Author Biographies

This page provides biographies and disclosures for all authors. Authors are listed in alphabetical order according to last name.

 

ABC | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


Arman Abdalkhani MD FRCSC

Dr. Abdalkhani is a Royal College Board Certified Otolaryngologist, specializing in ear, throat and nose. Dr. Abdalkhani is a UBC Clinical Assistant Professor; Associate Director, Undergraduate Surgical Education, Department of Surgery; Electives Director, Faculty of Medicine, and active staff at St. Paul’s Hospital and Mt. St. Joseph’s Hospital. Prior to arriving in Vancouver and joining UBC faculty, Dr. Adbalkhani served as a physician in the department of otolaryngology at Palo Alto Medical Foundation and an Adjunct Faculty of Otolaryngology at Stanford University. Dr. Adbalkhani received his Doctor of Medicine from Indiana University. He completed his internship in General Surgery at Tulane University in 2004 and Residency in Otolaryngology at Stanford University in 2008.

See Dr. Arman Abdalkhani’s contributed posts

Disclosures: UBC SIF Grant for Surgical Education. Mitigating potential bias: recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Hamidreza Abdi MD FEBU

Dr Abdi graduated from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2001. He completed his residency training in Urology at Shahid Beheshti Medical University in Tehran, and has been a urologic oncology fellow (research and clinical) at the Vancouver Prostate Centre since 2013. His research here has focused primarily on the use of MRI in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. He has also contributed to the development of clinical databases for patients with bladder and prostate cancer, and is interested in biomarker discovery and validation in uro-oncology.

See Dr. Hamidreza Abdi’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Mark Adrian

Dr. Adrian is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with subspecialty training in Spine and Musculoskeletal Medicine. He has a special interest in the evaluation and non-operative management of spinal disorders, including minimally interventional, image-guided, injection treatments for lumbar disc herniations; stenosis; and sciatica. He is a staff member at the Vancouver General Hospital, Division of Spine, and Division Member of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of British Columbia.

See Dr. Adrian’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Kevin Afra MD MHA FRCPC

Dr. Kevin Afra completed Medical School and Internal Medicine at the University of Calgary, followed by an Infectious Diseases subspecialty at UBC. Kevin went on to obtain a Master of Health Administration from UBC. Kevin is currently the Medical Director of the Fraser Health Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. His clinical Infectious Diseases practice spans several Fraser Health hospitals. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor with UBC and lead for Sepsis week in the second-year medical school.

See Dr. Kevin Afra’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Kourosh Afshar MD MHSc FRCSC

Dr. Afshar is a graduate of UBC Urology program. This was followed by a two-year fellowship in Pediatric Urology at the University of Toronto (Hospital for Sick Children). He has special interest in minimally invasive surgery, genital reconstruction and pediatric renal transplant. Dr. Afshar has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from UBC and is Associate Professor of Urology and an associate faculty member of School of Public Health. He is the director of research of the Division of Urology and Associate Chief of Surgery at BC Children’s Hospital.

See Dr. Kourosh Afshar’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Azin Ahrari

Dr. Azin Ahrari is a rheumatology resident at UBC. She completed her medical education at University of Ottawa and internal medicine residency at Western University in Ontario. Her areas of research in the past included medical education and choosing wisely in rheumatology practice.

See Dr. Azin Ahrari’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Tahmeena Ali

Dr. Tahmeena Ali is a family physician in South Surrey. From 2013 to 2018, she was also the medical director of an acquired brain injury unit. Prior to moving to British Columbia in 2012, she practiced in rural Alberta for a decade. Her current interests include trauma-informed care and how learning about our patients’ past experiences (both good and bad) has a profound impact on the therapeutic relationship between physician and patient. She also has a passion for narrative medicine and finds that the utilization of the ACEs questionnaire has provided a helpful way to access the earlier chapters of her patients’ lives. She is the chair of the Division of Family Practice for White Rock/South Surrey and is an active member in the Child and Youth Mental Health Community of Practice.

See Dr. Tahmeena Ali’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Catherine Allaire MDCM FRCSC

Dr. Catherine Allaire (MDCM, FRCSC) is a gynaecologist with special interest and expertise in endometriosis, pelvic pain and surgical education.
Dr. Allaire is Clinical Professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Division of Gynaecologic Specialties and Division of REI. She is the Director of the UBC Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) rotation, Director of the UBC Advanced Training Program in Pelvic Pain, Endometriosis, and Advanced Laparoscopy, and has a strong clinical and research interest in endometriosis and pelvic pain. She is currently the medical director of the BC Women’s Centre for Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis, an interdisciplinary clinic that was created in 2011.

See Dr. Catherine Allaire’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of advisory committees for Abbvie, Actavis, and Bayer. Member of a Speaker’s Bureau for Covidien. No conflict of interest: only generic names used and evidence based recommendations and guidelines. Mitigating Potential Bias:
• Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines
• Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements


Judith M. Allen MD FRCPC

Dr. Judy Allen works at the Sleep Disorder programme at UBC, as well as the psychiatric clinic at the Mood Disorders Association of BC. She is an Associate Clinical Professor at UBC and a psychiatrist with a subspecialty in Mood Disorders.

See Dr. Allen’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Deborah Altow MD

Dr. Deborah Altow works as an Adjunct Professor for UBC’s Faculty of Medicine.

See Dr. Altow’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Neda Amiri MD

Dr. Neda Amiri completed her Rheumatology training at University of British Columbia. She also completed her medical school and internal medicine residency at UBC. Her areas of research and expertise are rheumatology and pregnancy in women with rheumatic conditions. She is the director of Pregnancy and Rheumatic Diseases Clinic Mary Pack Arthritis Centre.

See Dr. Neda Amiri’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received financial payments from Abbvie, Amgen, Fresenius Kabi, Janssen, Lily, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB. Member of advisory boards for Abbvie, Amgen, Fresenius Kabi, Janssen, Lily, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB. Received funding for grants from UCB. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines (indicate which guidelines). Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. Recommendations in the article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Ashraf Amlani

Ashraf Amlani is an epidemiologist at the Harm reduction program at BC Centre for Disease Control, where she works on research & surveillance activities to understand overdose trends across British Columbia. She has a Master of Public Health from the University of Washington’s Community-Oriented Public Health Practice program and Bachelors in Science from the University of British Columbia.

See Ashraf Amlani’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Works with Dr. Jane Buxton (physician epidemiologist) at the BC Center for Disease Control on the BC Take Home Naloxone Program. The program is a provincial initiative aimed at reducing opioid overdoses. This program trains individuals who use opioids (prescription or illicit) in overdose recognition and response, and provides free naloxone kits. The kits are currently being distributed a 72 sites across BC.The THN kits are distributed and covered by the BCCDC, at no cost to patients. If naloxone is prescribed directly (separate from the THN kit), it is not currently covered by Pharmacare. However, naloxone is covered by most third party insurance plans.


Jason G. Andrade MD

Jason G. Andrade’s biography coming soon.

See Jason G. Andrade’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Hugh Anton MD FRCPC

Dr. Hugh Anton is a physiatrist practicing in Vancouver and a member of the medical staff at the G.F. Strong Rehab Centre and Vancouver General Hospital. His clinical practice at present includes medical and rehabilitation management of patients with musculoskeletal pain syndromes, neurological disorders (including spinal cord injury and acquired brain injury) and multiple trauma. He is a member of the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of British Columbia and participates in teaching and research.

See Dr. Anton’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Anne Antrim

Dr. Antrim qualified in General Paediatrics in 1992 and worked as a Community Paediatrician until December 2007. She joined the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Women’s and Children’s Hospital full time in January 2008 as a Clinical Associate. Under the supervision of the neonatologists, she is responsible for the care of sick neonates both in the NICU and occasionally on transport. Dr. Antrim also works one day a week in the Neonatal Follow-up Programme clinic which follows children who have graduated from the NICU with birthweight less than 800 g or gestation of less than 26 wks, children who had congenital diaphragmatic hernia, children who had ECMO and solid organ transplant recipients (other than renal).

See Dr. Antrim’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Linlea Armstrong

Linlea Armstrong is a Clinical Geneticist (An MD in the area of Medical Genetics). She sees patients for genetic concerns such as hereditary cancer and intellectual disability at BC Cancer Agency and BC Women’s and Children’s Hospitals. She is involved in teaching and educational leadership in the MD Undergraduate Program particularly in the first year genetics content, and the fourth year Preparation for Medical Practice course. Within her department she contributes to the Residency and Fellowship programs, as well as the training of the graduate students and laboratory scientists. In early 2011, she decreased her clinical work to accommodate a position as Faculty Development Director, Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program. Her first big focus within this role has been the Faculty Assessment Initiative, which aims to move the MDUP towards a more comprehensive and unified approach to Faculty Assessment.

See Dr. Linlea Armstong’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Ric Arseneau

Dr. Ric Arseneau is an academic general internist working out of St. Paul’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital, University of British Columbia. In addition to interests in medical education and medical informatics, Dr. Arseneau’s clinical interests include chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and related disorders. He is Director of Program Planning and a clinician at the Complex Chronic Diseases Program (CCDP).

See Dr. Ric Arseneau’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Arseneau is the Director of Program Planning and a clinician at the Complex Chronic Diseases Program (CCDP).


Charles Au, BSc(Pharm), ACPR, PharmD

Dr. Charles Au is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Internal Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC. He completed a hospital pharmacy residency at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON in 2012. He is a Clinical Instructor with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia and a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist, Board of Pharmacy Specialties.

See Dr. Charles Au’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received funding from Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute – research grant for new researchers for a retrospective study on opioid use disorder. Mitigating potential bias: Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.



Shelina Babul, PhD

Dr. Shelina Babul is the Associate Director and Sports Injury Specialist with the BC Injury Research and Prevent Unit, BC Children’s Hospital. She focuses primarily on sport & recreational evidence-based research, with a particular specialization in concussions/traumatic brain injuries and their prevention, recognition, treatment and management. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and has a cross appointment with the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC; an Investigator with the Child & Family Research Institute and the Djavad Mowafaghian Center for Brain Health, UBC; chair of the BC Concussion Advisory Network (BC CAN); and co-chair of the BC Sport and Recreation Injury Prevention Advisory Committee.

See Dr. Shelina Babul’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Paxton Bach, MD, MSc, ABIM, FRCPC, FASAM

Dr. Paxton Bach is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a general internist and addiction medicine physician at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. He additionally serves as the Co-Medical Director for the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, and is the Director of the BCCSU Clinical Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program. His research interests lie in the area of opioid and stimulant use disorders, with a focus on epidemiologic trends and the development of evidence-based treatment strategies. Dr. Bach is certified as a specialist in General Internal Medicine through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and an Addiction Medicine specialist through the International Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Board of Preventative Medicine. He is supported by a Health Professional-Investigator Award from Michael Smith Health Research BC.

See Dr. Paxton Bach’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received honoraria from UBC CPD: member of the UBC CPD Scientific Planning Committee for an online module on the clinical management of high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder for primary care providers. Received honoraria for speaking engagements from BCCSU ECHO Program, Moms Stop the Harm, Kentucky Overdose Prevention Education Network, Prince Albert Addiction Medicine Network, American, College of Academic Addiction Medicine, American Society of Addiction Medicine (no ongoing relationships and no funding received from for-profit organizations). Received funding from CIHR, Michael Smith Health Research BC for research grants not related to this content. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines: CCSA and BC AUD Guidelines.


Elisabeth Baerg Hall, MD, CCFP, FRCPC

Dr. Elisabeth Baerg Hall is Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC. She is executive director of The ADHD Centre, and psychiatrist, specialising in adult ADHD, education and capacity building for health care professionals, and strategic consultation on ADHD service delivery. Dr. Baerg Hall develops and delivers Executive Function Groups for professions and has a psychotherapy practice dedicated to treating physicians with ADHD. Dr. Baerg Hall is co-lead of the Adult Mental Health Substance Use Network, and specialist representative to the Shared Care Committee (SCC), and Specialist Services Committee (SSC), Joint Standing Committees of the Doctors of BC. She is physician advisor to the BC Physician Health Program. She is Education Committee Chair at CADDRA (Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance). She led peer support groups for physicians through the first years of the pandemic and worked as consultant psychiatrist to the BC Physician Health Program. She was founding Medical Director of the Vancouver Coastal Health Adult ADHD Clinic. For more info please see https://EBHallMD.com, or contact info@ebhallmd.com.

See Dr. Elisabeth Baerg Hall’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Volunteer board member for CADDRA (Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance), no payments received. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. All available medications for ADHD are discussed or referenced. Generic names are provided.


Dr. Hector Baillie

Dr. Baillie trained in Glasgow (Scotland), and Winnipeg (Manitoba) before settling in Mission (BC) as a community internist/intensivist. He moved to Nanaimo (BC) in 2002, where he practices Cardiovascular Medicine and runs the Heart Function Clinic. He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine with UBC, Site Scholar for the Nanaimo Family Practice Residency Program, and editor emeritus of the Canadian Journal of General Internal Medicine. He is married with 3 children. He enjoys teaching residents, travel, painting and kayaking.

See Dr. Hector Baillie’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Mohammad Bardi

Dr. Mohammad Bardi completed his Rheumatology training at UBC. He pursued additional training in ultrasound with a focus on the use of vascular ultrasound in giant cell arteritis in Norway and the UK. He is part of the division of Rheumatology at UBC and is working to establish a fast track service as part of the Vasculitis clinic at Mary Pack Arthritis Center.

See Dr. Mohammad Bardi’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Sue Barlow BPE BSc OT

Sue Barlow currently works at GF Strong Rehab Centre as an Occupational Therapist and Coordinator of the GF Strong Adult Concussion Service. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of British Columbia Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Sue’s strong interest in the self-management model and concussion has her involved in research and projects supporting this approach. Sue also works in OT private practice.

See Sue Barlow’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Ms. Barlow owns a private OT practice.


Dr. Sofia Bartlett

Sofia Bartlett the Senior Scientist for Sexually-Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections at the BC Centre for Disease Control. Additionally, she is an Adjunct Professor at UBC in the School of Population and Public Health, and the Co-Director of the Canadian Collaboration for Prison Health and Education (CCPHE). She has received training in infectious disease epidemiology, public health, virology, and molecular diagnostics, completing a PhD through the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, as well as a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC.

See Dr. Sofia Bartlett’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Sofia Bartlett has received speakers’ honoraria, consulted for, and participated in medical advisory board programs with Gilead Sciences, AbbVie, and Cepheid (no personal payments accepted), as well as investigator-initiated, unrestricted funding from Gilead Sciences and AbbVie, via the Provincial Health Services Authority and BCCDC Foundation for Public Health. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines.


