a clinical setting and a leadership setting, it was very inspiring for me.

To see her function at so many levels in the hospital, while making a meaningful impact in the lives of her patients, really moved me.

I was excited to see a person of colour in such an important role.

All three of us have links to North York General Hospital, which served as an important foundation for us and how we met.

Dr. Basrin is closer in age to me. I think she provides the other aspect of mentorship – related to school and education, and how to navigate clerkship and residency. She’s taught me how to have difficult conversations and advocate for myself.

Both of them have listened to me and validated my ideas. I think mentorship has had a life-changing effect on me.

DR. MODUPE TUNDE-BYASS, DR. TANZILA BASRIN AND SALWA FAROOQI

Three women from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine have created an online video series and information forum focused on women’s health, in response to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The forum – known as Women's Health Education Made Simple (WHEMS) – destigmatizes topics like pregnancy loss, mental health, and period health.

The group has produced more than 20 videos to date featuring health care professionals including obstetricians, gynaecologists, and psychiatrists who combat popular stereotypes.

The goal of the initiative is to debunk health myths and stop misinformation, say WHEMS’ founders Dr. Modupe Tunde-Byass, an assistant professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and President of Black Physicians’ of Canada, Dr. Tanzila Basrin, a family and emergency doctor and Temerty alumna, and Salwa Farooqi, a fourth-year student in the MD program.

In a recent conversation, the founders shared their perspectives on why the project was needed with writer Gabrielle Giroday.

Why did you create this forum?

Farooqi: In March 2020, when the pandemic hit, medical students weren’t able to attend in-person classes for four months. I wanted to do something meaningful.

Due to changes caused by the pandemic, a lot of clinics were being transferred online. Medical professionals were changing their clinic schedules or having to reduce in-person appointments.

Around this time, one of my close friends told me she was pregnant and sent me an image of her first ultrasound. She told me she was anxious about testing and follow-ups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My friend’s anxiety inspired me to think about how the health care system could better support pregnant women and their families during the pandemic, and help alleviate their stressors through sharing trusted information.

I reached out to Dr. Tunde-Byass, who I knew from my clerkship at the North York General Hospital, where she’s a staff obstetrician-gynaecologist. During my core rotation at the hospital, she mentored me and took me under her wing.

I then reached out to Dr. Basrin after seeing her online videos about the pandemic. Both women wanted to help.

In May 2020, we launched WHEMS videos on YouTube and Facebook. In August 2020, we launched the WHEMS website and Instagram site.

Now, we have nine members of WHEMS led by the three of us. We're all BIPOC women.

What are the barriers you’re trying to address through this initiative?

Tunde-Byass: Some barriers that existed, and still exist, have to do with language, short visits and the technological barriers of telemedicine.

The pandemic has caused disruptions to the way we all provide health care. Encounters between doctors and patients in offices are limited and short.

Patients often can’t bring their partners or their families to their appointments. In the second wave of the pandemic, we’re seeing the cracks in the health care system.

We also know there are barriers in BIPOC communities in terms of accessing health care systems. Access for BIPOC people can be very limited.

With our initiative, we wanted to create accurate, evidence-based information that people could access online when they had questions.

How have you seen a knowledge gap about women’s reproductive health impact the health care system?

Basrin: What I have seen, as a family and emergency doctor, is that during appointments we’re not always able to answer every question a patient may have, especially during a pandemic.

What I realized is that a knowledge gap not only disempowers patients, it encourages people to seek out information on Google and other online sites. When this happens, it can be hard to differentiate online what’s accurate and what’s not. If I wasn’t a doctor, I would have no idea how to look for good and bad information.

Look at topics like period health – this is something that impacts every woman, but not something that is talked about. I have seen women come in thinking that a three month long period is normal, since that’s all she has known.

One of the cornerstones of WHEMS is that we want to be evidence-based and patient-centred. We don’t use big words. We try not to use medical jargon. We’re trying to really get feedback from family and friends who are not in medicine about what’s easy to understand.

