In today’s message you will find:

• Admin Burden Report — You can have your say and help set priorities by taking a short survey.
• Get​tingHealthy​.ca: Our Latest Public Campaign — Learn about this fun campaign aimed at getting Manitobans to pledge to making small changes to impact their health. 
• Provincial Election Advocacy — What priorities would like to see advocated?
• Get Involved in PRIDE! — Join us at the Winnipeg Pride Parade, or other members in Winnipegosis or Morden, attend our virtual Leadership & 2SLGBTQIA+ Health Panel Discussion, attend a 2SLGBTQIA+ connection event Drag Brunch, learn about the Rainbow Resource Centre’s Lunch & Learn Pride Series, register for the Pride Run, and order your pronoun cards and safe space stickers!
• Meet our Physician of the Week, Dr. Kristel van Ineveld, a geriatrician who says listening to patients and families and finding ways to support and improve quality of life are central to why Dr. van Ineveld finds geriatric medicine so rewarding.
• Fantastic Physician, Dr. Jayelle Friesen-Enns received the Doctors Manitoba award at last month’s convocation.
• Top 40 Under 40 — Nominate an under 40 rock star physician or learner today!
• Health System Updates — Update on Virtual Care Tariffs, CPSM Consultation, Surgical Diagnostic Backlog, Allied Health Strike Notice, Stroke Awareness Month.
• ICYMI — Catch up on news from past member messages.
• Upcoming Events

Admin Burden Report – Have Your Say

Earlier this week, the Joint Task Force to Reduce Administrative Burdens for Physicians submitted its first report to the Minister of Health and President of Doctors Manitoba. The report provides the first measurement of physicians’ administrative burden in Manitoba, identifies opportunities for improvement, and proposes an initial goal to reduce burdens on physicians. 

Based on survey data collected by Doctors Manitoba, the Task Force estimates:

• Physicians spend 10.1 hours per week on administrative tasks on average, which adds up to 1.4 million hours per year.
• 44% of this time is unnecessary, equivalent to 633,000 hours per year or 1.9 million patient visits.
• Two Thirds of physicians indicated the time they spend on administrative tasks has increased over the last five years.

Through physician consultation, the Task Force identified the top 20 most significant unnecessary administrative burdens facing doctors. The Task Force will work with the organizations identified as responsible for these burdens, along with the physicians impacted, to review, prioritize, and support improvement.

• Help Set the Priorities! Take this 3 – 5 minute survey to help prioritize which administrative tasks are targeted for improvement this year. You will be asked to prioritize from the top 20 administrative burdens identified by physicians that could be streamlined, eliminated or delegated. Physicians are now being asked to prioritize these, and they are invited to participate in improvement work. 

The Task Force has recommended an initial goal: reduce the time physicians spend on unnecessary administrative tasks by 10% in 2023. This would free up the equivalent of 63,000 hours of physician time per year, equivalent to 190,000 patient visits. With the support of the organizations responsible for unnecessary administrative burdens, the Task Force believes this could be achievable by December 2023. 

The Task Force is challenging the organizations identified as ​“owning” the unnecessary administrative tasks outlined in this report to validate and assess the burden and where beneficial, make improvements to reduce or eliminate unnecessary burdens by December 2023. This work should be informed by physician experience and feedback, and it should be undertaken in partnership with the Task Force. The Task Force Co-Chairs have reached out to each organization identified to request their support in reducing administrative burdens on physicians. 

You can watch for updates on the Task Force’s work, as well as access the report and learn more about the Task Force’s mandate and membership, on this web page. You can also email the Task Force with admin burden concerns or ideas at adminburden@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

GettingHealthy: Our Latest Public Campaign

Tomorrow, we will be launching a brand new public awareness campaign called Getting Healthy, and we’re looking to you to help spread the word! Manitobans will be invited to visit Get​tingHealthy​.ca, a new resource site with tips and advice from physicians on the simple steps Manitobans can take towards Getting Healthy. Plus, we’ve created fun, positive contest with a chance to win fun prizes for any Manitoban who signs up to do one thing this month to get healthy. 