Rosemary Basson MD FRCP (UK)

Rosemary Basson, Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry is the Director of the University of British Columbia Sexual Medicine Program. In 2003 and 2009 she was vice-chair of the 2nd and 3rd International Consultations on Men and Women’s Sexual Dysfunction sponsored by ICUD, ESSM, WAS, IASR, ISSWSH. Recent CIHR funded research includes collaboration with Professors John Petkau and Fernand Labrie to use measures of total androgen activity by means of androgen metabolites in the detailed assessment of women with and without sexual dysfunction, finding no differences between the two groups. However, stress hormones differed leading ongoing studies of Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal dysregulation in women with and without dysfunction. Her 70 plus peer reviewed publications include a series in The Lancet on sexual dysfunction subsequent to illness and a NEJM review on clinical aspects of women’s sexual dysfunction plus online reviews for the British Medical Journal Point of Care and BMJ Best Practice. A major clinical and research focus currently is the management of sexual pain from Provoked Vestivulodynia.

See Dr. Basson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Monica Beaulieu MD FCPSC

Dr. Monica Beaulieu is a nephrologist at St. Paul’s and also the director of the integrated care clinic – a clinic that provides integrated care for patients with Chronic Kidney Disease, Diabetes Mellitius with and without cardiac disease. She has a special interest and has written several articles on the primary-specialty care interface and the use of multidisciplinary care models and links to primary care.

See Dr. Beaulieu’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. James Bergman

Dr Bergman graduated from University of Manitoba medical school in 1991. He completed a Pediatric residency at the University of Manitoba in 1995 and went on to complete a Clinical Allergy and Immunology fellowship in 1996. He completed his residency in Dermatology at the University of British Columbia in 1999. Following that he completed a fellowship in Pediatric Dermatology at University of California San Diego in 2001. He was a staff physician at UCSD Children’s hospital until 2004. Thereafter, he returned to Vancouver and formed the Pediatric Allergy Dermatology Centre which is a multidisciplinary clinic that treats pediatric patients with cutaneous diseases and allergic disorders.

See Dr. Bergman’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dan Bilsker PhD RPsych

Dr. Dan Bilsker is a psychologist practicing in Vancouver. His clinical practice is focused upon Cognitive Behavioural Therapy of depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders. His research is focused upon innovative ways to deliver psychological interventions and build psychological health and safety in the workplace. His academic appointments are Clinical Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia and Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University.

See Dr. Bilsker’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Psychologist with a private practice in Vancouver BC. Mitigation statement: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines.


Peter Black MD FRCSC

Dr. Black is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Urologic Sciences, UBC and a Research Scientist at The Vancouver Prostate Centre. Dr. Black trained in Urology at the University of Washington in Seattle and completed a fellowship in Urologic Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He treats all urologic cancers including prostate, bladder, renal and testicular carcinoma, with a special clinical focus on bladder cancer and robotic surgery. He has established a laboratory research program at the Vancouver Prostate Centre investigating novel targeted agents in the treatment of bladder cancer.

See Dr. Blacks’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Bob Bluman MD CCFP FCFP

Dr. Bob Bluman received his MD from the University of British Columbia and completed his specialty training in Family Medicine at McGill University (CCFP). He has been in active family practice for the past 30 years and is a Clinical Professor in the UBC Department of Family Practice. He has been a Designated Medical Practitioner, Federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration since 1987 and a Preceptor in the Family Medicine Residency Program since July 2001.

Dr. Bluman has served as the Assistant Dean, Continuing Professional Development since 2003. In addition to participating in the planning, development, organization and implementation of numerous CME/CPD programs within the Division of CPD and with key stakeholders, he has taken the lead in the development of the Commercial Support Guidelines document which has been submitted and approved by the Faculty Executive Committee. Dr. Bluman is also the Chair of the national SCCPD working group on industry relations and CME. He continues to take charge of the Accreditation application document and process for the UBC Faculty of Medicine. His research activities include his role as the Principal Investigator of several large-scale BC wide CME/CPD and cancer screening needs assessments. Dr. Bluman actively works with many provincial and national stakeholders to optimize CME/CPD delivery to physicians.

See Dr. Bluman’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


John van Bockxmeer, MBBS CCFP

Dr. John van Bockxmeer is a family physician working in the lower mainland, providing trauma informed primary and acute care. He graduated from the University of Western Australia in 2010 and completed residency in Australia with and advanced diploma in Emergency Medicine. He has a Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and a Diploma of Bioethics. John worked as a rural generalist and EM doctor in number of international contexts volunteering with NGOs and in the UK prior to starting practice in British Columba in 2018. He is a UBC clinical supervisor and maintains a passion for patient safety and quality. His research interests include sepsis, pediatric safeguarding, and primary care innovation.

See Dr. John van Bockxmeer’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. N. John Bosomworth

Retired Family Physician, having practiced for 40 years, mainly in Princeton, B.C. Fellowship in Family Medicine. Fellowship in Rural and Remote Medicine. Honorary Lecturer University of British Columbia.

See Dr. N. John Bosomworth’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Tanveer Brar BSc BSc(Pharm) ACPR

Tanveer Brar is a clinical pharmacist at St. Paul’s Hospital working in Internal Medicine. Tanveer completed her undergraduate degree in pharmacy at the University of British Columbia in 2016 followed by a hospital pharmacy practice residency in 2017. She is currently completing her Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Alberta. Her areas of interest include solid organ transplant and infectious diseases.

See Tanveer Brar’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Vanessa Brcic

Dr Brcic is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Practice and community-based researcher with an interest in health equity and social determinants of health (SDOH). She is the co-founder of Basics for Health, a non-profit society that builds capacity to address SDOH in clinical settings. Her clinical interests are in elder care, complex care, mental health and chronic pain; she is certified in Relational Somatic Therapy for trauma, and GunnIMS for chronic pain.

See Dr. Vanessa Brcic’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Brian Bressler MD MS FRCPC

Dr. Brian Bressler is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Medicine. Dr. Bressler received his MD from the University of British Columbia and completed his residency in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Toronto. He received an MS in Epidemiology from the Harvard Public School of Health and completed an advanced fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Bressler is a recognized expert in inflammatory bowel disease. His research interests include population based studies focusing on colon cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease, and clinical trials in inflammatory bowel disease.

See Dr. Bressler’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Bressler has received an Honorarium from Ferring, Abbott and Merck.


Heather Buckley MD CCFP FCFP Clinical Educator Fellow

Dr. Heather Buckley graduated with her medical degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and completed her residency in Family Medicine at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Buckley has practiced family medicine in both Ontario and British Columbia. She has tutored in the UBC Vancouver Fraser Medical Program for the past 10 years, and is excited to be starting her Master of Health Professions Education at Maastricht University and the Clinical Educator Fellowship Program at CHES.

See Dr. Buckley’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Buckley was not involved in selection or editorial process for this submission.


Dr. Karen Buhler

Dr. Karen Buhler is family physician, who has been practicing in Vancouver for over 30 years, 25 of which were as a full service GP, and the past 5 years as a specialized focused practice of maternity care. She completed her BSc, MD, and Family Medicine Residency at UBC. She has a strong interest in Quality Improvement, Appreciative Inquiry, interdisciplinary collaboration, and leadership. She was instrumental in helping midwifery become regulated in BC. She was the Head of the Department of Family Practice at BCWH and the Assistant Head Quality prior to that. She founded and is the lead for the Sue Harris Family Practice Research Grant, a competitive grant for new researchers in Family Medicine women’s health. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor and regularly teaches at meetings and conferences. She is a member of the General Practices Service Committee Maternity Working Group and the Division of Family Practice Maternity Committee. She is currently a member of the Perinatal Addictions Service and Family Practice Maternity Service with whom she provides clinical care to pregnant and birthing women.
She has two children and loves to spend time with her family and friends hiking, skiing, kayaking, and canoeing–anything to get outdoors. Promoting and facilitating group care for pregnancy (Connecting Pregnancy and Connecting Families) and bringing Mindfulness meditation practice into pregnancy care are two of her current passions.

See Dr. Buhler’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Glen D. Burgoyne MD CCFP FCFP

Dr. Glen Burgoyne is a family physician in Penticton B. C.. He was the family practice liaison physician during the introduction of the first pilot project for colon cancer screening in 2009.

See Dr. Glen Burgoyne’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Jane Buxton MBBS MHSc

Dr. Buxton was a family physician in the UK for 7 years. She is currently a Professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health; and physician epidemiologist and harm reduction lead at the BC Centre for Disease Control. She chairs the Drug Overdose Alert Partnership with members from enforcement, health, BC Coroners Service, Ambulance Service and Drug and Poison Information Centre. Her research engages people who use drugs and identifies interventions to reduce harms related to substance use. In August 2012 she led the implementation of the BC Take home naloxone program (THN), the longest running provincial THN program in Canada.

See Dr. Jane Buxton’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Buxton is the project lead for the development of the BC take home Naloxone Program (BC THN program). The BC Take Home Naloxone program is a provincial initiative aimed at reducing opioid overdoses. This program trains individuals who use opioids (prescription or illicit) in overdose recognition and response, and provides free naloxone kits. The kits are currently being distributed at 72 sites across BC.The THN kits are distributed and covered by the BCCDC, at no cost to patients. If naloxone is prescribed directly (separate from the THN kit), it is not currently covered by Pharmacare. However, naloxone is covered by most third party insurance plans.



Douglas Cave MSW RSW PhD RPsych MA AMP MCFP

Dr. Cave is a Counselling Psychology Consultant, Clinical Leader, and a founding member of the Centre for Practitioner Renewal (CPR) team. He is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is also the Site Faculty for Behavioural Medicine in the Department of Family Practice in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. He received both his Master’s degree in Social Work and Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology from UBC. He received his Post-Doctoral Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology from New Mexico State University.

At CPR, he is working to combine his interests in psychology, medicine and social work to develop a comprehensive program of service, education and research with the goal of helping health care providers to sustain themselves in the workplace.

While his previous areas of practice include forensic psychology, addictions, and sex-related concerns, his current research, education and practice are in the areas of communication among healthcare teams, both primary and vicarious trauma.

See Douglas Cave’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Beata Chami COC MA Organizational Psychology

Beata Chami is an organizational psychologist and physician health researcher. Over the past year, she has launched a Wellness program for physicians and faculty in the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, which entailed researching and highlighting wellness gaps, and implementing programs and initiatives to address burnout and strengthen resilience and leadership across the department. She also holds a certified coaching certification from UBC. Beata’s passion lies in supporting physicians by providing them with effective wellness resources that will assist them in their everyday professional practice and will improve their satisfaction in the workplace.

See Beata Chami’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Private practice.


Edmond S. Chan MD FRCPC

Dr. Edmond S. Chan completed medical school (University of Alberta) and residency in Pediatrics (University of Manitoba), and finished his training with a fellowship in Pediatric Clinical Immunology and Allergy (University of Manitoba). He has been practicing in Vancouver since 2005. Currently, he is the Head of the Division of Allergy & Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics. He is Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. He is Program director of the UBC Pediatric Clinical Immunology and Allergy Fellowship training program. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. His research interests are in food allergy and eosinophilic esophagitis.

His other duties include: Pediatric Section Head and Board of director of the Canadian Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Co-Director, BC Children’s Hospital Eosinophilic Esophagitis Clinic, Clinical Investigator at the Child and Family Research Institute, and Clinical lead of the HealthLink BC Dietitian Allergy Advisory Council in the BC Ministry of Health Services.

See Dr. Chan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Michelle C. Chan

Dr. Michelle C. Chan completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at the University of Alberta in 2018. Thereafter she completed the two-year family planning fellowship at UBC with a further focus in contraception care for medically complex patients and advanced abortion care. During this time, she also completed a Master of Health Sciences at UBC. Her fellowship research was a provincial mixed-methods investigation on barriers and facilitators to the more effective oral emergency contraceptive. She previously advised Beyond the Binary, a working group for more inclusive research with the Women’s Health Research Institute. Michelle’s research interests include feminist inquiry, reproductive justice, and advocacy. Michelle is currently locum tenens in the lower mainland while welcoming opportunities for a clinical home.

See Dr. Michelle C. Chan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received funding from the Society of Family Planning, Fellowship Research Grant, current research: Dispensing and Practice Patterns of Ulipristal Acetate 30 mg (Ella) as Emergency Contraception in British Columbia, Canada.

Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns, SOGC Contraceptive.


Dr. Jonathan Chan

Dr. Chan studied medical school at the University of Alberta, Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at UBC, and completed a clinical Fellowship in spondyloarthritis at the University of Toronto. He currently works at Artus Health Center seeing patients with rheumatic conditions. He continues to participate in research focusing on axial spondylarthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

See Dr. Jonathan Chan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Given talks and provided training lectures for: Abbvie, Amgen, Celgene, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Mylan, UCB, Canadian Spondylitis Association, and Canadian Rheumatology Association. Participated in advisory boards for: Abbvie, Amgen, Celgene, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Gilead, Roche, Sandoz, UCB, Fresenius Kabi, and Merck. Received grants from in clinical trials with Janssen, Novartis, Abbvie, and UCB. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Only recommendations consistent with published guidelines or guidelines in the works (SPARCC, ACR/SPARTAN, and EULAR/ASAS) are presented. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. The article does not cover the topic of treatment but rather diagnosis.


Dr. Alice Chang

Dr. Alice Chang is currently a first year Cardiology resident at UBC. She completed Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology and Therapeutics at UBC before completing her medical school and Internal Medicine residency at UBC. Her research interests include cardiac imaging, cardiac obstetrics, and congenital heart disease.

See Dr. Chang’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Alexander Chapman PhD RPsych

Dr. Alex Chapman is a Registered Psychologist, an Associate Professor, and Coordinator of the Clinical Science area in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University (SFU) as well as the President of the DBT Centre of Vancouver. Dr. Chapman received his B.A. from the University of British Columbia and his M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Idaho State University, following an internship at Duke University Medical Center. He completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Marsha Linehan (founder of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) at the University of Washington. Dr. Chapman directs the Personality and Emotion Research Laboratory at SFU, where he studies the role of emotion regulation in BPD, self-harm, impulsivity, and other behavioural problems. He has published numerous scientific articles and chapters on these and other topics and has given many scientific conference presentations on his research. Dr. Chapman is a DBT Trainer and Consultant with Behavioral Tech, LLC. He is certified in CBT by the Canadian Association of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. Dr. Chapman regularly gives local, national, and international workshops and invited talks on DBT and the treatment of BPD, has consulted with and trained clinicians in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., and trains and supervises clinical psychology students. He has received the Young Investigator’s Award of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (2007), the Canadian Psychological Association’s (CPA) Early Career Scientist Practitioner Award (2011), and an 8-year Career Investigator Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. He has co-authored 7 books. In addition, Dr. Chapman is an assistant instructor at his local martial arts studio, is involved with Zen and mindfulness meditation practice, and enjoys hiking, skiing, and spending time with his wonderful wife and two young sons.

