MSA PAH President's Newsletter - 4th August 2022

Dr. David Min

I have had the opportunity to serve as MSA President for the past year having been handed the reins by Dr. Martin Lebl who served in 2021. I would like to thank and acknowledge Dr. Jerrod Hendry in his tenure as MSA Treasurer. I would also like to thank the MSA Executives for their patience in working with me in this new role.

There was a successful strategic retreat in March 2022, the MSA Executives and the Health Authority met detailing a strategic three-year plan that will focus on Mentorship, Succession Planning, Physician Wellness, and Quality Improvement. If you have a quality improvement idea, please contact Sooky Moore-Ruiz for project application links or feel free to drop by the monthly Quality Improvement Clinic.

We continue to have Grand Rounds with the plan for a Ground Rounds series with the Therapeutics Initiative UBC next year. Grand Rounds are held monthly on a Wednesday or Thursday with lunch provided.

Journal Club is also taking place on a monthly basis, and we welcome presenters of any mix of articles, guidelines, and or case discussions for presentation. The next

Journal Club presenter will be Dr. Daniel Beegan on August 31st. Recent topics presented were guideline updates for Heart Function Management with prior topics addressing Moral Distress and Debrief Framework. We welcome anyone interested in presenting!

The waves of COVID, staff shortages, has led to increasing physician burnout. Conversation cafes featuring interactive conversations on topics related to well- being at home and work facilitated by professional coach Dr. Elizabeth Froese have been part of the initiative for promoting physician wellness. Sessions are open to all members of the MSA.

We are working with administration in building of the new Physicians Lounge part of the planned renovations for the old Emergency Department. Any input and or desire to participate in the ongoing planning sessions with administration is welcomed.

Thank you all who came out to the Dirty Apron Cooking class in May! It was a blast connecting over individually cooked 3-course plant-based meals.

Dr. Wu and the FE team will be planning for a medical staff barbecue event to be held in early fall. This will be a great opportunity for the medical staff and their families to get together, with games and activities planned, food and beverages provided. More details to come.

Sponsored by Facility Engagement, the Division of WR/SS held a successful event on June 25th, 2022. Since the last Hello Goodbye was in February 2020, this was an especially meaningful celebration of new and retiring physicians in the community.

Last Christmas we partnered with PAH’s Volunteer Services to provide toys, non- perishable food, clothing, and toiletries to families in need through the Surrey Christmas Bureau. The MSA also took part in the 7 days of Christmas by providing Cupcakes to all PAH staff. Volunteer Services shared their thanks on behalf of those who submitted feedback. Specifically, the excitement and appreciation coming from the ER, SDC and Foods & Nutrition staff was off the charts. Many thanks to the physicians who helped to hand them on the units.

MSA Strategic Plan

At the strategic retreat in March 2022, the MSA executive and Health Authority partners met to create a 3-year strategic plan. The priorities were then reviewed by MSA representatives at an open invitation meeting in May 2022. The following strategic priorities have been approved:

Mentorship
Succession Planning
Physician Wellness
Fostering Collaborative Relationships Quality Improvement

Have an idea for a project? Please email sookymoore@gmail.com for the project application links.
Click to view the full strategic plan here

MSA Dues/PAHMSA.org

A friendly reminder to the medical staff to pay their annual dues at PAHMSA.org. If you select the re-occurring payment you will be charged annually on March 29, 2023, for the 2023/24 year. The PAHMSA.org site is being updated to become more user-friendly and meet the needs of our organization. Please email bgrosufe@gmai.com with any feedback and ideas.

Featured Physician on Wellness

I count myself truly blessed that I have not had to face major medical issues for most of my life. As a physician at times this has sometimes left me with a certain degree of guilt. Taking history from patients that are in pain, dyspneic, fearful, in distress, asking to clarify and characterize symptoms that I have not felt. How could I truly emphasize with patients pain, that helpless feeling lying immobile in bed, fear about the outcomes of a health condition or the leap of faith that is required before going under anesthetic for surgery.

That all changed in February of this year. Seeking time away from the hospital and the waves of COVID I sought the mountain air out in Whistler, hoping time spent outdoors snowboarding would provide some time away from the hospital I felt I needed to recharge. What I found instead was a 15 foot ledge. Thankfully I was found by another skier fairly quickly and rushed down to the Whistler Emergency Department. The x-ray of my spine was concerning and I was told I needed a CT. After the CT and the page overhead announcing Spine Neurosurgery at VGH and Patient Transfer Network were holding on the line for the ER Physician who was seeing me, I knew I wasn’t going to be sent home with a 6 pack of hydromorphone and recommendations to take it easy for the next week.

I got urgently shipped down to VGH. It was surreal being in an acute bed in the VGH ER where I had done so many of my night shifts as an internal medicine resident. I was assessed by the Spine Neurosurgery and Trauma team and the next day I was being put under for my surgery.

I am glad and to report that the surgery went well and nearly 6 months out I am nearly back to my former self. I am filled with gratitude that the injury was not more severe, it was certainly a close call with the possibility of spinal cord injury. I don’t know whether I will ever be getting back on the ski hill any time soon. I certainly will not be trying to do any backflips.

Looking back on my journey as a patient I am filled with gratitude for all the help that I received. The most incredible thing from that day is knowing the capacity of complete strangers to demonstrate their care, love and attention towards my unfortunate situation. From the Samaritan calling ski patrol, to the Ski patrol on duty who assessed me after my fall and checked my pulse every 5 minutes the ride down on the gondola. The EHS crew that loaded me up and rushed me to Whistler hospital. The nurses and ER physician in the Whistler Emergency Department quickly responding and assessing my injuries, providing me the necessary medications to ease my pain. The EHS crew that transported me down from Whistler to Vancouver, the paramedic that sat with me in the back and asked if I needed an extra blanket. The students, residents, fellows, staff physicians working at all hours of the night with the trauma and neurosurgery team at VGH. I am forever grateful.

I have been working in health care for the better part of a decade. As a student, resident and more recently as a staff.

Some days I have wondered, am I doing something that’s making a difference. My recent experience has shown myself in reflection in many forms.

The medical student practicing their neurological exam. The nervous resident just trying to get the words out right when discussing code status. The overworked fellow rushed for time having to answer the phone doing a quick 5 second hi-bye in the morning. The decisive doctor that makes the calls necessary to transfer a patient to a higher level of care. The physician that comes in to say you are going to be alright, we will get through this.

I could see myself in each of the physicians I had a chance to interact with. And what this experience has increased my faith in is the meaning of what we all having doing as Physician and what we will continue to do in in our daily roles. That we have the ability to make a patient feel less fearful when they do not know what is going on, to reassure them that everything will be okay. To instill confidence. To check in to see how they are doing. To provide a warm blanket. To diffuse a stressful situation. To hold a patients hand and say we will get you through this.

I didn’t know how much those things could mean, the power that words of comfort could have. The impact that love, care, and attention can have.

I thought of the physicians, nurses, and staff at Peace Arch and the meaningful work that they are doing.

Through my experience as a patient, it made me realize how invaluable the care that physicians, nursing and allied health care staff are providing for the patients at Peace Arch Hospital. The ER Physicians and their decisive decision making, Hospitalist taking the time to explain test results to patients and communicating with families, Radiologists up late into the night providing crucial information, psychiatrists caring for patients with mental health crisis’, general surgeons, urologists, orthopedics surgeons, obstetricians day and night responding to emergencies, using their skillful hands in treating patients, and to my fellow internists providing ICU and Medicine coverage. Thank you for your service, thank you for giving your time to care for patients.

Dr. David Min

President of MSA PAH