March 15, 2020

During this time of heightened concern surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all taking pause about what can be done to keep our families and ourselves safe and healthy, while continuing our work and studies in the Faculty of Medicine. Dalhousie University, the Maritime provincial governments, and the federal government have taken extraordinary measures over the past several days, the likes of which we have never seen in our country to improve our safety.

I would like to thank everyone for their leadership, commitment, and patience as we move forward under these ever-changing circumstances. We value the support that we are receiving from our colleagues in administration at Dalhousie University, the provincial health authorities, public health officials, and the governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Understandably, many of us are anxious and uncertain about how COVID-19 will affect our lives, our education and our professional duties. The Faculty of Medicine is doing what it can to minimize disruptions, while also fulfilling our obligations to the university and following the best advice from public health.

Unfortunately, given the magnitude of some of these changes being introduced, some disruption in student and work life is inevitable. Your support to work with us to accommodate these alterations is greatly appreciated.

We will be reassessing and evaluating the situation continuously and issuing regular communication updates via email, and will post Faculty of Medicine specific information at: https://medicine.dal.ca/news/covid.html.

Please take care of yourselves and your families. We will work through this incredibly challenging time together.

Dr. David Anderson
Dean, Faculty of Medicine

Current Situation
To date, there are confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 in all three Maritime provinces. The World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dalhousie University announced on March 13, 2020 that all classes will be suspended from March 16-20, 2020. In-person classes, in-person labs and in-person exams will not resume this term. Any course delivery will occur through temporary remote (distance) teaching – in most cases, this will mean online delivery through tools such as Brightspace.

The University will remain open during this time.

Below are the most immediate impacts to staff, students, residents, and faculty in the Faculty of Medicine:

Travel

• All non-essential university travel is suspended. Do not book university travel. This suspension will be until June 1 at a minimum.
• Faculty of Medicine staff, non-clinical faculty, as well as first and second year medical students will adhere to Dalhousie University’s travel and isolation policies.
• At this time, the Provost’s office has indicated that medical students doing clinical placements (Med III and IV), residents, and clinical faculty within the Faculty of Medicine will be required to self-isolate for 14 days if they have traveled outside of Canada and arrived back in Canada after 12:00 p.m. on March 13, 2020.
• Other students, including Med I and Med II students, staff and faculty will have to self-isolate for 14 days if they have travelled outside the Maritime Provinces to a province that had cases of COVID-19 or if they have travelled outside of Canada after 12:00 p.m. on March 13, 2020.
• Self-isolating graduate students should report their status to their graduate coordinator, staff to their supervisor.  Faculty should report to their Department Head.
• Any self-isolating clerks and residents must report their status to their preceptor, UGME and the Student Affairs office, or their program director and Resident Affairs office, respectively.

Faculty and Staff

• All non-essential university events are cancelled or postponed. At this point, this is in effect until June 1 at a minimum. Do not book university events until further notice as we continue to monitor the situation.
• All faculty and staff are to continue their clinical and professional responsibilities during this time.
• Where possible, units can consider having employees work from home and meet via video or teleconference.
• Supervisors have been provided information on handling employee requests and should use their discretion to approve these arrangements.

Undergraduate Medical Education

• Clinical clerks should report for scheduled rotations and clinical sites on March 16, 2020.
• Undergraduate learners will not be assigned to the direct care of known COVID-19 patients.
• Students should re-familiarize themselves with routine practices and additional precautions for care of those with suspected viral infections or respiratory illnesses.
• Clerks who meet current guidelines for self-isolation will not report on March 16th, but will advise their preceptors, Student Affairs and UGME office that they are required to be in self-isolation.
• Clinical services may reassign students within a rotation, depending on staff resources and workloads.
• Clerks will not be expected to perform additional clinical or on-call responsibilities as a result of classmates being in self-isolation.
• Some students may require specific accommodations as supported by Student Affairs as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Please reach out to Student Affairs if you feel you require a specific accommodation.
• Part one of the Medical Council of Canada qualifying examinations have been postponed.
• No new dates have been set, but university officials are working with the certification bodies, as well as with provincial regulatory authorities to minimize the impact on graduating medical student.