See Dr. Chapman’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Joanna Cheek

Dr. Joanna Cheek is a psychiatrist practicing in Victoria, BC, with a special interest in psychotherapy, personality disorders, trauma, and complicated mood and anxiety disorders. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, and an Associate Assistant Professor with the University of Victoria, Island Medical Program. She completed her medical degree and post-graduate training at the University of British Columbia.

See Dr. Joanna Cheek’s contributed post

Disclosures: Received funding from Shared Care: sessional funding to develop and spread CBT Skills Group Program. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines (e.g. CANMAT depression and anxiety guidelines) and current practice patterns.


Charlie Chen MD CCFP-PC

Dr. Charlie Chen is a palliative care consultant working at the Royal Columbian Hospital and in the community of New Westminster and is a Clinical Assistant Professor at UBC, Department of Medicine. He received his M.D. from UBC in 1994, and then completed his Family Medicine residency and Palliative Medicine fellowship at McGill. Having spent many years focusing on both family medicine and palliative care, he is now devoted fully to palliative care as a clinician, educator, and advocate. He completed a Master’s of Education degree in 2014 from Simon Fraser University. A leader in Advance Care Planning, he sits on Provincial and National task forces to promote person-centred care. He is the Program Director for the Palliative Medicine Residents at UBC and he is also the physician education lead for the Palliative Care Program at Fraser Health.

See Dr. Charlie Chen’s contributed post

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Christopher Cheung MD

Dr. Christopher Cheung is a Cardiology resident at the University of British Columbia. He completed his undergraduate training in Physiology at the University of Alberta, along with medical school and Internal Medicine residency at the University of British Columbia. His interests include medical education, academic medicine, and critical appraisal.

See Dr. Christopher Cheung’s contributed post

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Carson Chin

Dr. Carson Chin is a Clinical Instructor in the Division of Rheumatology, UBC and works in a community practice in Burnaby and covers Rheumatology call at Burnaby Hospital. He is the current Vice President of the BC Society of Rheumatologists.

See Dr. Carson Chin’s contributed post

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Lawrence Chow

Dr. Lawrence Chow is a practicing internist and palliative care consultant working in Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care. His clinical training includes a fellowship in General Internal Medicine at UBC with a focus on palliative medicine in his 5th year. His clinical interests lie in the intersection of these two specialties, in addition to medical education. He is a clinical instructor with UBC and regularly teaches trainees on the clinical teaching unit where he works as an attending physician.

See Dr. Lawrence Chow’s contributed post

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Devon Christie

Dr. Devon Christie is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Family Practice and has a focused practice in interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Management at RISE BC Wellness in Nelson, BC. She is a Certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher, and incorporates MBSR into the Kootenay Boundary Rural Family Medicine residency program’s Behavioural Medicine curriculum. Dr. Christie is also a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor with a focus in trauma resolution with Relational Somatic Therapy.

See Dr. Devon Christie’s contributed post

Disclosures: MAPS Canada Advisory Board. MAPS is a non-profit organization funding research into novel treatments for PTSD. The content of the article reflects changes in medical practice that can better serve patients with a history of trauma, which is also the purpose of the research being done by MAPS, and is purely in the interest of patients, and is not for commercial profit. The content of the article does not in any way promote the work being done by MAPS. I do not have any affiliations with commercial organizations. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services involved in disclosure statements.


Doson Chua PharmD FCSHP, BCPS, BCCP

Dr. Doson Chua is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Cardiology at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. He is also a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia and is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and Board Certified Cardiology Pharmacist by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. His areas of interest are acute coronary syndromes and heart failure.

See Dr. Doson Chua’s contributed post

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Maria Chung

Dr. Maria Chung graduated from McGill Faculty of Medicine in 1983, and completed her Internal Medicine residency and Geriatric Medicine Fellowship at UBC. She is a currently on staff at VGH and UBCH as a Consultant Geriatrician, and is active in teaching as well as inpatient and outpatient care. She also provides consultative support for the Broadway Lodge Residential Care Facility, and Pacific Spirit Health Unit. She also is Site Medical Director for UBCH, and Medical Manager for the Subacute Medical service at VGH, and the Acting Co-Head of UBC Division of Geriatric Medicine. She is interested in acute care of the elderly, as well as transitions of care between hospital and community.

See Dr. Maria Chung’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Catherine Clelland

Dr. Cathy Clelland is a graduate of the University of Alberta MD program and did her Family Medicine Residency at the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton. She began practice in Full Service Family Medicine in Prince George BC from 1986–1989, then relocated to Kelowna until 2004. Since 2004, she has been the Executive Director of the Society of General Practitioners of BC and until very recently, maintained a part-time family practice in Coquitlam. She provides staff support to the GP Services Committee and is the chair of the GPSC Practice Support Program End of Life Module steering committee. Her interest in end-of-life care stems from a commitment to “cradle to grave” family practice and the ongoing relationship with her patients throughout the span of their lives.

See Dr. Clelland’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. Matthew Clifford-Rashotte

Dr. Matthew Clifford-Rashotte is an Infectious Diseases fellow at UBC. He completed medical school at McMaster University and Internal Medicine residency at the University of Toronto. His interests include HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and antimicrobial stewardship.

See Dr. Matthew Clifford-Rashotte’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Emma Coffey

Dr. Emma Coffey is a family physician with a focused practice in sexual health and contraception in North Vancouver. She has previously worked at the Willow Clinic and with Options for Sexual Health.

See Dr. Emma Coffey’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Richard Cohen

Dr. Richard Cohen is a Clinical Associate Professor in the UBC Division of Respiratory Medicine. He chairs the Pulmonary Block in the first year of the UBC MD Undergraduate Program and also teaches the ABC Primer for the Office of Faculty Development.

See Dr. Richard Cohen’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Marisa Collins

Marisa Collins is a family physician whose interests lie at the interface of primary care and public health. After graduating from McMaster (’88) she completed the rural residency program through UBC, and practiced in Hazelton, then Pemberton, until 2007. Somewhere in between she completed a Master’s in Community Medicine and Epidemiology. She has provided focused primary care in sexual and reproductive health in Whistler for the past 15 years. Recipient of a Vancouver Foundation Community-Based Clinician Investigator Award, 2007-2010, her research interests include sexually transmitted infection screening. She recently served as Physician Lead for the HIV Testing Initiative in Family Practice and is currently on leave as Site Research Faculty for the Vancouver Fraser Family Practice Residency Program.

See Dr. Marisa Collins’ contributed posts

Disclosures: Served as a Physician Lead for the HIV Testing Initiative in Family Practice at time of writing May I add an HIV test to your bloodwork today?


Dr. William Connors

Dr. William Connors is an Assistant Clinical Professor at UBC in the Division of Infectious Diseases and a consultant based primarily at St. Paul’s Hospital. He obtained his MD from UBC, Internal Medicine & Infectious Diseases certification from University of Calgary, and an MPH with a focus in Global Health from Emory University. His clinical and research interests focus on improving infectious disease-related health care and prevention services to those currently marginalized in our society and health system.

See Dr. William Connors’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Celia Culley, BSP, ACPR, PharmD

Dr. Celia Culley is a clinical pharmacist and pharmacy clinical coordinator in Victoria at Island Health. She has been an invited guest speaker and panelist on the health impacts of climate change, including empowering health care professionals to advocate for positive change in the health care sector. Along with Dr. Val Stoynova, she is the recipient of a SIFEI grant, and their work on climate-conscious prescribing was recently selected as a national innovation in partnership with the CASCADES network to further develop, implement and study sustainable inpatient care. She sits on the National Advisory Committee for inhaler sustainability.

See Dr. Celia Culley’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received direct payments from CASCADES Network/Centre for Sustainable Health Systems (https://cascadescanada.ca/) stipend for work on Sustainable Inhaler National Advisory Committee. Received funding from CASCADES Network/Centre for Sustainable Health Systems Innovation Grant for inpatient sustainable inhalers project; Vancouver Island South Island Facilities Engagement Initiative Grant for Stakeholder Engagement for inpatient sustainable inhalers project.
Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented and all recommendations are consistent with current published GINA, CTS, and BTS guidelines on asthma therapy.



Katherine Daley, PharmD, ACPR

Katherine Daley is a clinical pharmacist currently practicing at Vancouver General Hospital. She completed her entry-to-practice Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of British Columbia in 2021 and an Accredited Canadian Pharmacy Residency with the Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services in 2023.

See Katherine Daley’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Michelle C. Danda, RN, MSN, MPN, BN

Michelle Danda is a Registered Nurse. Currently, she works as a staff nurse in adolescent and adult mental health and substance use inpatient treatment, and in assertive mental health outreach in the Vancouver area. She graduated from the University of Calgary, Bachelor of Nursing program (Accelerated Track) in 2008. She also holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and sociology (Honours) from the University of Calgary. She completed her Master of Nursing (clinical teaching focus) in 2012 and her Master of Psychiatric Nursing (advanced clinical practice focus) in 2017. She has practiced in the Lower Mainland, BC, and in Calgary, Alberta.

See Michelle Danda’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Alejandro Dau

Dr. Alejandro Dau is a fifth-year general internal medicine fellow at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He completed his medical school training at UBC in 2017 and his core internal medicine training at UBC in 2020. He is pursuing additional training in thrombosis during the 2021-2022 academic year.

See Dr. Alejandro Dau’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Margot K Davis

Dr. Margot Davis is a cardiologist at VGH and SPH and the Director of the UBC Cardiology-Oncology Program. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Physiology at McGill University before attending medical school at the University of British Columbia. She stayed at UBC for her Internal Medicine residency and Cardiology fellowship, and served as Chief Resident for both Medicine and Cardiology. She then completed fellowships in Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology and Cardio-Oncology & Cardiac Amyloidosis at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also a candidate for a Masters of Science in clinical epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her research interests are focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of cardiotoxicity related to cancer therapy and the epidemiology of heart disease in cancer survivors. She also has interests in cardiac amyloidosis and advanced heart failure. She is a co-PI on the Canadian Cancer Society-funded ELEVATE trial of eplerenone for the prevention of anthracycline cardiotoxicity in breast cancer patients.

See Dr. Margot Davis’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received honoraria and research funding from Janssen, Novartis, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Takeda, Pfizer, Akcea, Alnylam, Amgen, Ferring. Mitigating Potential Bias: Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to these companies’ products. Only published trial data is presented.


Dr. Natasha Dehghan

Dr. Natasha Dehghan is a rheumatologist at VGH and SPH and the Director of the Mary Pack Arthritis Vasculitis Clinic. She obtained her medical degree at UBC. She completed her internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at UBC before attending the University of Pennsylvania for additional training in vasculitis. Her research interests are focused on creation of a database for vasculitis patients in British Columbia. In addition, she collaborates with the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium and CanVasc on multiple clinical trials in the field of vasculitis. She is also planning on starting a Fast Track GCA clinic along with Dr. Mohammad Bardi and Dr. Daniel Ennis.

See Dr. Natasha Dehghan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Vinicio Delgado RCT CCSH RPSGT

Vinicio Delgado is an advanced sleep medicine practitioner with extensive experience in the discipline. He is the acting physician assistant for the Kelowna NeuroSleep Center and Co-Director of a sleep technologist program, educating the next generation of sleep professionals. He holds an International Master’s Degree in Sleep Medicine and is certified in cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi), as well as being a Clinical Sleep Educator (CCSH). Vinicio is passionate about educating and counselling patients on how to prevent and treat sleep disorders for a better quality of life.

See Vinicio Delgado’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Co-author of the Transleep CBTi Workbook and Mysleeptutor website.

Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice guidelines for the treatment of insomnia (American Academy of Sleep Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines). Access to the https://mysleeptutor.com website is free of charge. The resources are educational in nature and do not promote any specific clinic (including ours, beyond the author’s credit) or any commercial products. Registration data is not used for any promotional purposes.


Dr. Judy Dercksen

Judy Dercksen is a family physician and pain consultant, family physician on Pain BC ECHO for pain, and Pain BC and Doctors of BC mentor for pain. Complex PTSD and neurodivergence have given her a unique perspective on the world of pain.

See Dr. Judy Dercksen’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Included in the article are links to the author’s chronic pain information website: https://painimprovement.com/about/, no commercial interest. Received direct financial payments from Pain BC for the role as family physician on Pain BC ECHO for pain and the role as pain mentor. Not yet received funding for the Doctors of BC mentor role.

Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Dr. Michael J Diamant

Michael Diamant is a cardiologist working in Advanced Heart Failure and General Cardiology at Royal Columbian Hospital, and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He holds a Master’s of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Western Ontario, completed Cardiology residency at UBC, and went on to complete a fellowship in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. His research interests include outcomes in health services delivery in heart failure, donor organ availability, and as a site investigator in heart failure drug trials, and he plays an active role in teaching in UBC’s medical school and various residency programs.

See Dr. Michael J Diamant’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received speaker or moderator fees from Novartis, Pfizer, and Astra Zeneca. Received consulting fees from HeartLife Canada and Bayer. Site co-investigator for trials sponsored by Bayer and AstraZeneca. Mitigating potential bias: All recommendations are consistent with published guidelines (mentioned or referenced in the article) and current practice patterns.


Daniel Y. Dodek MD CCFP FCFP

Dr. Daniel Y. Dodek obtained his Medical Degree from the University of British Columbia in 1999. He then went on to complete his Family Medicine Residency at the University of Calgary. He has worked as a full-service family medicine physician since 2001. He works at City View Family Practice in Vancouver. He also has a special interest in geriatrics and works at St. Vincent Langara nursing home and is part of the Mt. St. Joseph Hospital Geriatric Rehabilitation Unit. He is involved in planning the Annual St. Paul’s Hospital CME for Primary Care Physicians. Dr. Dodek has a special interest in developing innovative ways to educate patients, including group meetings, newsletters, and coaching.

See Dr. Daniel Dodek’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Taylor Drury, MD MSc FRCPC

Dr. Taylor Drury completed his undergraduate medical degree at Queen’s University, and subsequently his internal medicine residency and general internal medicine fellowship at UBC. Prior to medical school he completed a Masters in Experimental Medicine at UBC focusing on cardiovascular physiology of high performing athletes for which he was awarded the UBC Governor General’s Gold Medal. During his GIM fellowship he completed an adult clinical thrombosis fellowship split between UBC and the University of Ottawa. Dr. Drury is currently a Clinical Instructor at UBC working primarily at St Paul’s Hospital. His time is divided between the internal medicine clinical teaching units and the SPH thrombosis clinic/consultation service.