“Whether it’s being active or eating well, reducing stress or sleeping better, or catching up on immunizations and medical screenings, our new Get​tingHealthy​.ca resource has practical tips for Manitobans of all ages and abilities,” explained Doctors Manitoba President Dr. Michael Boroditsky. 

You can help spread the word during the month of June by:

• Sharing the campaign on social media
• Adding the campaign to your practice or clinic website
• Posting signs in your clinic or practice about the campaign.

You can see sample posts and download images to use on this page. Posters have been sent out to dozens of clinics in the province, and should arrive in the next few days. You can request posters by contacting our office at general@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

You’re also encouraged to participate and enter the campaign at Get​tingHealthy​.ca.

A big thank you to our Healthy Living Advisory Group of physicians for your input and advice on developing the campaign and the advice on the site. We welcome your feedback if you have suggestions or additions at general@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

Why are we doing this?

In a public survey we commissioned last month, 83% of Manitobans said they could be doing more to get or stay healthy. In our previous Doctors Manitoba member survey, you told us overwhelmingly to continue public awareness advertising, and to focus it on healthy living and disease prevention. We are using feedback from the public and from our members to guide this work.

The Getting Healthy campaign brings an important public awareness message to Manitobans using a clever, positive, empowering approach. It also reinforces that Manitoba’s physicians care deeply about the health and well-being of Manitobans, while emphasizing that doctors are the experts when it comes to health and medicine. 

Our public survey found Manitobans believe they aren’t doing nearly enough or could be doing more in the following areas:

• Physical activity (56% of Manitobans)
• Managing stress (53%)
• Getting a good night sleep (50%)
• Eating well (48%)
• Catching up on immunizations and medical screenings (19%)

We also found most Manitobans (75+%) are interested in getting more information about healthy living and prevention from a credible source like physicians, and nearly two thirds (63%) wish they had more time to talk to their doctor about what they can do to live a healthier life and prevent diseases and illness. 

Provincial Election Advocacy

Our Board of Directors has directed that Doctors Manitoba remain a strictly non-partisan, neutral organization, including in the upcoming provincial election. You will not see Doctors Manitoba supporting or favouring any candidate or party. However, the Board has directed the Association to ensure that physicians’ concerns and priorities are part of the dialogue during the upcoming campaign, with the hopes that all provincial parties will embrace physicians’ ideas to improve health care for their patients. 

To that end, we are asking for your advice on what the priorities should be for our advocacy. What would you like to see party leaders commit to on health care? What would you like to see the government do to improve health care after the next provincial election, which is scheduled for October 3, 2023. 

You can email your ideas, in confidence, to Keir Johnson, Director of Strategy & Communications, at kjohnson@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca. We will be developing an advocacy plan in the weeks ahead, that will build on our successful approach to advocating for a better health care system for physicians and their patients. 

Get Involved in Pride!

Parades

Join us this Sunday, June 4 as Doctors Manitoba staff and members participate in the 2023 Pride Parade to celebrate the diverse community that supports 2SLGBTQ+ people. Beginning at Memorial Park across from the Manitoba Legislature, Pride Winnipeg will be holding its pride rally. The parade will begin at 11am and the route will go down Portage Ave, and end at the Forks. We are inviting you, your friends and family to join us as we walk the parade route to celebrate and support the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Meet between 10am and 10:45am in aisle G. The first 120 participants to arrive will receive a DRMB Pride t‑shirt to wear and take home. Register here.

You will see our members at other Pride parades next weekend, when physicians from their communities walk in the Winnipegosis Pride parade and the Morden Pride Parade on June 10. 