We want to empower women with knowledge so that they can advocate for their health and better recognize when to seek care.

What are some future areas you’d like to focus on?

Tunde-Byass: In the future, our project will address vaccine hesitancy in Canada and how to convince and encourage people that vaccines are safe.

For me, it’s important to focus on social responsibility, and to acknowledge how COVID-19 has affected the BIPOC community. There is a significant disparity in the way COVID-19 has impacted the BIPOC community, in terms of the rate of deaths and hospitalizations.

The pandemic heavily affects people who are low-wage workers and essential workers, who may have no sick pay and who have to go to work, whether they like it or not.

In the long term, we still have to deal with the social determinants of health, like income, education, housing and employment. The disparities are ingrained in our health system, but exposed by the pandemic. If we can correct this narrative now, we’ll have a more fair and equitable system.

Our initiative gives patients fair and unbiased information in areas that might not typically be talked about, so they can make informed decisions.

When you empower women, you empower all of society.

How has this initiative emphasized the importance of mentorship?

Basrin: I come from a South Asian family. In my experience, which many BIPOC women may be able to relate to, I was encouraged to prioritize balancing my work life with family, more than my male counterparts.

For this reason, I was thought I should choose the least busy schedule.

So, I put away my passion for emergency medicine, over fears about how shift work would impact my family or how I’d be able to manage my life outside medicine. The fear took away my initial urge to apply for emergency medicine.

These worries sound ridiculous to me now, but they did subconsciously impact me.

However, this is where mentorship changed the course of my career.

During medical school, I learned about medical education and leadership from my mentor, Dr. Parisa Rezaiefar.

During residency, I was inspired by another mentor, Dr. Walter Himmel, who urged me to apply to a fellowship for emergency medicine.

He still mentors me, and I’m now doing my three-month emergency medicine fellowship, called the SEME program.

In this initiative, Dr. Tunde-Byass continues to inspire me with her knowledge and leadership skills, further debunking the limitations that I had once created for myself.

Farooqi: I think for me personally mentorship has been a really, really important part of career development, and pursuing my goals.

I come from a background where I have no physicians in my family. I grew up in a homogenously non-affluent immigrant neighbourhood.

I’m an immigrant myself, so growing up I didn’t have many role models working in medicine around me. My mother and father used to work in blue-collar jobs. They still do.

I didn’t have the same opportunities that a lot of people in medicine would.

So, for me, it was important to find people that could empower me and help me find the direction I wanted to go in.

When I started medical school, I was in search of mentorship that showed how we, as BIPOC women, could carve out an identity for ourselves in medicine.

When I met Dr. Tunde-Byass and saw how she functions in a clinical setting and a leadership setting, it was very inspiring for me.

To see her function at so many levels in the hospital, while making a meaningful impact in the lives of her patients, really moved me.

I was excited to see a person of colour in such an important role.

All three of us have links to North York General Hospital, which served as an important foundation for us and how we met.

Dr. Basrin is closer in age to me. I think she provides the other aspect of mentorship – related to school and education, and how to navigate clerkship and residency. She’s taught me how to have difficult conversations and advocate for myself.

Both of them have listened to me and validated my ideas. I think mentorship has had a life-changing effect on me.

Women’s Health Site Combats ‘Cracks in the Health Care System’
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Author

Gabrielle Giroday

Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
Tunde-Byass, Basrin and Farooqi
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom

Faces of U of T Medicine: Jackie Tsang

Faces of U of T Medicine: Jackie Tsang

Jackie TsangA new initiative at the University of Toronto’s medical school is giving a voice to people from marginalized backgrounds and helping students deepen their understanding of future patients.

The Pen-pal Project matches medical students with community members who’ve experienced homelessness. The pairs exchange a series of letters, which bolster compassion among the learners while empowering their pen-pals.

Jackie Tsang, a third-year medical student and Vice President, Education in the Social Justice for Medical Education club spoke with writer Erin Howe about her involvement with the Pen-pal Project and how it’s being adapted to include more participants and the broader curriculum.