Postgraduate Medical Education

• All spring written examinations for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, as well as the written and oral examinations for the College of Family Physicians of Canada have been postponed.
• Part one and two of the Medical Council of Canada qualifying examinations have been postponed.
• No new dates have been set, but university officials are working with the certification bodies, as well as with provincial regulatory authorities to minimize the impact on graduating residents.
• Registrars of the provincial colleges of physicians and surgeons in all three Maritime provinces have assured us that the cancellation of these examinations will not impact the ability of graduating residents to begin practice, nor will they impact the ability of graduating medical students to begin residency on time.
• Electives by international residents AND by residents from other universities in Canada which are due to begin on or after April 8 (start of next block) have been cancelled for at least three months (until June 30).
• Program directors and/or electives coordinators should advise residents with electives planned that they should be rebooked.
• Individuals from other institutions currently doing electives at Dalhousie should be managed on a case-by-case basis, according to the resident’s preference.
• Dalhousie residents doing electives at Dalhousie institutions can continue as scheduled until advised otherwise.
• More information will follow as it becomes available.

Graduate Studies

• Labs remain open for research, so please communicate with your supervisor as there could be additional measures taken to limit interactions and SOPs could be developed to reduce cross-contaminations.

Additional Information
Prevention and preparedness remain key advice:

• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue (throw the tissue away)
• Clean high-touch surfaces and objects often
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

A reminder that the Public Health Agency of Canada, Nova Scotia Public Health, New Brunswick Public Health and PEI Public Health remain the best source for up-to-date public information on this rapidly changing situation. More information related to Dalhousie can be found at www.dal.ca/coronavirus.

March 13, 2020

Current Situation
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dalhousie University announced today that all classes will be suspended from March 16-20, 2020. The University will remain open during this time.

The Faculty of Medicine will be providing specific updates via email and at https://medicine.dal.ca/news/covid.html to supplement information already provided by Dalhousie University. Below are the immediate impacts to Faculty of Medicine operations, as more information becomes available, we will continue to keep you informed.

Travel
All non-essential student, faculty and staff travel for university purposes is now suspended. Any exceptions must be approved by the Provost.

In line with Public Health advice, all those who have travelled internationally should self-isolate upon their return for 14 days. For employees, this time will not be taken from an employee’s vacation or sick leave bank; employees self-isolating are expected to work from home, where possible.

Faculty and Staff Impact

• Dalhousie University will remain open.
• All faculty and staff are to continue their clinical and professional responsibilities during this time.
• Where possible, units can consider having employees work from home and meet via video or teleconference.
• Supervisors should use their discretion to approve these arrangements.

Student Impact
Med 1 & 2:

• Class suspension period coincides with reading week break. No change.
• It is expected classes will resume via remote teaching the week of March 23^rd. More information will be provided next week.

Med 3

• Clerkships will take place as scheduled.
• Dalhousie Medical School clerks are required to self-isolate for 14 days following any travel outside of Canada with an arrival date after 12:00 p.m. on March 13^th.
• All self-isolating clerks must report their status to their clerkship coordinator and to their campus Student Affairs office (Dr. Joanne MacDonald for Nova Scotia and Dr. Lisa Sutherland for New Brunswick). Self-isolating clerks must also submit a Leave of Absence form to the Undergraduate Medical Education office.

Med 4

• PIER 4 lectures scheduled for March 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th will take place remotely at the scheduled times.
• Login information will be provided by Med IT on Monday morning.
• Further information about the rest of PIER 4 will be forwarded early next week.

Residents

• Dalhousie Medical School residents are required to self-isolate for 14 days following any travel outside of Canada with an arrival date after 12:00 p.m. on March 13^th.
• All self-isolating residents must report their status to their program director and to their campus Resident Affairs office.
• To ensure the safety of residents and patients, Dalhousie Medical School has cancelled all electives for residents scheduled to be performed outside of the Maritimes.
• All international electives will be cancelled for those who have not yet arrived in Canada. These restrictions will remain in place for at least three months.
• Residents beginning electives at the NSHA anytime after today, who have not previously worked at the NSHA (including trainees from elsewhere in Canada) must be reported to Medical Services prior to beginning work.  Supervisors are asked to notify physicianrecruit@nshealth.ca.
• The Postgraduate Medical Education office is collecting information and will communicate with residents next week regarding rescheduled exams and certifications.
• PGME is recommending the cancellation of in-person academic half days for programs where more than 20 people would normally attend.
• Dedicated learning time should still be protected and programs are encouraged to look for alternate methods of curriculum delivery such as videoconferencing or e-learning modules.

