June 15: An Evening with Dr. Andrew Howlett

With the annual Father’s Day, June can be a time to reflect on fatherhood. And as we understand more about the transition into parenthood, we have learned more about this vulnerable period for the individual and the family.

 

In addition, COVID has also taken a toll on all aspects of the family, and, given our society’s often ambiguous respect for the role of fathers, any weak link in the chain that maintains a family’s mental health should concern us all.

 

Please join us in the Doctors’ Lounge as we explore “The Marvel of the Human Dad.”

Our guide for the evening will be child psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Howlett of Toronto’s Fathers’ Mental Health Program.

 

The mysteries of fatherhood have a lasting influence on our lives. Whether you are a father, know/knew your father well, or never met the man, you are invited to spend an evening with colleagues and a local expert examining fatherhood from a new perspective.

MAY 26: An Evening with Dr. Jason Fung

 The spectrum of medical treatment is vast. 

At one end are practices that we should adopt, but rigidly resist. This is known as the Semmelweis Reflex. 

At the other end of the spectrum are practices from which we should rigidly desist, but don’t. This has been called the Cifu Reflex (1,2). 

The latter is more likely to occur when we don’t have an understanding of the basis for the condition that is being treated. Cancer is such a mystery, and medical reversals both in terms of theory and treatments characterize the history of medical practice in oncology.

Sometimes an outsider can address mysteries by attempting to solve the puzzles of the unknown through fresh eyes. You are invited to look at cancer with fresh eyes.

Dr. Jason Fung, author of The Cancer Code, will guide us through insights gained about the very nature of our cells in the writing of his latest book.

Please join your colleagues in the collegial environment of the Doctors’ Lounge as we participate in one of our favourite activities: paradigm shifting. 

April 25: An Evening with Dr. Susan Fox

Rigid thinking about muscular rigidity and the other motor manifestations of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) can distort our appreciation of the significant non-motor manifestations of the condition, such as autonomic and cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbances and pain.

Rigid thinking about the failure to prevent progressive neurodegeneration with present treatments can lead to despair for both patients and their physicians.

Rigid thinking is not welcome in the Doctors’ Lounge.

You are invited to spend an evening during Parkinson’s Awareness Month thinking differently about the future.

Think: Precision medicine. Focused ultrasound. Innovative surgeries. Manipulation of the microbiome and mitochondria. Neuroprotectants. Even vaccinations!

Think: hope.

Please join us as our distinguished guide for the evening broadens our horizons on future therapies for PD.

Dr. Susan Fox MB, ChB, MRCP(UK), PhD is Head of the Division of Neurology, University Health Network and Sinai Health Systems; holds the Krembil Family Chair of Neurology; Professor of Neurology, University of Toronto and Associate Director of the Movement Disorder Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital. Dr. Fox is Chair of the Pan-American section of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS) (2021-23). She has served on committees, grant review and advisory boards for MDS, NIH, CIHR, Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson research and DMRF among others. Dr. Fox has over 20 years’ experience in preclinical models of Parkinson’s disease and translational studies of novel pharmacological therapies for Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders such as dystonia. She has published over 170 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and book chapters in the field and is a regular speaker at national and international conferences.

March 29: An Evening with Drs. Danielle Ofri, Allison Crawford & Rex Kay

 The Doctors’ Lounge is pleased to invite you to the return engagement of highly acclaimed physician and author Dr. Danielle Ofri , editor of the Bellevue Literary Review.

Back by popular demand, she will be joined in conversation with Dr. Allison Crawford, editor of Ars Medica and founding director of HeART Lab.

Their conversation will be facilitated by Dr. Rex Kay, who has been leading our World Storytelling Day Medical Narrative evenings since 2009. Dr. Kay is a founding editor of Ars Medica.

During the second half of the evening, Dr. Kay will be engaging the virtual audience in the discussion.

The theme for the evening is medical culture as seen through the lens of the humanities.

This continues our exploration of medical culture that we began in February. An interesting article on the topic can be found here.

Please join us as we continue our annual tradition of reflecting on the shared experience of being physicians.

Feb 28, 2022 An Evening With Drs. Sally Satel & Carrie Mendoza

 There is nothing better for a doctor to do on a cold February evening than to gather around the virtual fireplace of ideas that is at the heart of the Doctors’ Lounge series and engage in healthy discourse.

That is, unless you are feeling the cold chill of “walking on eggshells” when it comes to sharing your opinions with colleagues.

Medicine has elements of being a culture, yet the literature on that topic is surprisingly sparse. A good recent overview to reflect on is here.

COVID has exposed the fragile unity of the sub-cultures that contribute to the whole, if indeed, there is such a thing as medical culture.

Please join us for an evening where we explore harsh realities of the intersection between cancel culture and medical culture.

Our guides for the evening:

Psychiatrist and author Dr. Sally Satel and ER physician Dr. Carrie Mendoza, volunteer organizer of Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism.

Interesting video on the Gustilo case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vJh349ppqM 

Wednesday January 26, 2022: An Evening With Dr. David Ludwig

Calories in, calories out, is a paradigm that has crushed many a New Year’s resolution.

You are invited to spend an evening with colleagues trying to understand why.

Our guide for this exploration will be Dr. David Ludwig.

Dr. Ludwig is an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Nutrition at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

For an appetizer, an article from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, where he is an associate editor.

Please join us in the virtual OMA District 11 Doctors’ Lounge, where paradigms have been known to shift since 2005.

Follow-up resource: https://youtu.be/YUSs5RqHaMk .

December 14 : An Evening With Dr. David Goldbloom

 “Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.”  -E. B. White

 As we wrap up 2020/21 (the longest year in recent medical history), The Doctors’ Lounge invites you to exit laughing.

Or at least consider the possibility.

Medicine has a long historical connection to the “humors.”

Some would argue that laughter is the best medicine (when all else fails).

Others might argue that laughter is the test medicine, as sincerely laughing with a patient can be an indication of the foundation for a successful therapeutic alliance.

On the other hand, if you have to end your attempt at humour with a “just kidding,” serious trouble can ensue.

Does humour belong in the clinical encounter?

Please join us for an evening of exploration of this question with our guide, psychiatrist Dr. David Goldbloom.