How does the Pen-pal Project work?

My third-year colleague Ivona Berger and I partnered with HouseLink, which provides supportive housing and other programs to people with mental health and addiction issues. In the first letter last fall, eleven students asked their pen-pals about their life circumstances and past experiences with medical professionals. Over the course of the month-long pilot, participants developed meaningful relationships with one another.

What inspired the Pen-pal Project?

I have lived experience with financial and housing insecurity. My parents are immigrants and throughout their lives, they’ve faced discrimination because of their low socio-economic status. I’ve always recognized this as part of my identity, but didn't realize the gravity of it until I reached postsecondary education.

While I was in university in London, Ontario, I noticed a glaring financial disparity between myself and most other students. I was also shocked by the degree of apathy toward the homeless population. I started a local branch of the non-profit organization HashtagLunchbag, which brings together volunteers to assemble lunch bags for people experiencing housing insecurity. There are a lot of misconceptions about people in these circumstances and I thought HashtagLunchbag would help address and dispel them. The program also became the impetus for me to apply my interest in inner-city health in my role as a medical student.

Ivona and I inherited this project from fourth-year medical students Abirami Kirubarajan and Seiwon Park, who came up with the idea of using a pen-pal program to teach our peers about empathy for homelessness.

How has this experience changed the way participants think about homelessness?

Through the letters, students got to read about the varied nature of their pen-pals’ personal experiences and the impact of different life events that were beyond their control. Things like a financial crisis, mental health issues or traumatic childhood events can contribute to precarious housing — things no one would choose for themselves.

The students also developed some new communication skills. For example, some students were paired with pen-pals whose first language isn’t English and had to tailor their writing to their pen-pal.

Participants also said they developed stronger advocacy skills by learning about different resources and people who advocate for their pen-pals. Students also said they gained better insight into how their actions and words as future medical professionals can have a profound impact on somebody's life and relationship with the healthcare system.

What are the next steps for The Pen-pal Project?

We’re working with Professor Fok-Han Leung, director of the health in the community curriculum for the MD Program, and experiential learning lead Roxanne Wright to integrate The Pen-pal Project into the community-based service learning curriculum. It's a social distancing-friendly way to engage with the community, so it's timely that we've just finished our pilot and are ready to hit the ground running with it.

We’re also looking to expand the program to include people from other disadvantaged or marginalized groups who may have intersecting factors that influence their health. In the future, we hope to pair groups of student participants with community members to exchange letters throughout their second year of medical education.

We’ll also share students’ experiences with the pilot through a qualitative study we wrote to highlight the project’s themes, and which we have submitted for publication. I'm also scheduled to give an oral presentation on the project at the Canadian Conference for Medical Education as well as one at U of T’s Medical Student Research Day, which is a huge privilege.

How does it make you feel to see this project grow to include more students in a more formal way?

Honestly, this is beyond what I ever thought possible. My goal was to educate my peers about homelessness health. And I'm glad it has this broader implication of learning about other marginalized populations as well.

When I was applying to medical school and preparing my “about me” statement for my interviews, I had crushing feelings like, “I shouldn't even apply.” Then, I remember reading about a medical student at U of T who is now a physician — Dr. Stephanie Zhou, whose opinion piece about growing up experiencing low socio-economic status gave me a new outlook on how to leverage my lived experiences.

I remember a conversation with my dad, who didn’t get to go to postsecondary school and invested every cent he could into making sure my sister and I had what we needed. When I wanted to apply for a medical school entrance bursary, I asked him to fill out the financial forms with me. He said no — why anyone would want to accept a student in financial need?

I was so frustrated in that moment, but reflecting on it, I totally understand where he was coming from — he had been discriminated against and faced inequities because of his socio-economic status and it seemed logical that applying to medical school would be no different.

I'm really glad that as a medical student, I can dispel myths about people who might not have grown up in the best financial circumstances. And I'm glad to pave a road for future students like me. I hope they’re inspired and comforted to know they’re not alone.