Graduate Students

• Graduate programs will continue, and students may continue their work.
• In person classes at Dalhousie will be suspended for next week.  Depending on the size of the class, small classes may be able to continue on a case-by-case basis, either in person or digitally.
• Research activities can continue.

Additional Information
Prevention and preparedness remain key advice:

• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue (throw the tissue away)
• Clean high-touch surfaces and objects often
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

A reminder that the Public Health Agency of Canada and Nova Scotia Public Health remain the best source for up-to-date public information on this rapidly changing situation. More information related to Dalhousie can be found at www.dal.ca/coronavirus.

Dean’s Blog – February/March 2020

Hi everyone,

I would like to begin by addressing the level of uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, and how the Faculty of Medicine and Dalhousie University are working to address your concerns.

The Public Health Agency of Canada continues to assess the public health risk associated with COVID-19 as low in Canada, with the risk to public health reassessed as new information becomes available.

Dalhousie University has been in regular contact with our Provincial Medical Health Officer with regards to contingency plans for managing the COVID-19 outbreak should it become an issue for our region. The latest updates about the Dalhousie’s preparations are available at the following link: https://www.dal.ca/novel-coronavirus.html. Please also review an update from our University Provost, Dr. Teri Balser, at https://www.dal.ca/novel-coronavirus/march-2-update.html

The Medical School is involved in contingency planning for the potential impacts of the COVID-19 on the education of our students and residents and the safety of all our faculty, students and staff.  Specific updates will be provided as the situation warrants. In the interim, please let us know about any concerns.

Amidst this uncertainty, I would also like to acknowledge the great work being done in our medical facilities across the Maritimes by our faculty dealing with flu and RSV season. Our faculty members and residents do a fantastic job of managing their teaching and leadership responsibilities during an extremely busy and stressful time of year. Thanks to all for your major contributions.

Collaboration

Since the start of the new year, The Faculty of Medicine has been bustling with activity and excitement. What hasn’t changed in 2020, is the collaborative relationships the Faculty has built with our partners in government, the community, and the health care system.

Family Medicine training remains a priority within the Faculty of Medicine. Over the past several months, I had the opportunity see first-hand the incredible work taking place in our distributed education sites across the Maritimes, as I visited our Family Medicine and Longitudinal Clerkship locations in Fredericton, Moncton, Saint John, Woodstock, Miramichi, Charlottetown, Cape Breton, Yarmouth and the Valley.

During these visits, I was incredibly impressed with the tremendous community support our learners are receiving. From the community preceptors who have agreed to take them into their practices, to the community members who are actively facilitating our students’ learning – community support is essential. While I was on the tour, I spoke with students and residents, and was encouraged to hear of their positive experiences in their programs and their heightened interest in community and family medicine, which bodes well for the needs of the Maritime provinces for many years to come.

Led by post-graduate program director Dr. Karlyne Dufour and our Family Medicine clerkship director, Dr. Kathleen Horrey, and with the support of Department of Family Medicine and DMNB leadership this tour also helped me to appreciate the breadth and scope of our Family Medicine training programs across the Maritimes. Particularly, I would like to thank Dr. Dufour, who is coming to the end of her term as Program Director. Under her leadership, our postgraduate Family Medicine educational programs have seen significant expansions and are well positioned for the future.

Government support has also been key to our success in our education programs around the Maritimes. For example, over the past month, the Nova Scotia government has committed to provide infrastructure funding of over $3 million to accommodate family medicine residents around the province, including a new facility to support the Valley residency training program. Other innovations vary by location, but range from renovating or creating space for training, adding rooms for residents to stay when they are on call, furniture or technology – all important, but sometimes overlooked requirements of a meaningful residency experience.

In addition to Government support, the support of provincial health authorities in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are absolutely key to the success of our distributed education programs.  It takes an incredible team of faculty, staff and students along with supports of our colleague organizations and the public to make our distributed educational programs excellent and I thank all that are involved in these processes.