Leadership & 2SLGBTQIA+ Health Panel Discussion

Please join us June 9 from 12:00 – 12:50pm for a panel discussion focused on Leadership & 2SLGBTQIA+ Health. Co-moderators Dr. Joss Reimer and Callum Barnes will lead a conversation with members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community who will speak from the roles of physician and medical learner. This panel discussion is a follow-up to Dr. Chronopolous’ session (view the recording here) and will build on the information in her talk.

The panelists are Dr. Blair Peters, one of the world’s first surgeons to complete a formal academic fellowship training in advanced gender-affirming surgery, Jules Perez, a medical learner who has held multiple EDI-related leadership positions, and Dr. Robert Obara, a family physician with a special interest in transgender health and passion for 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy. 

At the time of registration, there is an opportunity to submit questions you would like the panel to address related to medical leadership at the individual and system level. Moderators will develop panelist questions based on themes that emerge from the submissions. You can register and submit your questions here.

Drag Brunch Connection event for 2SLGBTQIA+ Physicians, Residents and Medical Students — Saturday June 17 10:30am or 1:00pm

Doctors Manitoba in partnership with members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ Student community would like to invite you to a connection event. Please join us on June 17^th at either 10:30am or 1:00pm for one of two seatings for a Drag Brunch at Modern Electric Lunch! Don’t miss this opportunity to connect and network with other 2SLGBTQIA+ members of Doctors Manitoba. Seats are limited. Click here for more information and to register!

Rainbow Resource Centre Lunch & Learn Sessions

Throughout the month of June, Rainbow Resource Centre’s education team invites you to take part in a learning experience that equips you with the basics of 2SLGBTQ+ awareness, inclusion, and affirmation, and the history of Pride and the fight for equal rights here in Manitoba. At only $50 a session, with group rates available, these workshops are great for individuals or teams who want to support Rainbow this Pride season while fostering safer, more inclusive workplaces. 

Visit their website (here) to learn more and register.

Winnipeg Pride Run

Come out and show your colours. Everyone is welcome to walk, run or skip the 3km or 5km routes at the Forks. Registration includes a free t‑shirt and snacks. Register here, or email winnipegfrontrunners@​gmail.​com.

Pronoun Cards

Using a person’s correct pronouns and sharing yours fosters an inclusive environment. Introductions with name and pronouns can happen in every setting, not just in 2SLGBTQ+* spaces. People can make assumptions about a person’s gender based on appearance or a name. The act of assuming (even if correct) sends a potentially harmful message — that people must look a certain way to demonstrate gender. Ignoring a person’s pronouns can also imply that transgender, nonbinary, or gender non-conforming people do not exist. Learn more about the importance of pronouns and order your complimentary pronoun ID Badge.

Safe Space Decals

Clinics and medical environments deemed Safe Spaces are important for the comfort, safety and inclusivity of patients and staff who identify as members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. We are helping members to create these inclusive spaces by offering complimentary​‘safe space’ decals to display in your practice. Order your complimentary​‘Safe Space’ window decal(s) for your clinic. (Maximum 5 per clinic.)

Physician of the Week

On Intergenerational day we are excited to introduce you to our Physician of the Week, Geriatrician, Dr. Kristel van Ineveld. While officially retired, she works nearly full-time helping cover illnesses and vacation. She remains the Geriatrics Site Medical Lead for St. Boniface Hospital and provides clinical work varying between outpatient clinics in the Day Hospital, supporting outreach teams, and providing inpatient consults. Listening to patients and families and finding ways to support and improve quality of life are central to why Dr. van Ineveld finds geriatric medicine so rewarding. She calls her specialty​“slow medicine, where you get to listen carefully” to solve a clinical puzzle. When caring for older adults, Dr. van Ineveld says​“you automatically become an advocate and teacher” and she feels rewarded when programs come to fruition as a result of her advocacy. She has seen a significant erosion in the capacity for home care to provide community support, which creates significant stress for older patients and their families and says the pandemic has only exacerbated the long-standing areas of concern in long-term care. In her spare time, you’ll find her tending to her garden. 