Jackie TsangA new initiative at the University of Toronto’s medical school is giving a voice to people from marginalized backgrounds and helping students deepen their understanding of future patients.

The Pen-pal Project matches medical students with community members who’ve experienced homelessness. The pairs exchange a series of letters, which bolster compassion among the learners while empowering their pen-pals.

Jackie Tsang, a third-year medical student and Vice President, Education in the Social Justice for Medical Education club spoke with writer Erin Howe about her involvement with the Pen-pal Project and how it’s being adapted to include more participants and the broader curriculum.

How does the Pen-pal Project work?

My third-year colleague Ivona Berger and I partnered with HouseLink, which provides supportive housing and other programs to people with mental health and addiction issues. In the first letter last fall, eleven students asked their pen-pals about their life circumstances and past experiences with medical professionals. Over the course of the month-long pilot, participants developed meaningful relationships with one another.

What inspired the Pen-pal Project?

I have lived experience with financial and housing insecurity. My parents are immigrants and throughout their lives, they’ve faced discrimination because of their low socio-economic status. I’ve always recognized this as part of my identity, but didn't realize the gravity of it until I reached postsecondary education.

While I was in university in London, Ontario, I noticed a glaring financial disparity between myself and most other students. I was also shocked by the degree of apathy toward the homeless population. I started a local branch of the non-profit organization HashtagLunchbag, which brings together volunteers to assemble lunch bags for people experiencing housing insecurity. There are a lot of misconceptions about people in these circumstances and I thought HashtagLunchbag would help address and dispel them. The program also became the impetus for me to apply my interest in inner-city health in my role as a medical student.

Ivona and I inherited this project from fourth-year medical students Abirami Kirubarajan and Seiwon Park, who came up with the idea of using a pen-pal program to teach our peers about empathy for homelessness.

How has this experience changed the way participants think about homelessness?

Through the letters, students got to read about the varied nature of their pen-pals’ personal experiences and the impact of different life events that were beyond their control. Things like a financial crisis, mental health issues or traumatic childhood events can contribute to precarious housing — things no one would choose for themselves.

The students also developed some new communication skills. For example, some students were paired with pen-pals whose first language isn’t English and had to tailor their writing to their pen-pal.

Participants also said they developed stronger advocacy skills by learning about different resources and people who advocate for their pen-pals. Students also said they gained better insight into how their actions and words as future medical professionals can have a profound impact on somebody's life and relationship with the healthcare system.

What are the next steps for The Pen-pal Project?

We’re working with Professor Fok-Han Leung, director of the health in the community curriculum for the MD Program, and experiential learning lead Roxanne Wright to integrate The Pen-pal Project into the community-based service learning curriculum. It's a social distancing-friendly way to engage with the community, so it's timely that we've just finished our pilot and are ready to hit the ground running with it.

We’re also looking to expand the program to include people from other disadvantaged or marginalized groups who may have intersecting factors that influence their health. In the future, we hope to pair groups of student participants with community members to exchange letters throughout their second year of medical education.

We’ll also share students’ experiences with the pilot through a qualitative study we wrote to highlight the project’s themes, and which we have submitted for publication. I'm also scheduled to give an oral presentation on the project at the Canadian Conference for Medical Education as well as one at U of T’s Medical Student Research Day, which is a huge privilege.

How does it make you feel to see this project grow to include more students in a more formal way?

Honestly, this is beyond what I ever thought possible. My goal was to educate my peers about homelessness health. And I'm glad it has this broader implication of learning about other marginalized populations as well.

When I was applying to medical school and preparing my “about me” statement for my interviews, I had crushing feelings like, “I shouldn't even apply.” Then, I remember reading about a medical student at U of T who is now a physician — Dr. Stephanie Zhou, whose opinion piece about growing up experiencing low socio-economic status gave me a new outlook on how to leverage my lived experiences.

I remember a conversation with my dad, who didn’t get to go to postsecondary school and invested every cent he could into making sure my sister and I had what we needed. When I wanted to apply for a medical school entrance bursary, I asked him to fill out the financial forms with me. He said no — why anyone would want to accept a student in financial need?