On February 18^th, Dalhousie Medical School was proud to be in Bridgewater to announce the continued investment by government in the Nova Scotian Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LIC). Starting this September, five medical school students will spend their entire third year getting hands-on training in Bridgewater, Lunenburg and Liverpool through the LIC Program.

A special thank you to Dr. Greg Thibodeau, who will be leading the South Shore LIC, for his tireless work behind the scenes to ensure our students will be receiving the best possible educational experience. I would also like to recognize second year medical student, Emily Rogers, for attending the event and being a great representative of what Dalhousie medical students bring to the table.

The clerkship program was first launched in Nova Scotia in September 2019 in Cape Breton, with four students training in North Sydney and New Waterford. The LIC provides our medical students an excellent educational experience and exposes them to 48 weeks of patient-centred, community-based care in rural communities.  These programs complement the four LIC sites we currently have running in New Brunswick, in Miramichi, Woodstock, Fredericton and Moncton.

 

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Visit

On January 24^th, myself, Dr. Deep Saini, Ms. Joanne Bath, and Mr. Allan Shaw, were pleased to welcome the Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, and her Honour, Patsy LeBlanc, to Dalhousie to share some of the important research projects taking place on campus.

During the tour, their Honours visited the Maritime Brain Tissue with Dr. Sultan Darvesh, the Zebrafish Core Facility with Mr. David Mallory, and heard a presentation from Drs. Susan Howlett and Alex Quin from the Heart Health Laboratory.

A big thank you to our partners at the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation for coordinating the tour, and for their continued support of researchers in the Faculties of Medicine, Health and Dentistry.

 

Carleton Campus President’s Reception

On January 27th, a welcome reception for Dr. Deep Saini, Dalhousie University’s 12th president and vice-chancellor was held in the Tupper Link at 8:00 a.m.

Even with the early start time, our students, faculty, and staff took advantage of this opportunity to meet Dr. Saini and inform him of the various actives taking place within the Faculty of Medicine.

I believe I can speak for the entire faculty to say that we are excited by Dr. Saini’s arrival, and we look forward to working with him to advance the strategic direction of Dalhousie University.

 

Lend a Hand to the Loaded Ladle

On February 6^th, I was excited to join my fellow deans at an event called Lend a Hand to the Loaded Ladle, which encouraged faculty and staff to embrace the giving spirit of George Munro by joining forces with the Loaded Ladle to fight food insecurity amongst Dalhousie students.

The staff of the Loaded Ladle, a student-run service on campus that provides free food to students and community members, wasted no time putting us to work as we prepared meals during the busy lunchtime rush.

Kids Run Club

On February 12th, myself and Dr. Stephen Miller were very pleased to join Doctors Nova Scotia to help kick off the 16th year of Kids Run Club – a free, school-based running program designed to give all children and youth an opportunity to be active through running.

As Dean, I am extremely proud that this is the fourth year that Dalhousie Medical School has partnered with Kids Run Club, with approximately 20 first and second year med students signed on to be trained as coaches.

In fact, over the past two years, our students have organized a 5K fun run in support of Kids Run Club during our Med150 and Med151 celebrations.

By participating with Kids Run Club, our students will gain important experience regarding the state of kids’ health that will make them better-informed physicians.

Keep up the great work!

EUPHORIA! 2020

On February 22^nd the annual EUPHORIA! show took place at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. EUPHORIA! provides all four classes of medical students the chance to work together to produce comical skits. This is always a fun event that raises money for local charities, and it was great to see our medical students show off their creative sides.

Thank you to everyone for their charitable contributions this year, over $40,000 was raised to support the Halifax Sexual Health Centre.

Congratulations to everyone involved, especially the class of 2020 for their 4^th consecutive win – a first in the over 50-year history of the show! Read more…

Match Day 2020

Congratulations to all our fourth-year medical students who learned this week where they will be taking their residencies. This was a very big day and is the next step in the education and career development of the class of 2020.  About 50% of our students will be staying and doing residencies in Dalhousie programs and others will be doing residencies at Canadian Universities across the country. Those students who do not yet have residency positions will be eligible to enter the second round of matching. Our student affairs team will work with these students to help them fulfill their residency goals.

Upcoming Event

On March 27^th and 28^th, the 9^th Annual Thomas Fear and Alice Morgans Fear Memorial Conference will take place at the Nova Centre.

