Department Head Address

As we all start to experience a bit more sunshine, I do hope that you are all able to enjoy some of the early signs of summer around the corner.  Today I am very happy to share a positive story that is the outcome of the influence of many of you.

This July, half of the Dalhousie medicine graduating class will begin their residency training in family medicine.

The slightly over 50 per cent match rate marks a significant increase since 2018 when it was 25 per cent. This is especially impressive given the significant expansion in residency numbers since 2018. Our collective efforts over the past five years to strategically address this problem are paying off in the Maritimes.

Thank you to all our amazing role models in family medicine and everyone who worked on this.  A special shout out to Jennifer Hall for her inaugural leadership in these efforts.

We all know however that this work does not end when students choose family medicine as a specialty.  We will continue to focus on the many intersecting challenges in both the learning and practice environment in order to confidently promote Family Medicine as a career of choice for our medical students.

Producing competent family doctors, is not possible without the many practicing family physicians across the Maritimes who choose to share their time and expertise with our students.

I know these past few months have been exceptionally busy for our physicians and preceptors. Thank you for all that you do to advance the specialty of family medicine, it is working! 

"Producing competent family doctors, is not possible without the many practicing family physicians across the Maritimes who choose to share their time and expertise with our students."

Dr. Kath Stringer

Dear Staff, Faculty, and Residents,

I do hope you are all enjoying the early the signs of Spring, even if only a few welcome snow drops to help us through rain, drizzle and fog! As always, I am pleased to share some updates and achievements from the DFM.

Firstly, I am delighted to report that thanks to a lot of work from all involved in Family Medicine over the past few years, Dalhousie achieved a 48% match to Family Medicine nationally after the first iteration of the CaRMS match.

As the Family Medicine Specialty Committee's target is 50%, it is wonderful to see the progress we are making. We look forward to the second iteration of the match to fill all our Dal family medicine residency positions and welcome even more talented physicians to the region.

Our residency program is always expanding and July will see additional seats filled in NB and PEI. The expansion of medical education in Nova Scotia is moving into the active planning stages for both UG, and PG, and we are connecting with our partners to ensure a collaborative approach in preparation for LICs in 2027 and ongoing FM residency expansion.

On the funding front, the AFP department is working with the Nova Scotia government to develop a new payment model that will closely align with our community colleagues as part of the LFM model.

Strategic Planning Update 
Lastly, our 2024-2029 strategic plan is nearing completion, marking an important milestone for the Department. We are transitioning into the action planning stage for each strategic direction.

The plans will initially focus on the first year of the strategic plan (2024/25) and will be revisited annually to ensure alignment with strategic goals.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the recent Strategic Planning survey, and provided your thoughtful feedback on our vision, mission and strategic directions. It is exciting to see a comprehensive plan taking shape with contributions from learners, faculty, staff, and partners alike.

As always, I want to extend my gratitude to all of you for your dedication and contributions to the Department. Together we are driving excellence in Family Medicine through socially accountable and connected communities of education, research, and other scholarly activities

Dr. Kath Stringer, Department Head

Family Medicine Specialty Committee
The Family Medicine Specialty Committee, which has replaced the Family Medicine project charter, was recently established to highlight the importance and respect of the specialty of Family Medicine within the Medical School.

As the DFM Dept Head, I chair this committee as we work toward its five-year goals (2023-2028) of:

1. Increased interest in and respect for the specialty of family medicine throughout the FoM
2. A maintained target of 50% CaRMS match rate in Family Medicine.
3. Increased involvement of Family Physicians in teaching and leadership of UGME
 
Patient Medical Home Symposium
Along the same lines of supporting the continuum of family medicine education in community, it was wonderful to see so many of our preceptors at the Patient Medical Home Symposium in Halifax.

The Symposium focused on Primary Care Renewal in Atlantic Canada and I was very pleased that the importance of medical education was highlighted both in a plenary presentation and workshop thereafter.