I was so frustrated in that moment, but reflecting on it, I totally understand where he was coming from — he had been discriminated against and faced inequities because of his socio-economic status and it seemed logical that applying to medical school would be no different.

I'm really glad that as a medical student, I can dispel myths about people who might not have grown up in the best financial circumstances. And I'm glad to pave a road for future students like me. I hope they’re inspired and comforted to know they’re not alone.

Faces of U of T Medicine: Jackie Tsang
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
Jackie Tsang
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom

Countering Vaccine Hesitancy with Conversation

Countering Vaccine Hesitancy with Conversation

Tara Moriarty has been tracking and reporting COVID-19 cases in long-term care since the pandemic began. So far, one in five Canadians diagnosed with the disease and living in these settings have died.

Disturbed by that grim statistic, Moriarty took to Zoom last week to answer questions on vaccine safety from people who live in, work in or visit long-term care or retirement homes across the country.Tara Moriarty

She’s hosted online meetings every night since.

“As much as possible, we want to make sure people in this sector are vaccinated. Outbreaks in those settings cost lives,” says Moriarty, an associate professor in the Faculty of Dentistry and Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

“Some health care workers are uncomfortable taking the vaccine,” Moriarty says. “Many people are themselves elderly and have a spouse in long-term care or a retirement home and are eligible for the vaccines, but they are unsure whether to take them.”

The best way to combat vaccine hesitancy, says Moriarty, is non-judgemental, one-on-one dialogue with an option of anonymity.

Moriarty has keenly following news about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines provincially and across Canada. She is also projecting the trajectory of the virus — both in case numbers and deaths in long-term care.

“By my count, there could be nearly 7,000 deaths across Canada in the next 28 days based on the current weekly death increases, and about 5,000 of these deaths will likely be people living in long-term care and retirement homes,” she says. “Most new cases contracted in long-term care and retirement homes that result in death won’t appear in reported deaths until at least mid-February.”

Most deaths from the virus in Canada have occurred in long-term care, and governments have prioritized vaccination for workers and residents in these settings.

But many people aren’t comfortable going to their local drug store and asking a pharmacist about the vaccines. Some people may not be able to book appointments with their family doctors on short notice to get information, Moriarty says.

Moriarty has received thousands of e-mails about the Zoom sessions, which have attracted hundreds of participants. Several care homes and unions have asked to share a link to the sessions since Moriarty tweeted about them, and some have inquired about starting their own sessions.

Plans are also underway to offer sessions at other times and in different languages.

Many questions participants ask have been straightforward, like what’s in the vaccine, how does it work and what makes an mRNA vaccine different from traditional vaccines?

Other questions require more customized answers, such as whether the vaccines are safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women, or for cancer survivors and the immune-compromised.

Several experts have joined Moriarty in the sessions to help ensure the spread of good information, including pharmacists, physicians, molecular biologists and a geriatrician.

Moriarty’s lab at U of T explores how Lyme disease spreads. She has become comfortable countering skepticism and facilitating difficult conversations through additional roles related to her research — skills she has utilized during the pandemic.

“There’s such a massive amount of information,” says Moriarty. “I can sift through it quickly, I know what to pick out, but the large majority of people can’t do that swiftly. And people value having a person they can see and talk to who can help — it’s like a facilitated conversation.”

Moriarty also has personal insight into the risks and anxiety among many older adults right now — her mother has dementia and lives in a long-term care facility.

Moriarty also worked as a personal support worker during her undergraduate studies, and through most of her PhD studies in anatomy and cell biology.

“I hear people’s stories and worries during the Zoom calls,” she says. “There’s been so little support for this sector despite it bearing a massive toll in this epidemic. People who work in this area are traumatized, and yet they’re expected to work miracles. It’s incredibly difficult work and we’ve thought very little about helping them.”

The sessions take place at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and can accommodate up to 100 participants. Sign up to attend a session by signing up using this link.

