Inside "The Green Room"

| 24 February 2022

I am sitting writing this after the events of this morning have overshadowed the reflections I had prepared earlier. After viewing Dr. Aisha Lofters’ opening keynote for Primary Care Research Day 2022, I glanced at the news to find that open, large-scale war returned to Europe today for the first time since the Second World War.

The impact this will have on, first and foremost, the people of Ukraine, but also on many others in the region and around the world, will be substantial. I am reminded of the long-term impacts that conflicts have on individuals, families, communities, and beyond, and the large-scale displacements of populations that accompany these conflicts.

It is clear that even here in the relative safety of Southeastern Ontario, we are regularly encountering patients and families whose health needs and experiences are severely impacted by conflict and displacement. Today at our Primary Care Research Day, there were multiple projects related to these significant and enduring impacts on health. Among them, there were projects focusing on migrant health, and the diagnosis of PTSD and its treatment. These completed projects reflect the impacts of other earlier or ongoing conflicts on people who live in our communities. Some are newcomers, driven to relocate to escape the conditions in their home countries; others are service members who experienced trauma as they carried out their duties in the Canadian Armed Forces. All provide us insight into the harms that those in the newest global conflict zone will continue to endure long beyond the immediate effects of the events currently underway.

As one of the few family medicine training programs in the country with a focus on preparing medical officers for the Canadian Armed Forces, this is also a sobering time that reminds us that our friends and colleagues in this program, like the veteran faculty members in our group, are never far away from the potential risks associated with deployment to a region in conflict. I would like to thank all of them for putting themselves forward to serve, and hope that this conflict does not escalate to involve our armed forces directly.

I want to thank Dr. Brent Wolfrom for his leadership in developing this training stream and in providing such excellent leadership for our postgraduate program, which, despite the trials of operating during a pandemic, our residents have once again nominated for the PARO Residency Program Excellence Award.

Thanks everyone for all you continue to do throughout these troubled times.

Dr. Michael Green

Department Head Blog

Publish Date

Thu, 02/24/2022 - 14:55