See Dr. Taylor Drury’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Kirsten Duckitt, MA MB BChir FRCOG FRCS (C)

Dr. Kirsten Duckitt completed medical school at the University of Cambridge, UK in 1989 and then trained as a general Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. She moved to Canada in 2004 and has worked as a specialist in Prince George and Campbell River, BC.  She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and has been a member of the SOGC Clinical Practice Obstetrics Committee since 2017.

See Dr. Kirsten Duckitt’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received honoraria from Bayer and Merck pharmaceutical companies to provide educational talks and training in long-term reversible contraception. Mitigating potential bias: Treatments and recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/treatments involved in disclosure statements. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines ( SOGC Guideline 398: 2020).


Caitlin Dunne, MD FRCSC

Dr. Caitlin Dunne practices in Burnaby as a reproductive endocrinology and infertility subspecialist. She is a clinical associate professor at UBC and co-director of the Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine (PCRM).

See Dr. Caitlin Dunne’s contributed posts

Disclosures: I intend to make recommendations for the off-label use of letrozole and I am co-director of the Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine. No other disclosures.


Caitlin Dunne MD FRCSC

Dr. Caitlin Dunne practices in Burnaby as a reproductive endocrinology and infertility subspecialist. She is a clinical associate professor at UBC and co-director of the Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine (PCRM).

See Dr. Caitlin Dunne’s contributed posts

Disclosures: I intend to make recommendations for the off-label use of letrozole and I am co-director of the Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine. No other disclosures.


Colleen Dy MD FRCS(C) NCMP

Colleen Dy completed her training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Alberta in 2005. She has had further training and accreditation with the North American Menopause Society. She has an office-based practice located in Surrey and North Vancouver. She enjoys teaching residents and students as a clinical instructor through UBC.

See Dr. Colleen Dy’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Speaker for Pfizer on Genitourinary Syndrome of menopause (Premarin cream). Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.



Dean Elbe PharmD BCPP

Dean Elbe completed his Undergraduate degree in Pharmacy at the University of British Columbia in 1992, and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Washington in 2010. Dean is a Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist, a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Programs at BC Children’s Hospital, an author, and international speaker. He is an editor of the psychopharmacology section of the Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Lead Editor of the Clinical Handbook of Psychotropic Drugs for Children & Adolescents, 3rd edition.

See Dr. Dean Elbe’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dean was the project leader for the development of the www.DrugCocktails.ca website which launched in September 2013.


Dr. Chelsea Elwood

Dr. Chelsea Elwood completed her B.M.Sc. and M.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Western Ontario and subsequently worked in infectious disease research as a microbiologist at the same institution prior to completing her medical training at the University of British Columbia. Currently, Dr. Elwood completed a fellowship in Reproductive Infectious Disease at UBC and is an active member of the OBGYN community. She is the medical lead for the Oak Tree Clinic and Antimicrobial Stewardship at BCWH and informs policy at a local provincial and national level.

See Dr. Chelsea Elwood’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Michelle van den Engh MD CCFP FRCPC

Dr. Michelle van den Engh is a psychiatrist, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Division of Medical Sciences at the University of Victoria. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. After immigrating to Canada, she completed a family practice residency and practiced family medicine in Prince George and in Victoria before re-entering residency training to specialise in psychiatry. She has a strong interest in medical education and completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education by distance through the University of Dundee during her psychiatry residency training. Currently, she works in community psychiatry practice in Victoria with a focus on psychotherapy and also serves in the role of Associate Director for Psychotherapy Training in the UBC Department of Psychiatry Postgraduate Education Program.

See Dr. Michelle van den Engh’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Supportive funding for the project described was provided through an Island Health Seed Grant. The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. Mitigating Potential Bias: Ethical approval to conduct the project described was obtained from the Island Health HREB (Health Research Ethics Board). Recommendations are consistent with current teaching practice patterns.


Duncan Etches MD MClSc CCFP FCFP

Dr. Etches graduated from UBC and did his residency training in New Zealand. He obtained a Masters of Clinical Science at Western in 1991. The first half of his practice was in Hazelton in northern BC and the second half in Vancouver at a Family Practice Teaching Unit. On the basis of his teaching and guideline development, he was appointed Professor in 2003. Recently he co-authored the Choosing Wisely statement for Long Term Care. He served on the Boards of the Doctors of BC and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC. In the community, he has been a School Trustee and is on the Board of a low-income housing project and an Assisted Living facility.

See Dr. Duncan Etches’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Dan Ezekiel

Dr. Dan Ezekiel is a family physician in Vancouver, BC. He graduated from medical school at the University of Toronto in 1988 and completed his post-graduate residency in Family Medicine at the University of British Columbia in 1991. At present, Dr. Ezekiel is an Attending Physician at Vancouver General Hospital and a Clinical Instructor with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Prior to his present office-based practice, he worked extensively in Emergency Medicine. Dr. Ezekiel is well-travelled and occasionally works as a ship’s physician for the cruise ship industry.

See Dr. Dan Ezekiel’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.



Michael Clifford Fabian FRCPC FRCSC FACS

Dr. Cliff Fabian has experience as a clinician, educator, administrator and researcher. He has practiced ENT in both the urban and community setting. Clinically, he presently concentrates on community otolaryngology in BC Northern communities, as well playing a role in medical student and resident teaching. He is dually trained and certified as both a Pediatrician and Otolaryngologist/Head and Neck Surgeon and is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery at the University of British Columbia.

See Dr. Fabian’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. Kevin Fairbairn

Kevin Fairbairn is a UBC Family Practice resident at the Chilliwack site. He completed his undergraduate medical degree from UBC as well. Interests include the intersection of medical education and primary care.

See Dr. Kevin Fairbairn’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Nichole Fairbrother PhD

Dr. Nichole Fairbrother is an assistant professor with the UBC Department of Psychiatry and the Island Medical Program in Victoria BC. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of British Columbia in 2002, and subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship in women’s reproductive health through the Child and Family Research Institute and the UBC Department of Health Care and Epidemiology. Dr. Fairbrother’s research is in the area of reproductive mental health with an emphasis on perinatal anxiety disorders and psychiatric epidemiology. Dr. Fairbrother also holds appointments with Island Health, the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH), the University of Victoria’s (UVic) Department of Psychology, and the UVic Division of Medical Sciences (DMS). Via BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, Dr. Fairbrother is a member of the Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI).

See Dr. Nichole Fairbrother’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Nichole Fairbrother is a registered psychologist and the director of the UBC Perinatal Anxiety Research Lab (PARLab) where the team is currently developing two trials of CBT for perinatal AD and has an application for funding under review with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for a study of perinatal anxiety screening tools. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Jamie Falk PharmD

Dr. Jamie Falk is an Associate Professor at the College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba and practices as an Extended Practice Pharmacist with the Department of Family Medicine at the Kildonan Medical Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He focuses his research, teaching, and clinical practice on optimized prescribing practices, approaches to minimizing patient burden and promoting evidence-based knowledge translation to learners, clinicians, and the patients they care for. He is the Clinical & Applied Sciences Curriculum stream lead, a family medicine site co-lead for the Implementing Evidence program, a PEER (Patients Experience Evidence Research) Team member, and co-chair of the annual Making Evidence Matter for Everyone (MEME) Conference in Vancouver.

See Dr. Jamie Falk’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received speaker honoraria from the Health Education Collaboration (not-for-profit organization) and the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (not-for-profit organization). Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements. No conflicts of interest.


Dr. Andrew Farquhar MB ChB BSc DA

Andrew Farquhar is an Edinburgh Medical school graduate who emigrated to Canada in 1975. He worked for 3 years in the Arctic and in Australia for 6 months (locum work). 1981 to present Solo Private Practice in Kelowna BC.

Dr. Farquhar has a special interest in diabetes with a significant referral practice and has given multiple talks on diabetes management throughout Canada, and also in USA, Switzerland, Bermuda, New Zealand, Dubai and 2 presentations at the World Diabetes Congress in Montreal in Oct 2009 and Dubai Dec 2011. His publications include: “Diabetes Review: What’s New?” as presented at the BC College of Family Physicians 21st Annual Scientific Assembly, Vancouver; Can Journal of Diagnosis, May 2009; “The Kelowna Diabetes Program”, Canadian Journal of Diabetes, May 2008; “Insulin Protocols for Hospital Management of Diabetes”, Can Family Physician, Oct 2007; “Intensive Insulin management in Type 2 Diabetes” supplement to The Medical Post Oct 2006; “Exercising Essentials” Diabetes Dialogue Fall 1996.

Dr. Farquhar is passionate about: Diabetes Education for health professionals and patients, Endurance sports -The benefits of an active lifestyle; Photography – have won several national and international photo awards and had numerous publications, including a cover on the National Geographic Traveler calendar; and Adventure Travel/ Writing – published photo essays on the Arctic, rafting the Tatshenshini river in BC, climbing desert dunes in Namibia, shooting Hong Kong and a recent one published on the Galapagos Islands.

See Dr. Farquhar’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Taryl Felhaber, MSc MBChB CCFP NCMP FCFP

Dr. Taryl Felhaber graduated in medicine from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) in 1993. She has worked in emergency, sports medicine, family practice, medical and radiation oncology (GPO), pain management, and palliative care. Her most recent employment is as a medical advisor for WorkSafeBC. She obtained the NAMS certified menopause practitioner designation in 2009. She is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Family Medicine at UBC.

See Dr. Taryl Felhaber’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Given talks for UBC and BCCA, for which honoraria were received. Medical advisor for WorkSafeBC. Mitigating Potential Bias: Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Dr. Caroline Ferris

Dr. Caroline Ferris graduated from UBC in 1986 and has been a certificant of the College of Family Physicians of Canada since 1993 and a Fellow since 2003. After 20 years in full-service family practice, she began working full-time in Mental Health Substance Use. She teaches medical students and Family Practice Residents and holds the rank of Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC Department of Family Practice. Currently working in Addiction and Street Medicine, Dr. Ferris is an educator and innovator in initiatives around the harm reduction approach to addictions treatment.

See Dr. Caroline Ferris’ contributed posts

Disclosures: Works with Dr. Jane Buxton (physician epidemiologist) at the BC Center for Disease Control on the BC Take Home Naloxone Program. The program is a provincial initiative aimed at reducing opioid overdoses. This program trains individuals who use opioids (prescription or illicit) in overdose recognition and response, and provides free naloxone kits. The kits are currently being distributed a 72 sites across BC.The THN kits are distributed and covered by the BCCDC, at no cost to patients. If naloxone is prescribed directly (separate from the THN kit), it is not currently covered by Pharmacare. However, naloxone is covered by most third party insurance plans.


Sarah Finlayson MD FRCPC

Dr. Finlayson is a Gynecologic Oncologist with the Ovarian Cancer Research Program at VGH and BC Cancer Agency. She is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Her career is focused on the surgical and medical care of women with gynecologic cancers. Her academic interests include minimally invasive surgery in gynecologic oncology and medical education. She is currently focused on a knowledge translation project entitled, “Preventing Ovarian Cancer: the role of the gynecologist”. This educational outreach project targets all BC gynecologists and aims to decrease new cases of high-grade serous ovarian cancer by 50% over the next 20 years.

See Dr. Finlayson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Gordon A. Francis MD FRCPC FAHA

Dr. Francis is a Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism in the Department of Medicine at UBC, Director of the Healthy Heart Program Prevention (formerly Lipid) Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital, and Associate Director of the UBC Centre for Heart Lung Innovation.

See Dr. Francis’ contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Francis is an advisory board and speaker’s board member for Alexion, Amgen, and Sanofi.


Jordan Friedmann MD BSc

Dr. Jordan Friedmann is a PGY5 Rheumatology resident at the University of British Columbia. He completed medical school at the Island Medical Program in Victoria, BC, followed by Internal Medicine residency in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia.

See Dr. Friedmann’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Jiri Frohlich

Dr. Frohlich is a UBC Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Director of the Clinical Trials Division of St. Paul’s Hospital Healthy Heart Program.
Having obtained his medical degree from Karlova University, Prague in 1965, Dr. Frohlich relocated to Montreal in 1968 and worked as a research fellow and trained in internal medicine and clinical pathology at McGill University and UBC. Before assuming his current positions in 1995, Dr. Frohlich was the associate director of the department of pathology of the Shaughnessy/ University Hospital, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Over the last 30 years, his service activities centered on establishing the first B.C. Lipid Clinic (1980) and being instrumental in the development of lipid clinic outreach programs throughout B.C. His research has focused on the biochemistry of lipoprotein metabolism, the pathology of atherosclerosis, and the development of new markers for the prediction of atherosclerosis. In addition to his service, research and teaching duties Dr. Frohlich also reviews numerous grants and publications and serves on the Editorial Board of scientific journals in the field of clinical biochemistry. Dr. Frohlich is a prolific author (co-author) of over 250 publications in journals such as Circulation, Laboratory Investigation, Nature, Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, American Journal of Cardiology and Canadian Journal of Cardiology, among others dealing mostly with HDL metabolism, LCAT, clinical trials and guidelines.
Dr. Frohlich is a member of The Canadian Cardiovascular Society Dyslipidemia Working Group and the Canadian Cardiovascular Risk Assessment Working Group. He has also served on the British Columbia Heart Foundation Committee for the chair in cardiology. Dr. Frohlich is the president of the Healthy Heart Society of British Columbia (HHS) a non-profit organization which facilitates improvements in cardiovascular prevention practices in B.C. communities and collaborates with BCMA and Ministry of Health to improve management of chronic diseases. HHS received the BCMA “Excellence in Health Promotion Award” for these activities in 2005. In 2006 Dr. Frohlich received the UBC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine’s “Excellence in Service” Award.

See Dr. Jiri Frohlich’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Winnie Fu

Winnie Fu is a pediatrics resident at UBC. She has a keen interest in pediatric infectious diseases and is involved with research projects related to perinatal infections.

See Winnie Fu’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Heather Fulton PhD RPsyc

Dr. Heather Fulton is a Registered Psychologist working in the area of complex concurrent disorders. She works at Royal Columbian Hospital training Psychiatry Residents in Cognitive Behavioral therapy and Motivational Interviewing. She is the founder and director of Wayfinder Wellness Centre, a private psychology practice that offers CBT, Motivational Interviewing and Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT)-based services. She is certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Seeking Safety, the Invitation to Change approach, and is a member of Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia

See Dr. Heather Fulton’s contributed posts

Disclosures: The author is a provider of Community Reinforcement and Family Training/Invitation to Change approaches however she has no ownership over such approaches, is not the sole provider of such approaches, nor receives any financial compensation or payments should such approaches be used. The author does receive payments from the Centre for Motivation and Change as a co-trainer offering training in the approach for some health/helping professionals. Access to all resources outlined within this article are educational in nature and the author receives no financial compensation related to their use.