Health care providers and scientists knowledgeable about COVID-19 vaccine safety can sign up here to volunteer.

Tara Moriarty has been tracking and reporting COVID-19 cases in long-term care since the pandemic began. So far, one in five Canadians diagnosed with the disease and living in these settings have died.

Disturbed by that grim statistic, Moriarty took to Zoom last week to answer questions on vaccine safety from people who live in, work in or visit long-term care or retirement homes across the country.Tara Moriarty

She’s hosted online meetings every night since.

“As much as possible, we want to make sure people in this sector are vaccinated. Outbreaks in those settings cost lives,” says Moriarty, an associate professor in the Faculty of Dentistry and Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

“Some health care workers are uncomfortable taking the vaccine,” Moriarty says. “Many people are themselves elderly and have a spouse in long-term care or a retirement home and are eligible for the vaccines, but they are unsure whether to take them.”

The best way to combat vaccine hesitancy, says Moriarty, is non-judgemental, one-on-one dialogue with an option of anonymity.

Moriarty has keenly following news about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines provincially and across Canada. She is also projecting the trajectory of the virus — both in case numbers and deaths in long-term care.

“By my count, there could be nearly 7,000 deaths across Canada in the next 28 days based on the current weekly death increases, and about 5,000 of these deaths will likely be people living in long-term care and retirement homes,” she says. “Most new cases contracted in long-term care and retirement homes that result in death won’t appear in reported deaths until at least mid-February.”

Most deaths from the virus in Canada have occurred in long-term care, and governments have prioritized vaccination for workers and residents in these settings.

But many people aren’t comfortable going to their local drug store and asking a pharmacist about the vaccines. Some people may not be able to book appointments with their family doctors on short notice to get information, Moriarty says.

Moriarty has received thousands of e-mails about the Zoom sessions, which have attracted hundreds of participants. Several care homes and unions have asked to share a link to the sessions since Moriarty tweeted about them, and some have inquired about starting their own sessions.

Plans are also underway to offer sessions at other times and in different languages.

Many questions participants ask have been straightforward, like what’s in the vaccine, how does it work and what makes an mRNA vaccine different from traditional vaccines?

Other questions require more customized answers, such as whether the vaccines are safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women, or for cancer survivors and the immune-compromised.

Several experts have joined Moriarty in the sessions to help ensure the spread of good information, including pharmacists, physicians, molecular biologists and a geriatrician.

Moriarty’s lab at U of T explores how Lyme disease spreads. She has become comfortable countering skepticism and facilitating difficult conversations through additional roles related to her research — skills she has utilized during the pandemic.

“There’s such a massive amount of information,” says Moriarty. “I can sift through it quickly, I know what to pick out, but the large majority of people can’t do that swiftly. And people value having a person they can see and talk to who can help — it’s like a facilitated conversation.”

Moriarty also has personal insight into the risks and anxiety among many older adults right now — her mother has dementia and lives in a long-term care facility.

Moriarty also worked as a personal support worker during her undergraduate studies, and through most of her PhD studies in anatomy and cell biology.

“I hear people’s stories and worries during the Zoom calls,” she says. “There’s been so little support for this sector despite it bearing a massive toll in this epidemic. People who work in this area are traumatized, and yet they’re expected to work miracles. It’s incredibly difficult work and we’ve thought very little about helping them.”

The sessions take place at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and can accommodate up to 100 participants. Sign up to attend a session by signing up using this link.

Health care providers and scientists knowledgeable about COVID-19 vaccine safety can sign up here to volunteer.

Countering Vaccine Hesitancy with Conversation
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Author

Erin Howe

Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
Tara Moriarty
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom

Team Hopes to Create Reusable Surgical Mask

Team Hopes to Create Reusable Surgical Mask

When COVID-19 emerged as a public health threat in early 2020, organizations representing health care workers sounded the alarm over concern over shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE). Now, two members of U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine are working toward a sustainable solution to ensure frontline workers who need PPE can access it. Denyse Richardson, an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, and Reena Kilian, Lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine lead the ROSE Project. They’ve joined forces with a textile engineer, an architect, sewists, a knowledge translation expert and a medical student to establish the Rose Project. Richardson and Kilian spoke with writer Erin Howe about their progress so far.