Fantastic Physician

Congratulations to Max Rady College of Medicine Class of 2023 graduate, Dr. Jayelle Friesen-Enns, who received the Doctors Manitoba award at last month’s convocation. Dr. Friesen-Enns is Cree and Métis from Rosenort, Man. She co-founded the Indigenous Medical Students’ Association of Canada during her studies. She said it was ​“really incredible” to receive her degree wearing the purple stole that formally identifies Indigenous UM graduates. “[Indigenous] people who are looking for role models, like kids who want to be doctors when they grow up, or undergraduate students, can see those of us with the purple stole and realize that this is something attainable for them,” she said in a recent UM story.

Top 40 Under 40 

We want to recognize those amazing medical students, residents, and early career physicians who are making an incredible impact and demonstrating true potential for excellence and innovation. Nominations are now open for the Doctors Manitoba Top 40 Under 40! This special award was created this year to recognize and celebrate exceptional medical students, residents and early career physicians under the age of 40. This includes demonstrating excellence and commitment in areas such as clinical practice, research, education, leadership, advocacy and physician/​learner well-being. 

Nominations are due by June 30.

This fall we will host an event to celebrate the Top 40 Under 40 physicians and medical learners in our province.

Do you know an incredible physician or medical learner under the age of 40 who is making waves? We want to hear about them. Nominate them today.

Health System Updates 

Update on Virtual Care Tariffs

Yesterday we let you know about the changes to comprehensive virtual visit tariffs (8442 or 8447). You can get all the details here.

CPSM Consultation

Earlier this week, the CPSM notified physicians about a consultation on proposed changes to its Regulation. The CPSM wishes to streamline the process for qualified internationally trained physicians to become fully licenced.

The three main proposed changes are: 

• allowing subspecialists who have received Royal College subspecialty status to avoid having to certify as a primary specialist as well; 
• allowing appropriate exemptions to the assessment and mentoring requirements for provisional registrants; and 
• removing the requirement for LMCC testing in addition to the PGME/​CFPC/​Royal College certification process. 

You can find out more from the CPSM at [add link to consultation document] and can submit comments at CPSMconsultation@​cpsm.​mb.​ca by June 29. If you want to discuss these proposed changes with us, please contact our General Counsel Andrew Swan at aswan@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca or (204) 985‑5860.

Surgical Diagnostic Backlog

Yesterday, the provincial Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force offered a public update on its progress to eliminate pandemic backlogs. The update notes that over 72,000 procedures have been completed through Task Force initiatives, including more than half (43,600) in the public system. Another 28,200 were completed through temporary contracts with ​“health partners” in Manitoba, and less than 500 (less than 0.01%) through out-of-province contracts. 

The progress suggests, according to the Task Force, that 42% of the pandemic backlog has been eliminated in 35 of 36 service areas, including 40% in diagnostic imaging and 46% in surgery. 

The Task Force now claims pandemic backlogs have been eliminated in the following areas, though some continue to have long wait times beyond medical benchmarks:

• Cataracts
• Cath Lab, Pacemaker, echocardiography, cardiac electrophysiology, and myocardial perfusion
• Imaging procedures, including CT, Ultrasound, MRI
• Other procedures, including urology, ortho (other), oral surgery, pediatric sleep, transplant, adult allergy testing, pediatric neuro assessment, and ortho spine. 

Backlogs have been at reduced by at least half in other areas, including ENT, hip/​knee replacements, pediatric surgery, neurosurgery, and bone density testing. 

You can see the update here.