Mitigating Potential Bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines: Family centred care: Families at the centre: Reducing the impact of mental health and substance use problems on families by the Family Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force.


Ryan Gallagher BscH MD CCFP

Dr. Ryan Gallagher is a Family Physician who works in clinic, inpatient care, long term care and family practice obstetrics in Duncan BC. He studied Medicine at the University of Alberta and completed his Family Medicine residency at the UBC Victoria Program. Prior to settling in the Cowichan Valley, Ryan worked in a variety of rural/suburban and urban communities in BC and the Northwest Territories. Ryan has a passion for helping to improve clinicians’ ability to leverage technology to deliver better care and provide patients with tools to empower their involvement in their care. It was this interest that led Ryan to be involved in PathwaysBC.

See Dr. Ryan Gallagher’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the PathwaysBC Provincial Resource Committee. PathwaysBC is a collaborative non-profit GPSC initiated project, freely available to all BC physicians and their teams.


Soren Gantt MD PhD MPH FRCPC

Dr. Gantt is an Associate Professor at UBC and a pediatric infectious diseases attending at BC Children’s Hospital. His research focuses primarily on viral pathogenesis and the development of vaccines to prevent cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus infections in children.

See Dr. Soren Gantt’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures. Valganciclovir has not been approved for the treatment of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection by Health Canada and coverage requires application to the Special Authority Program. Only published trial data are presented. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Dr. Karen Gelmon

Dr. Gelmon is a Professor of Medicine at the UBC and a Medical Oncologist at the BCCA, combining clinical and translational research. She is Co Chair of the Breast Site Committee for the NCIC Clinical Trials Group and a member of the NCI Breast Steering Committee and of the BIG (Breast International Group) Advisory Group. She sits on the NCIC-CTG IND executive and is a past Chair of this committee. She is Clinical leader of Advanced Therapeutics department at the BCCA. She sits on the International Advisory Board of The Lancet, The Lancet Oncology, The Oncologist and Clinical Breast Cancer. She is a reviewer for journals and grant review panels and recently has become a member of the Scientific Advisory Council for the Susan Komen Foundation. She has been track chair for Breast at ASCO and is on the Education Committee currently. She is an active teacher interested in education of health care professionals and the public and has published extensively. She has been a member of the Board of the BC Cancer Foundation, on the Medical Advisory Board of the BC/Yukon Chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and sits on the board of Rethink Breast Cancer. She was the recipient of a YWCA Woman of Distinction award in 2003. She is the mother of two daughters and is active on volunteer boards for the arts and community in Vancouver.

See Dr. Gelmon’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


William T. Gibson MD PhD FRCPC

Dr. Bill Gibson is a Medical Geneticist who researches rare genetic disorders that cause obesity. He is an Assistant Professor at UBC, and sees patients of all ages in his clinical practice at BC Children’s Hospital.

See Dr. William T. Gibson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Tristen Gilchrist MD MSc(HPE) FRCPC

Dr. Tristen Gilchrist is a General Internist working primarily on the Clinical Teaching Unit at Vancouver General Hospital. He completed a Masters in Health Professions Education and does education research focused on supervision and entrustment. He is the Associate Program Director for Curriculum in the postgraduate Internal Medicine program at UBC and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine.

See Dr. Tristen Gilchrist’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received funding from Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada – Medical Education Research Grant. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines, as indicated in the article. Recommendations in this article are unrelated to funded research involved in disclosure statements.


Sharlene Gill BSc (Pharm) MD MPH FACP FRCP(C)

Dr. Sharlene Gill is a medical oncologist specializing in gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies at the BC Cancer Agency and an Associate Professor of Medicine at UBC. She received a BSc in Pharmacy and MD from the University of British Columbia in 1996 followed by residencies in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. Dr. Gill subsequently completed a fellowship in Gl Oncology at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) and a Master’s of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA) before returning to BC in 2003. She is enthusiastically involved in residency teaching and is an active investigator with several research publications to her credit. She currently serves as the NCIC Clinical Trials Group Co-Chair for the Intergroup Colon Cancer Task Force and is on the NCIC.CTG GI Disease Site Executive. She is Chair of the BCCA GI Tumour Group.

See Dr. Gill’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. David Goldfarb

Dr. David Goldfarb is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at University of British Columbia and Medical Microbiologist and Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician at BC Children’s Hospital. He is Associate Head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine for the BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre. His research focuses on advancing diagnostic, prevention, and management strategies for childhood infectious diseases particularly in resource limited settings in Canada and abroad.

See Dr. David Goldfarb’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Goldfarb has received investigator initiated research funding from bioMerieux Inc. He has no other relevant conflicts of interest. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines.


Dr. Rachel Grimminck MD FRCPC DABPN CGP

Rachel Grimminck (she/her/hers) is a psychiatrist of mixed European ancestry living on the unceded territories of the Quw’utsun Peoples. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary and a Clinical Instructor at the University of British Columbia. She is a consulting psychiatrist with the First Nation Health Authority. She is a Certified Group Psychotherapist by the International Board for Certification of Group Psychotherapists, and delivers psychoeducational, mindfulness-based, and process-oriented groups in a variety of settings. She serves in leadership roles with the provincial CBT Skills group program (cbtskills.ca) which provides high-quality, evidence-based groups to patients across British Columbia. She is also the Physician Associate for the Peer Support Portfolio with Well Doc Alberta and Well Doc Canada. She is a board member of the BC Psychiatric Association. She is passionate about reducing stigma for those suffering from mental illness and substance use disorders, and is a member of a multi-year study at the University of Calgary to understand and address stigma holistically. She is a graduate of the Vancouver Island University Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Graduate Certificate program.

See Dr. Grimminck’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Honoria for speaking engagements related to physician wellness. Funding for stigma reduction workshop development from the University of Calgary EMBER project funded by Calgary Health Foundation. This funding has not influenced the article’s content. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published literature including CANMAT guidelines. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Dr. Kenneth Gin

Dr. Gin graduated MD at UBC in 1985; completed his internal medicine & adult cardiology training, followed by an echocardiography fellowship. Appointed by the UBC Department of Medicine and VGH Division of Cardiology in 1992, he achieved the rank of Clinical Professor in 2008. He was Director, UBC Postgraduate Cardiology Program for 10 years until 2009; under his tutelage the program grew from 2 residents to 17. From 2009 to 2012 he served as Head of the UBC Division of Cardiology for Vancouver Acute. Since 2009 to the present, he has served as Head of the VGH Division of Cardiology. He has received numerous teaching awards, including the prestigious 2010 UBC Killam Teaching Prize and the 2011 Canadian Cardiovascular Society Distinguished Teaching Award. He has published in the NEJM, Lancet, JACC and other high impact peer reviewed journals. In 2013 he received the Clinical Excellence award from VGH.

See Dr. Kenneth Gin’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Research for Bayer, Ad board Bayer, BI, Pfizer.


Dr. Craig Goldie

Dr. Craig Goldie graduated with his medical degree from Queen’s University in 2008. He completed a family medicine residency at St. Paul’s in Vancouver then worked as a locum family physician for several years before starting a year of added competency in palliative care through the University of British Columbia. He also has a degree in computer engineering and special interest in electronic medical records to enhance communication between health care providers.

See Dr. Craig Goldie’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Ran Goldman MD

Dr. Ran Goldman is the current Assistant Dean of UBC Continuing Professional Development. Dr. Ran Goldman was the recent Chief of the academic Division of Emergency Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at BC Children’s hospital and is a full Professor with the Department of Pediatrics. He is heading the Pediatric Research in Emergency Therapeutics (www.PRETx.org) research and education program and published over 150 peer reviewed publications in pediatrics. Dr. Goldman was trained in pediatric emergency medicine and clinical pharmacology and is the co-lead in the new Division of Clinical Pharmacology in the Department of Pediatrics at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. Ran is passionate about research, clinical medicine, and education and developed curricula for several large CPD events.

See Dr. Goldman’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Nick Graham MD BMSc CCFP

Dr. Nick Graham is a family physician with an office practice in Vancouver. He does long term care work, and is the Lead Physician for the Department of Family Medicine at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital.  Originally from Victoria, BC, he completed both medical school and residency at the University of Alberta, and after some locum work within Edmonton moved back to the coast to establish his practice. Working on the Provincial Resource Committee satisfies his interests in evidence-based medicine, teaching, shared decision making, and health care technology.

See Dr. Graham’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the PathwaysBC Provincial Resource Committee. PathwaysBC is a collaborative non-profit GPSC initiated project, freely available to all BC physicians and their teams.


Jennifer Grant MDCM FRCPC

Jennifer Grant has practiced Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Vancouver since 2007. In the past, she has served on the CHICA (now IPAC) Canada board as director of standards and guidelines. More recently she served as a member of the ASR committee at AMMI and an advising member of Do Bugs Need Drugs. Jennifer Grant is a dual trained infectious diseases and medical microbiology specialist current working at Vancouver Coastal Health. Her clinical practice includes diagnostic microbiology, clinical infectious diseases and antimicrobial stewardship. She co-chairs the BC COVID therapeutics with Dr. Piszczek.

Away from medicine, Jennifer is mother to Sierra, Alexis and Océanne, and avid skier and mountain biker, making use of the coastal mountains whenever possible.

See Dr. Grant’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received CIHR grants for unrelated clinical trials. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines (BCCDC Clinical Therapeutics for COVID). Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns


James R. Gray MD CCFP ABIM FRCP(C)

Dr. Jim Gray is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and performed his internship at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. After operating a successful family practice, he completed his residency in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UBC and was subsequently awarded a research fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently Clinical Professor of gastroenterology at the University of British Columbia and is the former president of the BC Society of Gastroenterology. Dr. Gray is the author of numerous published medical studies in the field of gastroenterology and is a regular contributor to gastroenterology-related guidelines produced by the BC Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee (GPAC).

See Dr. Jim Gray’s contributed posts

Disclosures: BC Guideline protocol advisory committee member. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with current guidelines.


Dr. Douglas Green

Douglas Green completed his MD at the University of Ottawa in 1990. This was followed by further training in internal medicine and psychiatry. He completed his specialization in psychiatry in 1995 followed by an additional year of subspecialisation in consultation-liaison psychiatry. He has worked in the areas of consultation-liaison psychiatry and outpatient psychiatry and for over ten years he has worked in the area of collaborative mental health care. This is an area that focuses on the provision of psychiatric treatment and training in the primary care setting. He has an interest in somatization as well as in the treatment of anxiety and depression in primary care. A recent focus has been on the creation of the Ottawa Depression Algorithm and the Ottawa Anxiety Algorithm, tools to assist with the treatment of depression and anxiety in the primary care setting. As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa he is also actively involved in teaching medical students and residents as well as family physicians and has received a number of teaching awards.

See Dr. Douglas Green’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Co-creator of https://ottawaanxietyalgorithm.ca. The free website was developed by Drs. Douglas Green, Asmat Khan, and Michael Cheng, and the support of many colleagues at the University of Ottawa and beyond.


Kerstin Gustafson MD FRCSC

Dr. Gustafson completed her undergraduate and graduate school in Toronto and medical school at UBC. She completed residency in OB/GYN at the University of Alberta in 2006. Dr. Gustafson is also an assistant professor at UBC in the Department of OB/GYN. In addition to general Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Gustafson also has a special interest in management of Menopause and Osteoporosis. She is also a North American Menopause Society (NAMS) certified menopause practitioner and Osteoporosis certified consultant.

See Dr. Kerstin Gustafson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received payments as honoraria for speaking on various medical topics, both from for-profit organizations and from non-profits such as the SOGC. Served on regional advisory boards for Amgen, Lilly, Pfizer, Bayer, Sanofi, and Novartis. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with clinical trial data and published practice guidelines.


Dr. Orlee Guttman

Dr. Orlee Guttman is a pediatric gastroenterologist at BC Children’s Hospital, where the majority her clinical time is spent in the hepatology and multi-organ transplant clinics. She completed her medical school at the University of Toronto, pediatrics residency at Winnipeg Children’s Hospital, and GI fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children. She pursued a Master’s in Health Professional Education during her fellowship, and now is the Pediatric GI fellowship program director for UBC.

See Dr. Orlee Guttman’s contributed posts

Disclosures:Has received financial compensation for consulting and participating in advisory board activities for Mirum Pharmaceuticals. Mirum Pharmaceuticals is unrelated to hepatitis C virus treatment. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines.



Hans Haag, BSc, BSc(Pharm), ACPR, PharmD

Hans Haag is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Infectious Diseases currently practicing at Vancouver General Hospital. He completed his pharmacy undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia in 2018 and an Accredited Canadian Pharmacy Residency with the Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services in 2019. He is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia. His clinical interests are in pharmacokinetics, pedagogy, and infectious diseases.

See Hans Haag’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Keyvan Hadad

Dr. Keyvan Hadad is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and the Medical Director of the Intermediate Nursery at BC Women’s Hospital. He is the recipient of multiple Postgraduate Teaching Awards in Family Practice and the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Outstanding Hospital-Based Pediatrician. He is a Past President of the North Pacific Pediatric Society. His major area of interest is the implementation of evidence-based initiatives in otherwise healthy neonates.

See Dr. Keyvan Hadad’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Jan Hajek MD FRCPC DTMH

Dr. Hajek is an Infectious Diseases physician at Vancouver General Hospital. He specializes in TB and Tropical Medicine. He completed his Infectious Diseases fellowship in Toronto, including a malaria research fellowship in Guyana, and tropical medicine training in Peru. He has been a medical advisor for Citizenship and Immigration Canada and has worked overseas with governmental and non-governmental organizations in resource-limited settings.

See Dr. Jan Hajek’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Ilona Hale MD FCFP

Dr. Hale is a rural family physician, Clinical Assistant Professor with the UBC Department of Family Practice, clinical researcher and is currently doing a Fellowship with Health Quality BC. She lives with her husband, Dave, in a net zero home on a bio-intensive organic farm near Kimberley, BC. Her passion for the environment stems from her love of nature and concern for the future of her two young adult sons and the generations to follow. Combining this with her interest in improving quality of care, she is focusing on ways to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare. She has recently led the production of a national guide to Planetary Health in Primary Care (https://cascadescanada.ca/resources/sustainable-primary-care-toolkit/) is also working on incorporating environmental sustainability into quality improvement.