What’s the significance of the initiative’s name?

Kilian: ROSE stands for “re-useable open-source equipment.”

Our plan is to develop a Level 1 face mask that people in health care settings can wash and wear multiple times. The disposable, blue, pleated surgical masks you see are a good example of a Level 1 face mask.

With our design, we hope to match the degree of protection those masks offer. And, we want ours to feature materials that can be repeatedly cleaned and worn again.

Why is this work important going forward?

Kilian: Disposable surgical masks are only intended to be used once. They’re made of plastic and aren’t biodegradable or recyclable.

We hope if there’s a reusable alternative developed, use of the disposable masks will fall, so we can protect the planet while we protect each other and ourselves.

A lot of eco-friendly practices people had adopted before the pandemic stopped in the beginning of the pandemic over concern about spreading the virus — people had to stop using reusable bags at the store or travel mugs at the coffee shop. So, there’s a sense that we’ve really stepped back from the progress we’d made toward sustainability as a society.

The other issue has to do with supply and demand, which becomes less of a concern once there are reusable options. When we can wear a mask again, you don’t need as many of them, which we hope can help lower the risk of a shortage like we saw in the spring.

What inspired this work?

Kilian: We both work with patients who live in group homes and work closely with personal support workers.

At the beginning of the pandemic, personal support workers had no PPE, which put patients who were already vulnerable at a disadvantage.

Richardson: Our idea came out of a desire to protect people who were lacking PPE when supply was low. We especially wanted to assist people working in shelters, long-term care homes and group homes. These people work with some of our most vulnerable populations and need to protect their clients and themselves.

Why is it important to you to ensure your design is shared as an open source?

Kilian: We’ve all been affected by the pandemic and we want these efforts to benefit as many people as possible. There are already a few examples of other open-source PPE, like the Prusa face shield, which anyone with a 3D printer can make.

The idea is that if you’re someplace where you don’t have access to medical masks, either because there is a shortage or you’re in a remote area, this design will allow you to make a mask that you know will provide protection equal to what a standard surgical mask would.

For that reason, we have also focussed on using materials that are accessible to anyone.


You mentioned that you’re looking to use easily accessible fabrics. What does this mean?

Richardson: Our aim is to use materials someone could get no matter where they are. For example, one of our team members is looking at sheets from a discount retail chain with locations all over North America.

Mold used to test masks under NIOSH criteria.  Who is funding your work?
In addition to crowdfunding, we’ve also received two grants —one from the UHN Department of Medicine Academic Health Science Centre Alternative Funding Plan (AFP) Innovation Fund and one from the UHN Family Medicine Toronto Rehabilitation Institute AFP Special Project Fund.

What’s the status of your work, and what do you hope will happen next?

Richardson: When we started this work, we thought it would be done in a few months, but it’s a complex process.

With the help of James Scott, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, we’re trying to define what and how materials can be used to create a mask that will satisfy important criteria — filtration and proper fit while maintaining breathability.

In his aerosol lab, Scott’s also been testing our masks against two standards — US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, also known as NIOSH, and American Society for Testing and Materials, better known as ASTM.

The next step is to find out how many times the masks can be re-used while maintaining their protective qualities. We’re hopeful that will happen in the year ahead.

When COVID-19 emerged as a public health threat in early 2020, organizations representing health care workers sounded the alarm over concern over shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE). Now, two members of U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine are working toward a sustainable solution to ensure frontline workers who need PPE can access it. Denyse Richardson, an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, and Reena Kilian, Lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine lead the ROSE Project. They’ve joined forces with a textile engineer, an architect, sewists, a knowledge translation expert and a medical student to establish the Rose Project. Richardson and Kilian spoke with writer Erin Howe about their progress so far.

