MONDAY October 24 (Please Note the change of date): An Evening with Dr. Zahra Kassam

 Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year to reflect on what and how we eat.

What are the best food choices for a healthy life?

What should we be recommending to our patients, especially those struggling with illnesses such as cancer?

Please join us for an interactive discussion on plant-based medicine (PBM) with oncologist Dr. Zahra Kassam and Michelle Fedele RD, co- founders and co-directors of Plant-Based Canada.

We will spend the first hour looking at the evidence for reducing the burden of cancer with plant-based nutrition and, in the  second hour, we will open it up to Q&A on anything related to PBM.

Dr. Kassam is the co-editor of the recently published (September 2022) academic text Plant Based Nutrition In Clinical Practice (you can read the first chapter here), as well as co-author of Eating Plant-Based, written with her sister Dr Shireen Kassam for a general audience.

Please join us for what may turn out to be a transformative evening  for you and your patients.

PS: Recent addition to resources: a Facebook group: Plant-based doctors of Canada https://www.facebook.com/groups/533280448801276

September 29: An Evening with Dr. Chase McMurren

 Over the past year in the Doctors’ Lounge, we have been examining medical culture and its subcultures.

To begin our fall series, we will take a look at cultures within the context of the clinical encounter.

With over 250 ethnicities represented in the city of  Toronto/ Tkarón:to / GichiKiiwenging , it can be difficult to appreciate the nuance & complexity of compassionately and respectfully caring for members of any of these cultural groups.

All of  these groups have their own cultures and subcultures, and as a member of the medical culture and the other cultures that may define you, you may experience the feelings of being an Outsider, especially when when the values of your patients’ cultures may clash with yours as you struggle to maintain a sense of professionalism.

What can a caring and competent clinician do to adapt?

You are invited to spend the evening before National Truth and Reconciliation Day reflecting on the concept of cultural humility, a particular way of listening to Others that may potentially enhance your clinical encounter. Our guide for the evening will be Dr. Chase McMurren.

Dr. Chase McMurren (Spirit name: Water Song Medicine Keeper) is Michif/Metis (Turtle Clan) from Lethbridge, Alberta which is located on traditional Siksikaitsitapi, Blackfoot Confederacy Territory and covered by Treaty 7. He currently lives and works in Tkarón:to | GichiKiiwenging and serves as the Indigenous Health Theme Lead in the MD Program and the Indigenous Practitioner Liaison within the Office of Indigenous Health in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. McMurren is also the co-chair of the National Consortium for Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME) Working Group on Physician Wellness and Joy in W

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