In the presentation, I focussed on the importance of developing integrated educational and clinical patient medical home systems to operationalize primary care renewal.  An integrated approach is essential to prepare and support our learners to begin practicing as family physicians at the top of their scope of practice in an interprofessional team. 

These teams also provide the opportunity to develop our new providers in family medicine, and other healthcare professions,  as teachers in the same well-supported community-based clinical learning environments they were training in —ensuring both clinical and educational sustainability.

Strategic Planning Update 
The DFM continues to work through the development of its 2024-2029 strategic plan. We are on draft two of the strategic plan framework, which presents the Department of Family Medicine’s vision, mission, and four updated strategic directions:

• Education
• Research and Other Scholarly Activity
• Social Accountability
• Our People and Partners

Each direction outlines goals, objectives, and associated high-level actions, developed through consultations including focus groups, surveys, and key informant interviews. The draft framework, reviewed by the Strategic Plan Working Group, will undergo further validation by department members in February to March 2024, with the final plan expected in May 2024. Following its completion, detailed action plans will be developed with specific tasks, timelines, accountabilities, and indicators of success for each strategic direction.

Dr. Kath Stringer, Department Head

Well, we have certainly had a busy start to the academic year and there is so much going on across the department!  Thank you to each one of  you as I know you are each working hard in your respective areas.

Between new publications, site visits, seat expansion, residency extension, conferences, and awards ceremonies etc  there is no shortage of activity. I recently had the pleasure of seeing some of you face-to-face during our first NS site visit this year together with the Faculty of Medicine – next site visit to NS and PEI coming up this month and then it is off to NB in early December. 

As I hope I have said before and will continue to say….thank you so much for making the effort to connect with us on these, they are so incredibly valuable to the DFM and FoM team and I do hope they are valuable to you too.  If not, or even if they are,  please let us know how we can make them more so.

Thank you for your unwavering dedication to family medicine. I hope we can continue to make meaningful strides toward a brighter and more inclusive healthcare landscape in the Maritimes.
 
Warm regards,
Dr. Kath Stringer, Department Head

Hello All,

I hope your summer has been enjoyable, ideally including some time to relax with family and friends allowing you to feel reinvigorated for the coming year.  
 
As we begin another new academic year, the DFM has a number of ongoing and upcoming projects and initiatives on the go.
 
Firstly, I would like to thank those of you who have taken on new or additional residents, and hope that it is going well. The ongoing expansion of our residency program is a journey that demands collective effort, and we want to make sure that your contributions are acknowledged. Should you require any information or support during this transformative period, please do not hesitate to reach out to me and other leaders in the department.
 
In 2023 we wrapped up our last five-year strategic plan. In alignment with the Faculty of Medine’s strategic plan, the DFM is now embarking on renewing its own.
 
The last strategic plan covered 2018-2023 with the successful implementation of an impressive amount of the goals and objectives including highlighting the importance of FM in both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula; the importance of FM research and how it can inform changes in healthcare delivery; and engaging numerous partners as we focussed on serving our wide array of communities across the Maritimes.
 
The development of the last strategic plan included a collaborative and participatory process that involved internal staff and faculty as well as external partners guided by a Strategic Plan Working Group (SPWG). It is now time for the department to renew our previous strategic plan and update our goals, objectives, and priorities for the next five years (2024-2029).
 
Over the next few months, we will once again be seeking your input, advice, and feedback to gain a full understanding of where our focus should be.

Your input is important. We will keep you updated with the status of the strategic plan development over the next year and look forward to your meaningful contributions.
 
Through all the changes and initiatives, we must continue to focus on educating learners, training residents who are capable, confident, and adaptable to provide care in a team-based environment, and ensuring our research guides further decisions to improve the health care of Maritimers. 

Please accept my sincere thanks for your efforts to make this all possible.

Dr. Kath Stringer, Department Head