News & Current Projects

Planet Family Doc Podcast Series

What in the world is happening with family docs? The Besrour Centre is proud to be launching the Planet Family Doc podcast series! (Available in English only)

Available at https://planetfamilydoc.libsyn.com/, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts, Planet Family Doc will feature interviews with globally-minded primary care leaders and innovators as they share what they are excited about in the world of family medicine.

Our first season is themed “The Class of 2024: The Future of Family Medicine.” Over the past decade, family physicians have experienced dramatic changes in the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of patient care. What new skills should our current family medicine trainees be learning? And how do we effectively teach these skills to a 2024 learner?

• Planting Trees: Integrating planetary health into family medicine training (October 2023)
• Is There Already an App For That? AI and other tech in family medicine training (November 2023)
• Our Best Teachers: Perspectives from new family medicine trainees (November 2023)

More episodes will be released every other week.

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FM Vax: An international survey on the integration of public health and primary care in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns

Optimizing vaccination rates is key to preventing third and fourth waves of COVID-19 illness around the world. What is less clear is the precise role of primary care/family medicine in partnering with public health to deliver these vaccines. The Primary Health Care Research Consortium (PHCRC) is seeking answers to this question and supporting the research study “FM Vax: An international survey on the integration of public health and primary care in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.” Sponsored by the PHCRC and led by the Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine at the College of Family Medicine of Canada, this study will survey primary care providers around the world with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, where vaccination campaigns are generally still being initiated.

The lessons learned from this study will inform these fledgling campaigns as well as what are likely to become regular national COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in the future. How to reach priority populations, how to track vaccination status at the individual and populations levels, and how to ensure coverage at regional and national levels are all key questions that will inform us about the nature of public health and primary care/family medicine cooperation. We are surveying what is presently occurring, and what lessons may be transferrable across contexts.

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FM Pivot Educational Initiative

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest and most rapid disruption to the practices and training of family physicians since the inception of our profession in the mid-20th century. It has revealed gaps in the capacity of our health care systems, but it has also led to a surge in resiliency, innovation, and gained experience as primary care providers and educators adapt to this new paradigm. We have an opportunity to expand on this interest and energy to collectively strengthen our system and build our capacity to manage the next emergent crisis when it arises.

The FM Pivot Educational Initiative has been developed by a team of global Besrour Centre partners to help family physicians and family medicine educators prepare for similar challenges in the future within their own contexts. It will feature interactive educational modules, platforms for discussion, and opportunities for sharing resources.

Modules launched to date: available at fmpivot.ca

• Finding Great Research Questions in Pandemics and Other Crises: An introduction for family medicine researchers
• Chronic Disease Management during the COVD-19 Pandemic
• Mental Health Tools for Family Physicians in a Post-COVID World
• Disaster  Planning for Community Family Physicians
• How to Adapt Your Teaching in Crisis: Lessons from the pandemic

We look forward to you joining us!
 

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The Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine releases Report 2022

The Report shares major accomplishments and activities that have demonstrated commitment to fostering family medicine nationally and globally. Read a copy of the report.
 

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Congratulations to the first recipients of the Global Co-RIG Program!

The Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine at the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) is pleased to announce the two inaugural recipients of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic Response and Impact Grant (Global Co-RIG) Program:

• University of Cape Town, South Africa: “Innovations to reduce morbidity and mortality amongst people with diabetes in vulnerable communities in Cape Town, South Africa”
• Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia: “Family Health Cadre Empowerment Program: An innovation for chronic disease management during the COVID-19 pandemic in low-and middle-income countries”

These grants were made possible through the generous support of the Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine, the Fondation Docteur Sadok Besrour, and the Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine at the CFPC.

The pandemic has put immense pressure on health care systems. The goal of this initiative is to advance efforts that aim to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19. In particular, the program is seeking innovative ideas that reduce the virus’s impact on highly vulnerable populations around the world that have limited access to primary care.

The CFPC and the Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine congratulate the first Global Co-RIG recipients!
 

Project summaries