What’s the significance of the initiative’s name?

Kilian: ROSE stands for “re-useable open-source equipment.”

Our plan is to develop a Level 1 face mask that people in health care settings can wash and wear multiple times. The disposable, blue, pleated surgical masks you see are a good example of a Level 1 face mask.

With our design, we hope to match the degree of protection those masks offer. And, we want ours to feature materials that can be repeatedly cleaned and worn again.

Why is this work important going forward?

Kilian: Disposable surgical masks are only intended to be used once. They’re made of plastic and aren’t biodegradable or recyclable.

We hope if there’s a reusable alternative developed, use of the disposable masks will fall, so we can protect the planet while we protect each other and ourselves.

A lot of eco-friendly practices people had adopted before the pandemic stopped in the beginning of the pandemic over concern about spreading the virus — people had to stop using reusable bags at the store or travel mugs at the coffee shop. So, there’s a sense that we’ve really stepped back from the progress we’d made toward sustainability as a society.

The other issue has to do with supply and demand, which becomes less of a concern once there are reusable options. When we can wear a mask again, you don’t need as many of them, which we hope can help lower the risk of a shortage like we saw in the spring.

What inspired this work?

Kilian: We both work with patients who live in group homes and work closely with personal support workers.

At the beginning of the pandemic, personal support workers had no PPE, which put patients who were already vulnerable at a disadvantage.

Richardson: Our idea came out of a desire to protect people who were lacking PPE when supply was low. We especially wanted to assist people working in shelters, long-term care homes and group homes. These people work with some of our most vulnerable populations and need to protect their clients and themselves.

Why is it important to you to ensure your design is shared as an open source?

Kilian: We’ve all been affected by the pandemic and we want these efforts to benefit as many people as possible. There are already a few examples of other open-source PPE, like the Prusa face shield, which anyone with a 3D printer can make.

The idea is that if you’re someplace where you don’t have access to medical masks, either because there is a shortage or you’re in a remote area, this design will allow you to make a mask that you know will provide protection equal to what a standard surgical mask would.

For that reason, we have also focussed on using materials that are accessible to anyone.


You mentioned that you’re looking to use easily accessible fabrics. What does this mean?

Richardson: Our aim is to use materials someone could get no matter where they are. For example, one of our team members is looking at sheets from a discount retail chain with locations all over North America.

Mold used to test masks under NIOSH criteria.  Who is funding your work?
In addition to crowdfunding, we’ve also received two grants —one from the UHN Department of Medicine Academic Health Science Centre Alternative Funding Plan (AFP) Innovation Fund and one from the UHN Family Medicine Toronto Rehabilitation Institute AFP Special Project Fund.

What’s the status of your work, and what do you hope will happen next?

Richardson: When we started this work, we thought it would be done in a few months, but it’s a complex process.

With the help of James Scott, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, we’re trying to define what and how materials can be used to create a mask that will satisfy important criteria — filtration and proper fit while maintaining breathability.

In his aerosol lab, Scott’s also been testing our masks against two standards — US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, also known as NIOSH, and American Society for Testing and Materials, better known as ASTM.

The next step is to find out how many times the masks can be re-used while maintaining their protective qualities. We’re hopeful that will happen in the year ahead.

Team Hopes to Create Reusable Surgical Mask
Admin Help - SEO
screenshot of a google search result

Optimize this page for search engines by customizing the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.

Use the Google Search Result Preview Tool to test different content ideas.

Admin Help - Social Share
screenshot of a linkedin share with selected image

Select a Meta Image to tell a social media platform what image to use when sharing.

If blank, different social platforms like LinkedIn will randomly select an image on the page to appear on shared posts.

Posts with images generally perform better on social media so it is worth selecting an engaging image.

Tags
Related News
Enabled
News Image
Dr. Reena Kilian wears an early prototype of the ROSE mask.
Override Summary Image
Off
Related News Title
News
Default Image
Custom
Feature on Home Page
Off
Feature on News Listing
Off
Subscribe to