Each year, the Fear Memorial Conference focuses on an important theme in medical education. Continuing Professional Development partners with a different co-host department from the medical school every year, resulting in a fresh and collaborative approach. This year the Department of Family Medicine will be co-hosting this year’s conference, with the focus on meeting future needs for primary collaborative healthcare systems.

For more information, please contact Linda.MacNutt@dal.ca.

 Recognitions

Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary

Congratulations to Dr. Paul Neumann, Department of Medical Neuroscience, for being named as one of three key consultants in the 33^rd edition of the Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. The Dorland’s Dictionary is one of the world’s most trusted medical dictionaries, and Dr. Neumann’s contribution is clear evidence of his knowledgeability of anatomical nomenclature.

 

 

 

Wuhan Support

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous effort and initiative demonstrated by faculty members in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology related to the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China.

Drs. Zhenyu Cheng, Alyson Kelvin and David Kelvin have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for healthcare workers, medical microbiologists, and virologists in China, who are currently using personal protective equipment at an alarming rate as they are caring for patients and investigating this virus.

To date, the campaign has raised over $40,000, and has already sent the first shipment of over $20,000 of equipment to Wuhan, China. The campaign has also been featured in the Chronicle Herald.

 

 

CIHR Project Grant Competition

In February, seven Faculty of Medicine members received financial support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grants, for their research projects.

The Project Grant competition is one of CIHR’s flagship funding programs. They are multi-year grants that are designed to support researchers at various stages in their careers as they conduct health research and knowledge translation projects that cover the full range of health research topic.

Congratulations to everyone who received funding to further their research.

To view the complete list of recipients, click here.

COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding

We are particularly proud that two of our Faculty: Drs. David Kelvin and Scott Halperin received awards from CIHR totaling just under $1.5 million in funding for a special research competition to address research related to the corona virus.  Their research will be studying new diagnostic tools for early case detection and surveillance, and the effects of public health outbreak control policies.

To read more about their research, click here.

New Appointments

Medical Research Development Office – HR Update

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Dr. Roger MacLeod, our Associate Dean for Research who is recovering from an accident. In the interim, Dr. Jim Fawcett and Dr. Craig McCormick have kindly agreed to step in and provide coverage for Dr. McLeod’s ADR portfolio. For efficiency, we ask you to direct any inquiries, concerns or pressing research question to Ms. Sara Lavender (sara.lavender@dal.ca), our faculty research director.

Co-Director of Human Resources for the Faculty of Medicine

We are very pleased to welcome Marlo Shinyei to the Dean’s Office. Marlo will be here on a one-year secondment, effective January 27, 2020, to enhance the Faculty of Medicine’s Human Resources function. Many of you may already know Marlo from her current role as Manager of Academic Staff Relations in Dalhousie’s HR Department. At the University since 2007, Marlo brings a broad range of expertise including academic staff relations, academic recruitment and immigration, and equity. She can be reached at marlo.shinyei@dal.ca.

In Memoriam

This past month, two individuals who have made huge contributions over their careers to the Faculty of Medicine, health care in Nova Scotia, and the good of our society have passed away.

Dr. David Bruce Fraser

Dr. Fraser graduated from Dalhousie with a BSc in 1953 and MD, CM in 1958. He was a very committed and compassionate general practitioner for eight years before completing his residency in Diagnostic Radiology in 1970. In 1972, he completed a Fellowship in Cardiovascular Radiology through Harvard University where he was later recognized as Honorary Alumnus of the Year through the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

After ten years working as a radiologist at the Victoria General Hospital, he became Head of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and served as professor and chair until his retirement in 1998. In 1999 he was named Professor Emeritus. During his illustrious career, Dr. Fraser served on and led dozens of hospital, university and professional committees. Most notably his outstanding leadership earned him the role of President of the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) and subsequently Chairman of the Board and President of the prestigious Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Dr. Joseph Michael Dooley

Dr. Dooley and his wife Elizabeth settled their young family in Halifax in 1982 where he practiced as a Pediatric Neurologist at the IWK Health Centre and taught at the medical school at Dalhousie University for 37 years, until his retirement. Dr. Dooley was the head of the Division of Pediatric Neurology at the IWK Health Centre for more than 15 years. He truly cared for and loved seeing the many children in his practice and took immense satisfaction in helping infants and children from all over the Maritimes

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