See Dr. Ilona Hale’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received speakers’ honoraria and/or sessional payments from the following academic, governmental or non-profit organizations: Divisions of Family Practice, Cascades Canada, Therapeutics Initiatives, Health Quality BC, Interior Health Authority, RCCBC, UBC, Alberta Pharmacists’ Association, UBC Sauder School of Business Physician Leadership Program. Received grant funding from Interior Health, Health Research BC, RCCBC, UBC Department of Family Medicine.

Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines.


Katelyn Halpape BSP ACPR PharmD BCPP

Dr. Katelyn Halpape completed her undergraduate pharmacy degree at the University of Saskatchewan in 2012, her Hospital Pharmacy Residency in Regina in 2013, and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of British Columbia in 2015. Katelyn is an Assistant Professor in the areas of psychiatric medicine, mental health, and neurology with the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan. Katelyn is the clinical lead for the USask Chronic Pain Clinic and has an active clinical practice at the Dube Centre for Mental Health.

See Dr. Katelyn Halpape’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received research funding from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Actions Program and Indigenous Services Canada.

Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with published Canadian guidelines and with current practice patterns. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to the research grants from the disclosure statement.


Dr. Steve Ham

Dr. Ham is a clinical instructor with the UBC General Internal Medicine. He practices at St. Paul’s Hospital, where he provides care to hospitalized patients with complex acute medical problems. At Vancouver General Hospital, he works as a staff physician on the IMPCT (Internal Medicine Perioperative Care Team). He also works as a community internist at Abbotsford Regional Hospital. Dr. Ham received his MD from the University of Ottawa and completed his Internal Medicine residency at UBC. He completed the Perioperative Vascular Medicine training program under the mentorship of Dr. P.J. Devereaux at McMaster University. His area of interest includes perioperative care of surgical patients.

See Dr. Steve Ham’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Michee-Ana Hamilton, BSc, MSc

Biography to come.

See Michee-Ana Hamilton’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Based at the UBC Department of Family Practice, UBC Therapeutics Initiative, and BC Centre on Substance Use. Mitigation statement: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines.


Dr. Vincent Hanlon

Vincent Hanlon recently retired from his work as an assessment physician and educator with the Alberta Medical Association’s physician health program—PFSP, the Physician & Family Support Program. For twenty-five years he worked as an emergency physician. During his emergency medicine career he provided many expert opinions on medical legal actions for the CMPA, and in complaints against physicians at the request of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta. His interests in physician health include sleep and fatigue management, coping with burnout and fostering resilience, effective communication, dealing with adverse events and their disclosure, career transitions and retirement, and the practice of mindfulness. Dr. Hanlon is a writer, photographer, bread baker and avid cyclist. One of his favourite books in 2017 was Changing the Subject: Art and Attention in the Internet Age by Sven Birkerts. Along with one of his recently retired urology colleagues, he coordinates a monthly meeting of the Wednesday Afternoon Bread-baking Therapy Group. A memorable bike ride in May 2017 was an ultra-urban 3 bridge ride in Manhattan. Dr. Hanlon lives in Lethbridge with his spouse, Teresa. They have two adult children, and two grandchildren.

See Dr. Vincent Hanlon’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures. Presented sessions on different physician health themes including mindfulness for physicians, residents, and medical students at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, and various physician CPD events.


Jason Hart MD FRCPC

Dr. Jason Hart trained in Hematology and Medical Oncology in Edmonton, Alberta. He completed training in 2005, and joined the Medical Oncology team at the Vancouver Island Cancer Centre in the fall of that year. He is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, and at the University of Victoria. Areas of clinical practice and research interests include benign and malignant hematology, as well as sarcoma.

See Dr. Jason Hart’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Jeff Harries

Dr. Jeff Harries has worked in Penticton since 1990 as a full-service general practitioner and recently began speaking to groups throughout the province about alcohol use disorder and how people with this disorder can be cared for differently.

Dr. Jeff Harries’ contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the BC Centre on Substance Use’s AUD Guideline Development Committee in 2018–2019. Currently involved in presenting the new BCCSU AUD Guidelines to GP/FP/NP’s and MH&SU clinicians across BC.


Dr. Devin Harris

Dr. Devin Harris is a Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, UBC and a Staff Emergency Physician, St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver. He is on the Steering Committee of the British Columbia Stroke Strategy (BCSS) and is currently the Chair of the Measurement and Evaluation Committee of the BCSS. He has authored numerous publications, spoken, and been an investigator for multiple studies on the management of patients with transient ischemic attack and stroke. He is currently completing a PhD in the School of Population and Public Health, UBC, with a focus on stroke health services research. Originally from Penticton, B.C., he completed medical school, residency and graduate studies at UBC.

See Dr. Harris’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. Rose Hatala

Dr. Rose Hatala is a general internist and palliative care physician at St. Paul’s Hospital and a Professor in the Department of Medicine. She is a member of Providence Health Care’s Serious Illness Conversation Education Committee. Within the Division of Palliative Care, she facilitates the palliative residents’ research projects. She also has a career as a clinical educator and an education researcher. She is the Director of the UBC Centre for Health Education Scholarship’s Clinical Educator Fellowship.

See Dr. Rose Hatala’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Hatala is currently receiving funding through the RCSPC Medical Education Grant, the UBC Faculty Initiatives Grant and from the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation. Mitigating potential bias: no conflicts of interest.


Dr. Nathan Hitchman

Dr. Nathan Hitchman graduated with his medical degree from the University of British Columbia in 2021. He is currently a resident in the UBC internal medicine program at the Victoria site and plans to pursue a fellowship in rheumatology thereafter.

See Dr. Nathan Hitchman’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Amanda Hill MD FRCPC

Dr. Hill is a Consultant Geriatrician, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at UBC. She is also an Operations leader for geriatric medicine at St Paul’s Hospital. Dr. Hill is actively engaged in an in-patient and out-patient practice in geriatrics and internal medicine. She has a particular interest in the elderly in acute care and the impact of systems on their care.

See Dr. Hill’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Bruce Hobson, MD

Dr. Bruce Hobson was a family practitioner in Powell River for 33 years. He has a passion for technology enhanced adult learning and education. He is actively involved with the Doctors of BC Practice Support Program as a peer mentor and also working in integrating the PSP modules into electronic form and integrating the tools and resources into EMRs. He is also involved in co-developing a new model for physician practice support, including delivery of knowledge, embedding new knowledge into clinician workflow and sustaining practice change through supported clinical reflection and coaching. He is the chair of the Division of Family Practice in Powell River. He also serves on the Doctors of BC Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee and the CME Nucleus committee. He is a UBC Department of Family Medicine Clinical Instructor and has been a second year Resident preceptor.

See Dr. Hobson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Medical Director for Health Data Coalition, Medical Director and Medical Lead for UBC CPD and also for the Doctors of BC – Doctors Technology Office/ Practice Support Program – as a clinical advisor and peer mentor. There are no conflicts with the topic of this article and any of my roles noted above.


Alison Hoens

Alison Hoens is the BC Physical Therapy Knowledge Broker – a position supported by a funding partnership of (1) UBC Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy (2) Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (3) Providence Health Care Research Institute and (4) Physiotherapy Association of British Columbia. The mandate of the position is to foster evidence-informed practice and practice-informed evidence through collaborations for research and knowledge translation with researchers, educators, clinicians and decision-makers.

See Alison Hones’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Joanne Hoffman

Dr. Joanne Hoffman lives and works in the traditional area Coast Salish People, including the q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), and Máthxwi (Matsqui). Dr Hoffman is a Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst in Private Practice in Langley, focussing on both individual and group psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Dr. Hoffman is a Clinical Assistant professor at UBC Dept. of Psychiatry and supervises and teaches Psychiatry Residents. Dr. Hoffman is a recent graduate of the Vancouver Island University Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Graduate Certificate Program.

See Dr. Joanne Hoffman’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Susan Hollenberg BSc MD MCFP

Dr. Susan Hollenberg is a graduate of UBC Medical School. She has been in General Practice in urban and rural settings since 1989. Dr. Hollenberg is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Family Practice, and the Educational Director of the UBC Health Clinic, where she supervises medical residents, students and interdisciplinary learners in a Family Practice setting. Dr. Hollenberg is a consultant to the BC Immunization Committee Professional Education Working Group. Over the past twenty years, she has also worked in Vancouver Coastal Health clinics providing care to youth, refugees, travellers and higher needs primary care populations. She presents regular CME on global infectious disease and health, travel health and immunization.

See Dr. Hollenberg’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Andrea Holmes RD

Andrea Holmes is a registered dietitian with Dietitian & Physical Activity Services at HealthLink BC, the province’s non-emergency health information service, where she responds to calls and emails to oncology nutrition questions from the public and health professionals. She has 20 years of experience in nutrition counselling with the past 11 years focused on supporting the nutrition needs of individuals and families coping with cancer. In collaboration with BC Cancer, Andrea co-authored the Nutrition Guide for Women with Breast Cancer. Through her work at HealthLink BC, Andrea collaborates with Dietitians of Canada to develop oncology nutrition patient education materials that are available at HealthLinkbc.ca.

See Andrea Holmes’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Andrea Holmes works for BC Ministry of Health, HealthLink BC. Mitigating Statement: HealthLink BC is the province’s non-emergency health information and advice service. Residents of British Columbia can call 8-1-1 to speak with a health service navigator, nurse, dietitian, pharmacist or exercise professional. HealthLink BC dietitians and exercise professional provide free and personalized advice, and answer food, nutrition and activity questions. Referrals are not required to access HealthLink BC services. Health care providers can refer their clients to our programs and services if needed.


Andrew Howard MD FRCPC

Dr. Andrew Howard completed an undergraduate degree in psychology from Harvard University and an MD from Queen’s University before returning to Vancouver for residency in psychiatry and a clinical fellowship in neuropsychiatry. He is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC and a Neuropsychiatrist in the British Columbia Neuropsychiatry Program, which focuses on the inpatient and outpatient assessment and treatment of patients with complicated organic brain syndromes and somatoform disorders. His particular area of focus and research is in the natural history of psychogenic movement disorders, the psychiatric syndromes of Huntington disease, psychosis in Parkinson’s disease, deep brain stimulation for movement disorders and psychiatric conditions, and education of residents, fellows, and other clinicians in the assessment and management of complicated somatoform disorders.

See Dr. Andrew Howard’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Amanda Hu MD FRCSC

Dr. Amanda Hu is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery at UBC, and the Director of the Pacific Voice clinic. She is sub-specialized in care of the professional voice, airway, and swallowing disorders. She graduated from medical school at the University of Toronto, trained in residency in Otolaryngology at Western University, and completed a Laryngology fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle. She worked in Philadelphia at Drexel University for 5 years and was recruited to join UBC in August of 2017. Her research interests focus on clinical outcomes research in laryngology (voice disorders). With about 80 peer-reviewed research publications, she has external grant funding from the Michael Smith Foundation, BC Otolaryngology Society, and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

See Dr. Amanda Hu’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Advisory board member for Pentax Medical – for launching a stroboscopy system in Canada. Received funding from 1. American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Women in Otolaryngology Endowment Grant, 2. BC Otolaryngology Society Research Grant, and 3. Michael Smith Foundation Reach Grant. Received honoraria: Consultant for Merck Inc – for the creation of a chronic cough educational PowerPoint presentation. Mitigating Potential Bias: Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Dr. Angela Hu

Dr. Angela Hu pursued undergraduate studies in the United Kingdom (University of St Andrews), studied medical school at McMaster University and completed internal medicine residency at the University of Toronto. She returned to her hometown of Vancouver where she is currently a 4th year resident in rheumatology at UBC. She has research interests in medical education, vasculitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus.

See Dr. Angela Hu’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Lauren Hughes

Dr. Lauren Hughes is an ophthalmology resident at the University of British Columbia. She completed her Bachelor of Science at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in 2016 and graduated from the University of British Columbia Southern Medical Program in 2021.

See Dr. Lauren Hughes’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Philip Hui MD

Dr. Philip Hui is a Respirologist working at Surrey Memorial Hospital. He provides teaching to medical students and residents as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC Division of Respiratory Medicine. He chairs the CBD subcommittee with the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine. He co-leads a Greener Inhaler Working Group within Fraser Health.

See Dr. Philip Hui’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Mark W. Hull MD MHSc

Dr. Mark Hull is a research scientist at the AIDS Research program at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the AIDS Division in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He is also a staff physician at St. Paul’s Hospital, and a physician at various clinics with Vancouver Coastal Health. He received a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, and then moved on to complete his Medical Degree, also at the University of Saskatchewan. He obtained his master’s in health sciences with a focus on healthcare and epidemiology from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Hull’s areas of focus include antiretroviral clinical trials in HIV, infectious diseases with specific regard to the methicillin resistant S. aureus, HIV/hepatitis C co-infection clinical trials, as well as epidemiology.

See Dr. Mark Hull’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the advisory board with Gilead, Viiv and Merck. Member of the speakers’ bureau with Gilead and Merck. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns and Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements


Shari Hurst RN BN

Shari Hurst has worked as a nurse clinician in the Victoria Heart Function Clinic for the past 10 years. She graduated from the Foothills Hospital School of Nursing in 1994, and found her passion in cardiology almost immediately. After moving to Victoria and working as a nurse clinician she was inspired to complete her Bachelor of Nursing. In turn, this has inspired Shari’s special interests in HF education and a palliative approach to HF care. When not at work or chasing after her children, Shari’s passions include running, rowing, and sailing on the Salish Sea.

See Shari Hurst’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures. Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines from Canadian Cardiovascular Society 2021. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Trana Hussaini BScPharm Pharm D ACPR

Dr. Hussaini is a clinical pharmacotherapy specialist in liver transplantation. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and the current chair of Pharmacist Group for the Canadian Society of Transplantation. Dr. Hussaini is an Academic Editor for the Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology and an Associate Editor-in-Chief of AME Medical Journal. Her areas of expertise and research interests include immunosuppressive pharmacotherapy, viral hepatitis and acute kidney injury.

See Trana Hussaini’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No dislosures.



Dr. Martha Ignaszewski, MD, FRCPC

Dr. Martha Ignaszewski is a psychiatrist currently working on the Complex Pain and Addiction Service (CPAS) at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). She is the Education Lead for the VGH CPAS service, and is the Senior Medical Director for Substance Use and Concurrent Disorders in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at BC Children’s Hospital. She obtained her medical training at Harvard and UCSF with board certification in Adult, Addiction, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Canada and USA. Martha’s clinical interests involve de-stigmatization of addiction, the intersection between addiction and concurrent disorders, and providing an understanding about developmental perspective and impacts of social determinants of health on substance use disorders.

