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Meet Manitoba’s CMA President-Elect Candidates

It’s Manitoba’s turn to elect the next President-Elect for the Canadian Medical Association! We’ve created this page with background on the process, information about the candidates, and how to vote.

Our new CMA Election page now includes profiles on each of the four candidates, including their responses to top questions. The four candidates include Dr. Cory Baillie, Dr. Anthony Battad, Dr. José François, and Dr. Joss Reimer. Please note that there was originally a fifth candidate, Dr. Robert Obara, but he has withdrawn to support Dr. Reimer in the process.

You must be a CMA member to participate. Doctors Manitoba members are not automatically CMA members, so it is important to check your membership status. Don’t make an assumption. You will find details on our page about how to check your status and renew your membership if needed. 

As long as you are a current member as of February 16, 2023, you will be able to vote. Voting instructions will be sent to all Manitoba-based CMA members on February 22. 

This Week’s Physician of the Week is Dr. Mryanda Sopel

Meet our next Physician of the Week, Dr. Mryanda Sopel! Based in Souris, Dr. Sopel is a family physician who describes herself as ​“a generalist at heart who likes to dabble in a little bit of everything.” Her colleagues call her a ​“rock star” and recognize her dedication to patient care, to rural medicine, and to infusing some silliness into everything she does. Read more about Dr. Mryanda Sopel, our Physician of the Week, here.

What is Physician of the Week? For 2023, we have established a new way to recognize dedicated and hardworking physicians. The Doctors Manitoba Physician of the Week will exemplify the best of the medical profession, including a commitment to delivering exceptional patient care, to supporting the health and wellness of their colleagues, and/​or to leadership in the medical profession.

→ You can suggest a colleague as Physician of the Week here.

Join our new Book Club!

The Doctors Manitoba Physician Health and Wellness committee is excited to launch a new opportunity for building connection and community in medicine. Join us for the first virtual meeting of the Doctors Manitoba Book Club. We will be reading the Giller Prize winning novel ​“The Sleeping Car Porter” by Suzette Mayr. 

We are thrilled to announce the author will be joining our virtual book club for a Q+A. There will also be an a chance for the group to discuss the book and share thoughts. Register now!

Join us Wednesday for an STBBI Webinar 

Join us next Wednesday for a webinar focused on sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) in Manitoba. Hosted by Doctors Manitoba and led by Manitoba Public Health, the webinar will look at the current epidemiology of STBBIs, testing and treatment, as well as how physicians can play a role in Public Health’s strategy to tackle rising STBBI rates. This a review of new tariffs available to physicians to claim for completing new public health reporting forms. Presenters will include Dr. Brent Roussin, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer, as well as Medical Officers of Health Dr. Santina Lee and Dr. Pierre Plourde. Questions can be submitted in advance or asked live during the Q&A segment. 

Date: Wednesday, January 18
Time: 6:30PM
Register: Register here to participate

Respiratory Virus Updates

Surveillance Update

Manitoba Public Health produces a weekly report on respiratory viruses. Below are highlights from this week’s report.

COVID Surveillance

This week’s report covers the week ending January 7 and shows similar activity for COVID compared to recent weeks. COVID-19 associated hospital admissions in week 1 decreased as well compared to the previous week. Overall, laboratory detection decreased compared to the fall of 2022. Highlights include:

  • There were 38 hospital admissions, down from 50 last week and a continued steady decline over the last five weeks. This week included 7 ICU admissions, down from 12 last week. Weekly hospital admissions last peaked at 264 in the week ending April 16.
  • There were no COVID deaths recorded over the last week. 
  • There were 125 lab-confirmed cases reported in Manitoba, down from 134 last week.
  • The test positivity rate was 10.3%, down from 11.1% last week.

Influenza & RSV

Influenza activity continues to be high but is decreasing. Highlights include:

  • Test positivity for influenza A was 2.8% this week, down significantly from 6.0% last week. The predominant strain circulating right now is still Influenza A (H3N2), with 52 lab confirmed cases (down from 108 last week) and 0 cases for Influenza B.
  • There were 12 hospital admissions as a result of flu/​RSV, down from 20 last week.
  • There were 1,759 respiratory related visits to EDs in the province this week, down from 1,855 last week.
  • RSV is also circulating with a 10.6% test positivity rate, down slightly from 10.9% last week.

DRMB President Reminds Manitobans to Get Bivalent

Doctors Manitoba President Dr. Candace Bradshaw took to the news this week again to remind Manitobans to get their bivalent booster shot, especially as a new highly transmissible Omicron variant (XBB1.5) could already be in Manitoba. 

See Doctors Manitoba’s appearances here:

Test Kit Expiry Dates Extended

We have been informed by the province, that one of the brand of rapid antigen tests, Panbio, has reviewed their product and extended the expiry dates for kits about to expire. You can view a listing of product name, lot numbers and revised expiry dates here (link to attached PDF). If you have any questions, please contact us at vaccineteam@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca and if you wish to place another order for Rapid Antigen Tests, you can fill out the form here.

CPSM Consultation on Social Media Standard

The College of Physicians and Surgeons has launched a consultation with members and the public on a proposed new Standard of Practice on Social Media. 

The proposed standard has been developed to address potential risks social media poses to breaching health privacy requirements, spreading misinformation, or other issues that could be damaging to the public’s trust in a physician or the medical profession as a whole. CPSM notes that regulators in most provinces already have standards or policies on social media in place. The Manitoba proposed standard was developed in consultation with a CPSM working group made up of CPSM registrants who are highly engaged on social media platforms. CPSM says the draft Standard highlights social media principles to guide engagement and serves as a reminder that professional and ethical conduct expectations for social media are the same as they are for in-person encounters.

Doctors Manitoba wants to know what you think about this proposed standard. We encourage you to share your views directly with CPSM and to copy us on your response. You can also contact us to share your views privately, to help inform our response to CPSM’s proposed Standard on behalf of our members. 

CPSM’s consultation process is open until February 10, 2023. You can review the background and proposed Standard of Practice for Social Media online here. You can send your feedback directly to CPSM by emailing CPSMconsultation@​cpsm.​mb.​ca. Please copy our general counsel, Andrew Swan, or contact him directly to share your views confidentially, at aswan@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

Health in the News

It’s been another busy week with health issues in the news. We have curated the top stories that might be relevant to our members, with exclusive access to print and subscription-only content. 


ICYMI

Here are some of our top recent posts, in case you missed them. 

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events are always listed on our events calendar.

Featured Event

Leadership for Equity: Expanding Inclusive Medical Culture
Session 1: Intent, Harm and Action: Understanding Bias, Discrimination and Racism in Healthcare - March 23, 2023 6:30 – 8 PM

Dr. Sharda’s presentation explores the concept of bias and implicit bias. It challenges the notion that physicians are ​‘neutral’ and ​‘objective.’ She will provide definitions of bias, racism and colonialism and explain how power (personal and social) is needed to create and maintain systems of oppression. She will delineate systems vs interpersonal discrimination and how they feed into each other. Dr. Sharda will speak about intent vs impact (and harm) and provide examples from the healthcare context about how this harm can manifest to patients, physicians, and learners. She will introduce the ideas of privilege and oppression via the Coin Model of Privilege. Dr. Sharda’s presentation offers an approach for students, doctors and medical professionals to start their journey of learning and unlearning — drawing on the concepts of Miller’s Pyramid, narrative humility and critical allyship and provides guided opportunities to self-reflect on the concepts presented.

Other Events

Will Planning: Protecting Your Assets and Your Family

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