We continue to monitor the backlog and long wait times closely at Doctors Manitoba, and we continue to welcome your feedback. You can email us at practiceadvice@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

Allied Health Strike Notice

MAHCP is the union for most allied health professionals working in hospitals and facilities. Today, MAHCP issued a Strike Notice to take effect on June 15 at 8 a.m. This notice is required before MAHCP members can take job action. Here are some key things physicians should know:

• The Strike Notice does not mean there will be a strike. We hope that management and the union will continue to negotiate and reach an agreement before June 15.
• If there is a strike, allied health professionals must continue to provide essential services. Generally, that means they must continue to provide all services and care which if not done or delayed could result in a loss of life, serious harm or damage to, or deterioration of a patient’s mental or physical health.
• We expect that a strike could result in challenges with various non-urgent services in hospitals and facilities, including diagnostic imaging and laboratory tests, and various non-urgent procedures where allied health professionals are involved. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep our members advised of developments.

Please watch for updates from Shared Health and Doctors Manitoba as this issue continues to evolve. 

Stroke Awareness Month

June is Stroke Awareness Month. Heart & Stroke has updated the FAST toolkit.

The Heart & Stroke 2023 stroke report: ​“Stroke and Mental Health: The invisible and inequitable effects on women” was released today. This new report reveals that women are being harder hit by depression and anxiety post stroke than men. It also highlights that women have fewer opportunities to participate in stroke rehabilitation than men and they are not getting the support they need for their mental health recovery. 

ICYMI

Here are some recent updates, in case you missed it.

• Yesterday we let you know about the changes to comprehensive virtual visit tariffs (8442 or 8447). You can get all the details here.
• CME Rebate Applications Open: Members should have received a message with a link to apply for their 2022 Continuing Medical Education Rebate. If you should be eligible and have not received this message, please contact our benefits team at benefits@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.
• The Free Press published an opinion piece from our new President, Dr. Michael Boroditsky, about the challenges in family medicine and the solutions we are advocating for. Read it here!
• Meet our new President, Dr. Michael Boroditsky, and his priorities for his year at the helm. 
• DRMB and Province Agree on Additional Supports including free access to Cortext secure messaging and reimbursing physicians for the CPSM license fee for two years. Details on how to apply for both will follow shortly.

Upcoming Events

Events of Note

Drag Brunch Connection event for 2SLGBTQIA+ Physicians, Residents and Medical Students — Saturday June 17 10:30am or 1:00pm

Doctors Manitoba in partnership with members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ Student community would like to invite you to a connection event. Please join us on June 17^th at either 10:30am or 1:00pm for one of two seatings for a Drag Brunch at Modern Electric Lunch! Don’t miss this opportunity to connect and network with other 2SLGBTQIA+ members of Doctors Manitoba. Seats are limited. Click here for more information and to register!

DRMB Book Club! The Doctors Manitoba Physician Health and Wellness committee is excited to invite you to an opportunity for building connection and community in medicine. Join us for the second virtual meeting of the Doctors Manitoba Book Club on Monday, June 12^th from 7:00 – 8:30pm. We will be reading the 2023 Canada Reads Finalist​“Greenwood” by Michael Christie. We are thrilled to announce the author will be joining our virtual book club for a Q+A. There will also be a chance for the group to discuss the book and share thoughts. Register now!

Featured Events

UofS Anti-Racism Speaker Series: The Intersections of Race, Faith, and Queerness — June 13 12 – 1pm

Samra Habib (they/​them), a Queer Muslim writer, photographer and activist and author of the best-selling and award-winning book We Have Always Been Here, will deliver a 30-minute presentation discussing how to be a 2SLGBTQ+ ally year-round, beyond Pride month; why it was important for them to connect with their faith as a queer person; and their use of photography as an accessible language to talk about intersectionality. Questions are welcome during the 30-minute Q+A portion!All professionals, students and members of the community are invited to join us! Registration is free. Learn more and register here.

Other Events

• Key Topics in Gastroenterology — IBD in 2023 and Beyond — June 15 & 16
• Blood Disorders Day — June 2, 2023, 8am‑4:30pm
• National Pancreas Conference — November 18 & 19 — In-Person (MTL) and virtual

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