See Dr. Martha Ignaszewski’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Honoraria for educational lecture (Indivior) and attendance at a regional advisory meeting (Otsuka/Lundbeck). Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data are included. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines (CPS, CFP). Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. All potential conflicts are disclosed. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Miguel Imperial MD FRCPC

Dr. Imperial received his medical degree, Master of Health Sciences (Epidemiology) and FRCPC Medical Microbiology training at the University of British Columbia. He received additional training in Tropical Medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Imperial has had the privilege of working in a variety of places: as a consultant Medical Microbiologist at the BC Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver General Hospital, BC Biomedical Labs, Fraser Health and BC Women’s Hospital. He also continues to work in acute medicine as a Hospitalist in Fraser Health and as a consultant in Tropical Medicine. Prior to completion of his microbiology training, he also worked as a family physician. This experience in particular has greatly shaped his approach to the consultative practice of laboratory medicine, as he knows first-hand the daily struggles experienced by front-line clinicians. Together with a group of amazing colleagues, he helped establish and lectures for the UBC School of Population and Public Health Tropical and Geographic Medicine Intensive Short Course.

See Dr. Miguel Imperial’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Ms. Susan Inman

Susan Inman’s memoir After Her Brain Broke, Helping My Daughter Recover Her Sanity (Bridgeross, 2010) has been recommended both by NAMI and by EUFAMI which are the world’s largest organizations advocating for families coping with mental illnesses; in Canada it has also been recommended by the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, the BC Schizophrenia Society, and numerous professional journals including the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Susan’s articles about mental illness have appeared in a variety of publications including the National Post, the Globe and Mail, the Province, The Tyee, the BC Teacher Newsmagazine, and CMHA-BC’s Visions magazine. Susan is a Past-President of the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society’s Vancouver/Richmond branch and a Past Vice-chair of Vancouver Coastal Health’s Family Advisory Committee.
While continuing to provide ongoing assistance to her daughter, who is recovering from a severe schizoaffective disorder, Susan is a very active public speaker about the situations of families coping with psychotic disorders. Susan has taught secondary school in Vancouver for over twenty years.

See Ms. Susan Inman’s contributed posts

Disclosures:



Dr. Kara Jansen

Dr. Kara Jansen graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2002, and went on to complete her Family Medicine residency in Ottawa. She moved to Vancouver in 2004, and has been practicing Family Medicine here since then. In 2009, Dr. Jansen lived in Melbourne, Australia, for a year, and studied Breastfeeding Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She qualified as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 2010, the same year she joined the Vancouver Breastfeeding Center.

See Dr. Kara Jansen’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Renée Janssen

Dr. R. Janssen completed her training in General Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine at the University of British Columbia (Fellow and Diplomate of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada). She is the Lead of the Addiction Medicine Consult Team at St. Paul’s Hospital. She is an attending physician on the Clinical Teaching Unit, and a consulting physician in Addiction Medicine at St. Paul’s Hospital. Her other interests include medical education and central sensitization syndromes. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor within the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

See Dr. Renée Janssen’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Amin R. Javer MD FRCSC FARS

Dr. Amin Javer is a clinical professor at the department of surgery at UBC and a director of the St. Paul’s Sinus Centre. He completed his BSc in Molecular Biology at SFU and a medical degree followed by an Otolaryngology residency at the University of British Columbia. In 1998, Dr. Javer proceeded to complete a two-year fellowship at the Georgia Rhinology and Sinus Centre in Savannah, Georgia, specializing in advanced rhinology and endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery. Dr. Javer has varied research interests with over 80 peer reviewed research publications and over 10 book and video chapters. He has a special interest in CASS (Computer Assisted Sinus Surgery), frontal sinus surgery, endoscopic skull base surgery and fungal sinus disease.

See Dr. Amin Javer’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Director/Head, St. Paul’s Sinus Centre https://www.stpaulssinuscentre.com/.


Shirley Jiang MD

Dr. Shirley Jiang is an internal medicine resident at the University of British Columbia. She completed her Bachelor of Health Sciences at McMaster University in 2016 and graduated from medical school at the University of Toronto in 2020. Her research interests are in liver disease, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, as well as general gastroenterology.

See Dr. Shirley Jiang’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.



Dr. Amin Kanani

Dr. Amin Kanani is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Medicine at the University of British Columbia and an attending physician in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at St. Paul’s Hospital. He graduated from McGill University School of Medicine. He then did his residency in Internal Medicine at UBC and his fellowship in Clinical Immunology and Allergy at the University of Toronto. Dr. Kanani is President of the BC Society of Allergy and Immunology. He is a medical director at the Vancouver Allergy Clinic and Surrey Allergy Clinic.

See Dr. Amin Kanani’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Kanani has been a member of an Advisory Board: Pfizer, Sanofi, Merck, Novartis. He is involved in research grants and funding from industry: Novartis. He has participated in a clinical trial with Novartis. He has received honorarium from Pfizer, Sanofi, Merck, and Novartis. No conflict of interest.


Dr. Clara van Karnebeek

Clara van Karnebeek, MD PhD FCCMG, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UBC, and works as certified pediatrician and biochemical geneticist in the Division of Biochemical Diseases at BC Children’s Hospital. She is Scientist at Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child & family Research Institute, and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar (http://www.cmmt.ubc.ca/research/investigators/vankarnebeek/lab). Clara co-established the Treatable Intellectual Disability Endeavour in British Columbia (TIDE-BC.org, funded as 1st Collaborative Area of Innovation) with Dr. Sylvia Stockler. Clara’s main interest lies in enhancing early diagnosis of treatable inborn errors of metabolism in patients with intellectual developmental disorders; together they developed the TIDE protocol and will publish their study findings in 2015. Clara also leads the Omics2TreatID project, an international collaboration, which focuses on the discovery of novel inborn errors of metabolism via an integrated genomics and metabolomics approach.

See Dr. Clara van Karnebeek’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Research funding / involvement in clinical trials (Ultragenyx, Shire) and sits on an Advisory Board (Sobi, Actelion, Medunik). There is no direct conflict of interest.


Jennifer Kask MD CCFP FCFP

Dr Jennifer Kask is a family physician in Campbell River and Clinical Instructor, Dept Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, UBC. She is one of group family physicians working in a collaborative hospital-based maternity clinic at North Island Hospital Campbell River Site. The team cares for pregnant individuals from many rural and remote communities. She has an interest in quality iImprovement and loves to sail, canoe, camp, and hike with her husband and three teenagers.

See Dr. Jennifer Kask’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Karin Kausky MD CCFP FCFP Dip. Sport Med.

Dr. Karin Kausky graduated from the University of Toronto in 1988. She completed her Family Practice residency at the University of Western Ontario in 1990 obtaining certification from the Canadian College of Family Physicians. She completed her diploma in Sports Medicine in 2007. Dr. Kausky is a Physician Lead with the Canadian National Ski Cross Team. Dr. Kausky was also the Chief Medical Officer for Women’s Alpine Events at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. She is co-chair of the Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice.

See Dr. Karin Kausky’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the PathwaysBC Provincial Resource Committee. PathwaysBC is a collaborative non-profit GPSC-initiated project, freely available to all BC physicians and their teams. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns and published guidelines. Only published trial data is presented.


Richard Kendall MD FRCSC

Dr. Richard Kendall is an Orthopaedic Surgeon with practice in Richmond, BC.
He completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Kendall is also a member of the Faculty of Orthopaedics at the University of British Columbia: Clinical Assistant Professor UBC Faculty of Orthopaedics.

See Dr. Richard Kendall’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No perceived conflict of interest. Involved in research grants/funding with Bionet Canada. Ownership of a specialist referral clinic.


Dr. Maysam Khalfan

Dr. Khalfan is a Rheumatology resident at UBC. He is originally from Tanzania, did his medical training in India, and Internal Medicine training at the University of Western Ontario.

See Dr. Maysam Khalfan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Omid Kiamanesh MD FRCPC

Dr. Omid Kiamanesh completed Internal Medicine and Cardiology training at the University of British Columbia, where he was Chief Medical and Chief Cardiology Resident. He completed a clinical fellowship in Advanced Heart Failure, Mechanical Circulatory Support, and Cardiac Transplantation at the University of Toronto. Omid is currently completing a clinical fellowship in Echocardiography at the University of Calgary. His clinical interests are atherosclerosis, mechanical circulatory support, and hemodynamics.

See Dr. Omid Kiamanesh’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Daniel Kim MD FRCPC

Dr. Daniel Kim is a Clinical Assistant Professor and the Point of Care Ultrasound Fellowship Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine at UBC. He is also a Staff Emergency Physician at Vancouver General Hospital. He completed his emergency medicine residency training at the University of Toronto and an emergency ultrasound fellowship at Denver Health Medical Center. He is currently Co-Chair of the Education Working Group of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Emergency Ultrasound Committee. His interests include point of care ultrasound, medical education, and strategies to make emergency medicine easier.

See Dr. Daniel Kim’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. JeongMin Marie Kim

Dr. JeongMin Marie Kim is an Infectious Diseases fellow at UBC. She completed medical school at the University of Ottawa and Internal Medicine residency at the University of British Columbia. Her interests include antimicrobial stewardship, tuberculosis, and skin and soft tissue infections.

See Dr. JeongMin Marie Kim’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Gerri Klein RN MScN

Gerri Klein has worked in diabetes education for more than 25 years. She has a Masters in Nursing from the University of British Columbia and has been a certified diabetes educator since 1998. Gerri has served on both the Executive and Examinations Committees for the Canadian Diabetes Education Certification Board, has been a member of the Editorial Board for the Diabetes Canada Communicator, and is presently a National Editor for the Canadian Journal of Diabetes. Gerri was the study coordinator for the BC Diabetes Head Start Study, which compared endocrinology outcomes between standard endocrinologist care and informed supportive nursing care, and is now employed at BC Diabetes as a case manager. Gerri is a co-investigator with Dr. Trisha Tang on the T1D Reachout study which aims to connect adults living with T1D in the interior of BC with peer supporters, and is a member of the JDRF Curriculim Development Team for Mental Healthcare professionals. Gerri is a frequent speaker to physician, nursing, pharmacy, and community groups.

See Gerri Klein’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received direct financial payments from Sanofi. JDRF Curriculum Development Committee Canadian Journal of Diabetes national editor Diabetes Canada Communicator editor Canadian Diabetes Educator Certification Board (CDECB). Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with newly published guidelines for blood glucose monitoring (Cheng, A, Feig, D, Ho, J. Siemens, R. (2021). Blood Glucose Monitoring in Adults and Children with Diabetes: Update 2021. Accessed from http://guidelines.diabetes.ca/cpg/chapter-9-2021-update Nov 1, 2021. Treatments and recommendations are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Hin Hin Ko MD FRCPC

Dr. Ko is a hepatologist at St. Paul’s Hospital and Pacific Gastroenterology Associates in Vancouver, BC. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor with the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Ko completed her Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in 2000. She then completed medical training at the University of Toronto in 2004, followed by Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology fellowship at the University of British Columbia in 2009. After the gastroenterology fellowship, she pursued sub-specialty training in Hepatology and Nutrition at U of T. Her research interests lie in the area of liver diseases such as viral hepatitis, autoimmune liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

See Dr. Hin Hin Ko’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Intercept Pharmaceuticals: Advisory board/speaker honoraria/clinical investigator. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns and published guidelines (Primary Biliary Cholangitis: 2018 Practice Guidance from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases).


Mel Krajden MD FRCPC OBC

Dr. Krajden earned his MD at McGill University in 1980. He undertook internal medicine training at McGill University (1980-83). Afterwards, he did a fellowship in infectious diseases at Stanford University (1983-86) and completed a medical microbiology residency at the University of Toronto (1986-87). Between 1991 and 1998, he was section head of virology and serology and an infectious diseases consultant at the Toronto Hospital (The University Health Network). In September 1998, he moved from Toronto to Vancouver, to BCCDC and UBC. Currently, he is the medical director of the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory, the medical head of hepatitis at BCCDC and a professor in the UBC Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. He is an adjunct scientist with Canadian Blood Services and a member of the Canadian Blood Services Scientific and Research Advisory Committee.

See Dr. Mel Krajden’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received funding from Roche, Hologic, Siemens, and Abcellera for contracts unrelated to this work. Mitigating potential bias: contracts were unrelated to this work and recommendations are consistent with current guidelines.


Brian T. Kunimoto MD FRCPC

Dr. Kunimoto practices medical dermatology at the Skin Care Centre, 835 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4E8. He is the Director of Continuing Medical Education for the Department of Dermatology and Skin Science and the founding Director of the Vancouver General Hospital Wound Healing Clinic, established in 1990. MD degree: UBC 1983. Dermatology FRCPC: 1989. Clinical Appointment: Clinical Associate Professor.

See Dr. Kunimoto’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Margot Kuo MPH

Margot Kuo (MPH) is an Epidemiologist, Harm Reduction portfolio, at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). She trained as an epidemiologist at the University of Washington and UBC, and has worked at the BCCDC for 10 years in various service lines including Enterics, Harm Reduction, and Sexually Transmitted Infections/Blood Borne Infections (STIBBI).

See Margot Kuo’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures



Wayne Lai MD

Dr. Wayne W Lai is a practising Neurologist and board-certified Sleep Medicine Specialist in Kelowna BC. Dr. Lai is a UBC Clinical Assistant Professor, former Medical Director of Kelowna General Hospital Sleep Lab and currently the Medical Director of Tranq Sleep Care. He is also a DAP Polysomnography Advisory Committee member. Dr, Wayne Lai actively participates in the medical education at UBC Southern Medical Program as well as research activities collaborating with Interior Health and UBC Okanagan.

See Dr. Wayne Lai’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received payments for participation in commercial clinical trial testing for a device treating sleep apnea. Received an honorarium consulting for Zenneatech (closed down). Co-author of the Tranqsleep CBTi Workbook and program and Mysleeptutor website (TranSleep clinic). Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice guidelines for the treatment of insomnia. Access to the mysleeptutor.com website is free of charge. The resources are educational in nature and do not promote any specific clinic (including ours beyond the author’s credit) or any commercial products. Registration data is not used for any promotional purposes.


Joseph M Lam MD FRCP(C)

Dr. Joseph M Lam is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Paediatrics and an Associate Member at the Department of Dermatology and Skin Sciences, UBC. Dr. Lam completed his medical degree at McGill University and a residency in Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia. He completed 2 years of fellowship training in Pediatric Dermatology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and at Rady’s Children Hospital at the University of California, San Diego. He currently practices Pediatric Dermatology in Vancouver. He has particular interests in infantile hemangiomas and atopic dermatitis.

See Dr. Joseph Lam’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the advisory board for Johnston and Johnston, Suneva. Member of the Speaker’s bureau for Johnston and Johnston.


Anthony Lau, BSc(Pharm), ACPR, PharmD, BCPS

Anthony Lau is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Emergency Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital. He completed his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree at the University of British Columbia in 2015 and a hospital pharmacy practice residency in 2019. He completed his Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Florida. He is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia and a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist through the Board of Pharmacy Specialties. His clinical interests are in diabetes, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacology.

See Dr. Anthony Lau’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Tim T.Y. Lau PharmD ACPR FCSHP

Dr. Tim Lau is a Clinical Pharmacy Supervisor and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Stewardship at the Vancouver General Hospital, and is the Pharmacy Lead for ASPIRES (Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme) at Vancouver Coastal Health. He is a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Associate Member in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine at UBC, and Fellow of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

See Dr. Tim T.Y. Lau’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Agnes Lee MD MSc FRCPC

Dr. Agnes Lee is a Hematologist specializing in Thrombosis Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC. She is the Medical Director of the Thrombosis Program and a Professor of Medicine at UBC. Her research interest is in cancer-associated thrombosis and other high risk populations. She’s a clinical trialist with experience in multicentre, randomized trials, clinical practice guidelines and data safety monitoring boards.

See Dr. Agnes Lee’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received funding for research from Bristol Myers Squibb. Member of advisory boards or speakers’ bureaus: Bayer, LEO Pharma, Pfizer, and Servier. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data are included. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines (ACCP, ASH). Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. All potential conflicts are disclosed.


Kevin KD Lee MD FRCPC

Dr. Lee is a fellow-in-training at the University of British Columbia, Adult Clinical Immunology and Allergy. He completed his medical education and core internal medicine residency at the University of Alberta. His current research interests include medical education, food allergy, and socioeconomic barriers faced by individuals with primary immunodeficiency.

See Dr. Kevin Lee’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received resident research funding from ImmUnity Canada (previously known as Canadian Immunodeficiencies Patient Organization). Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published European and Canadian guidelines and with current practice patterns. Only published trial data are presented. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to the research grant from the disclosure statement.


Michael Lee PDOT, MBA (Health)

Michael Lee is Senior Instructor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. His current research interests are effective teaching in a higher education context and participation in university student life. He has received multiple Teaching and Learning Enhancement Funds (TLEF) to identify mental health needs of university students. He is currently holding a TLEF on identifying teaching practices that foster students’ mental wellbeing. Collaborating with a transdisciplinary team, he is also supporting faculty members in implementing various teaching strategies that foster students’ wellbeing.

See Michael Lee’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Philip Lee MD CCFP-EM

Dr Lee was born and raised in Ottawa and is a recent graduate from the Queens’ EM program. He is currently completing a point of care ultrasound fellowship at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver where he also practices. He has an interest in drawing, food and his cat.

See Dr. Philip Lee’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Lee purchased a team subscription with an Ontario group for a Butterfly iQ which was used to acquire some of the scans.


Sandra Lee MD CCFP FCFP

Dr Lee is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Department of Family Practice UBC Faculty of Medicine.

See Dr. Sandra Lee’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Zerlyn Lee, BSc BScN

Zerlyn is a current fourth year medical student in the UBC Faculty of Medicine (2021). She completed both her undergraduate degrees in science and nursing at UBC and previously worked as a Registered Nurse at BC Children’s Hospital. In the past, she has been involved in both pedagogical and quality improvement research, including, more recently, the development of a patient and visitor hand hygiene program at BC Children’s Hospital.

See Zerlyn Lee’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Heather Leitch MD PhD FRCPC

Dr. Heather Leitch completed a PhD in microbiology (leukemia stem cell research) at UBC in 1992. She graduated from medical school at UBC in 1995, trained in internal medicine at UBC, and completed a hematology fellowship at McGill University in 2000, where she also completed course requirements toward a master’s degree in epidemiology and biostatistics. She completed post-fellowship training with the Lymphoma Tumour Group at the B.C. Cancer Agency in 2002, and currently holds the position of Clinical Associate Professor at UBC. Dr. Leitch has been a member of the hematology/oncology group at St. Paul’s Hospital since 2004, and actively participates in research projects and clinical trials with a focus on hematological malignancies. She is the Director, Hematology/Oncology Research, Providence Health Care.

See Dr. Heather Leitch’s contributed posts

Disclosures: The MDS Clear Path was supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Celgene Corporation. All content was developed independently by the panel of hematologists involved. Heather A. Leitch has received honoraria, research funding and served on advisory boards of Alexion, Celgene and Novartis Corporations. She is a member of the Exjade Speaker’s Bureau. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. The MDS Clear Path is a comprehensive clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis, workup and management of MDS. It incorporates information from clinical trials, multiple guidelines, and usual clinical practice. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Roberto Leon MD FRCSC FRCOG FCOG (SA)

Dr. Roberto Leon is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist in Kelowna, BC. Originally trained in OB-GYN in Cape Town, South Africa, he just gave up Obstetrics and Surgery, so his practice is focused on medical gynecology, especially contraception, minimally painful IUD insertions, menopausal symptoms management, hormonal abnormalities and treatments, sexual dysfunction as well as a range of other gynecological conditions. Dr Leon is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He teaches Family Practice Residents the skills required for minor gynecological procedures in a GP Office. Dr Leon is also involved with humanitarian projects in his country of birth, Paraguay, in association with the Steve Nash Foundation and Step-Canada.

See Dr. Roberto Leon’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received an honorarium from Bayer for a speaking at CME events on IUDs. No conflict of interest. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trials are included.


Victor Leung MD FRCPC

Victor Leung is an infectious diseases physician and medical microbiologist at Providence Health Care. He is the Medical Director for Infection Prevention and Control, and the Physician Lead for Antimicrobial Stewardship at PHC. He is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

See Dr. Victor Leung’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of advisory boards for GSK, Merck, and Biomerieux. Mitigating potential bias: Treatments or recommendations in the article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Adeera Levin MD FRCPC

Dr. Levin is a Professor at UBC in the Division of Nephrology. She is also the Executive director of the BC Provincial Renal Agency. She has clinical research interest in early kidney disease and prevention of progression – she has authored over 160 peer reviewed publications, and sits on numerous editorial boards for major journals. She continues an active outpatient practice focusing on chronic kidney disease.

See Dr. Levin’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Kevin Liang MD

Dr. Kevin Liang is a family physician working in Vancouver and surrounding areas. He is a member of the Fraser Health sustainable inhaler initiative.

Dr. Kevin Liang’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Alisa Lipson

Dr. Alisa Lipson is a Clinical Associate Professor in Pediatrics at UBC. She maintains a private practice in general pediatrics and is on staff at BC Children’s Hospital. She is the pediatric consultant at the UBC Health Clinic, and is on the BC Autism Assessment Network team at Sunny Hill Health Centre. Dr Lipson is a frequent CME speaker on developmental and general pediatrics.

Dr. Alisa Lipson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Lipson is on the Board of Directors of a non-profit society, ACT Autism Community Training. The organization provides information and training for parents and professionals. Mitigating Potential Bias: only published trial data is presented and recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose

Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PhD, PT, is an Assistant Professor in the UBC Department of Physical Therapy, and Director the Aging, Mobility and Cognitive Function Laboratory. She is a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator. Her current research focuses on defining the role of exercise to promote both cognitive function and functional independence among seniors. Dr. Liu-Ambrose is a member of the UBC Brain Research Centre and a principal investigator of the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility. She is also the Research Director of the Vancouver Falls Prevention Clinic (www.fallsclinic.com).

Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Elina Liu

Dr. Elina Liu is a General Internal Medicine fellow at the University of British Columbia. She completed her medical school training at Queen’s University in 2018, and her internal medicine residency at UBC in 2021. She is planning on pursuing additional training in Thrombosis in the 2022-2023 academic year.

See Dr. Elina Liu contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Jennifer Loffree BHk MOT

Jennifer Loffree currently works at GF Strong Rehab Centre as an Occupational Therapist and the Coordinator of the Early Response Concussion Service. She is also an Honorary Clinical Instructor with the University of British Columbia Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Along with working directly with patients, Jennifer is passionate about partnering with other health care service providers to ensure that educational resources and supports are available for patients in the acute stage of recovery from concussion.

See Jennifer Loffree’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Ms. Loffree is a member of the BC Concussion Advisory Network and is a community partner on a research study with WorkSafe BC. No conflicts of interest.


Dr. Kelvin Lou

Dr. Lou completed his Internal Medicine Residency at UBC and subsequently his Palliative Medicine Subspeciality also at UBC. His interests include serious illness conversation, narrative medicine and culturally sensitive care. He works as a palliative care doctor in both the inpatient and outpatient setting in Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health.

See Dr. Kelvin Lou’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No conflicts of interest.


Maia Love MD FRCPC ISAM

Dr. Maia Love is a wellness consultant offering education and training in practices that improve well being. A graduate from UBC Psychiatry, she has certified in mindfulness, internationally in addiction medicine and yoga, and holds two degrees in Biophysics and General Studies, with a history of research in neuroscience and neuroimaging. Currently involved in several mindfulness and wellness program initiatives, she is interested in helping clients improve self care and decrease stress through understanding the science of wellness.

See Dr. Maia Love’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Maia Love also practices privately. Recommendations are consistent with evolving trends in wellness science.


Dr. Clara Lu

Dr. Clara Lu is an Addiction Medicine Fellow with the BC Centre on Substance Use and a Clinical Scholar in the Division of General Internal Medicine with McMaster University. Her interests include social medicine, addiction medicine education, and clinical epidemiology

See Dr. Clara Lu’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Kelly Luu MD FRCPC

Dr. Luu is a pediatrician who completed her medical degree in Ontario at McMaster University and then her specialty training in Pediatrics at University of British Columbia. Her interests include respirology, immigrant and refugee health, social pediatrics and child development. She works as a general pediatrician as part of the cystic fibrosis team at BC Children’s Hospital, as part of the SPOCK (Specialist Physician Outreach for Kids) at the Sheway clinic, and in an office in Richmond. She is a clinical instructor at the University of British Columbia and the Department of Pediatrics at BC Children’s Hospital.

See Dr. Kelly Luu’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures. These suggestions are written in pencil! I continue to learn and experiment with different skills to improve my clinical practice.


Isabeau Iqbal

Isabeau Iqbal is an educational developer at the UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology. There, she works one-on-one with instructors on teaching- and learning- matters, co-facilitates the Course Design Intensive, and leads the Formative Peer Review of Teaching Program. She also collaborates on initiatives related to clarifying the role educational leadership in tenure and promotion decisions. Isabeau is actively involved in research on student-peer assessment and the use of “significant networks” to grow as a post-second educator. Her portfolio can be found at isabeauiqbal.ca.

See Isabeau Iqbal’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. Stan Lubin

Dr. Lubin graduated with a B.A. from McGill University in 1966 and received a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics in 1969. Dr. Lubin graduated in Medicine from McGill University in 1973. I did my rotating internship at St Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, B.C. in 1973-1974. From 1975 to 1987, apart from 2 years doing extra training, I worked as a family physician in the rural community of Sechelt, B.C. In 1978-1979 I did a year of extra training in anesthesia and obstetrics in the United Kingdom. In 1983-1984, I studied epidemiology at the University of Hawaii and was awarded a Master’s of Public Health degree. From 1987-1982 I was Head of the Department of Family Practice, University Hospital, Shaughnessy site. From 1993-1997 I was the Program Director of the UBC Family Practice Residency Program. From 1987 to the present time I have worked as a family physician in Vancouver B.C. In 1981 I became a certificant of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. In 1991 I became a Fellow of the College. I have certificates in advanced cardiac life support, acute trauma life support and neonatal resuscitation. I worked regular shifts in the emergency department at St Mary’s Hospital, Sechelt B.C. from 1975 to 1987. I worked regular shifts in the emergency Department at St Vincent’s Hospital, Vancouver B.C from 1987 to 1988. I worked as a volunteer emergency physician on Whistler Mountain from 1999 to 2007. I am an Emeritus Professor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia.

In 2012 Dr. Lubin received the Family Physician of the Year Award from the College of Family Physicians of Canada (view UBC article). In 2013 I was awarded honorary member status by the Canadian Medical Association.

See Dr. Stan Lubin’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


George H. Luciuk MD FRCP(C)

Dr. George Luciuk completed his medical school at University of Alberta and pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland and Winnipeg Children’s Hospital, Manitoba. Allergy/Immunology Fellowship was completed at Health Sciences Center, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland and Seattle Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, Washington. Dr. Luciuk is also a part of the Medical Advisory Committee, B. C. Lung Association Research Centre and the Patient/Public Education Committee, B. C. Lung Association.

See Dr. Luciuk’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures



Kenneth M. Madden MSc MD FRCPC

Dr. Ken Madden is an associate professor of geriatric medicine at the University of British Columbia. His main area of research is exercise interventions in Type 2 diabetes and preventing falls due to syncope in older adults. He is the medical manager of the Acute Care for Elders Unit and Vancouver General Hospital.

See Dr. Madden’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. Iain Mackie

Dr. Iain Mackie graduated from University of Toronto Medical School in 1979 and completed his residency at the University of Western Ontario, Internal Medicine and Critical Care in 1984. He stayed at the UWO as the Head of Division of General Internal Medicine before moving to UBC in 1996 as a Clinical Professor of Medicine. Dr. Mackie was the Head of Division of General Internal Medicine at UBC from 1998 to 2004 and at the Vancouver Hospital & Health Sciences Centre from 1996 to 2014. Currently, he is the Medical Director of Perioperative Medicine Programme at VHHSC and the Director of Internal Medicine Clinical Teaching Units, VGH.

See Dr. Iain Mackie’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Malcolm Maclure, ScD

Biography to come.

See Malcolm Maclure’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Based at the UBC Department of Family Practice, UBC Therapeutics Initiative, and BC Centre on Substance Use. Mitigation statement: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines.


Dr. Raymond Mak

Dr. Raymond Mak was a trainee of the University of British Columbia Internal Medicine program before completing subspecialty training in Allergy and Clinical Immunology at UBC. He has a special interest in drug allergy and penicillin “de-labelling” and is involved in several interdisciplinary clinics in Vancouver. Initiatives include the MedSafe clinic for severe cutaneous adverse reactions at St. Paul’s Hospital, the peri-operative anaphylaxis clinic at Vancouver General Hospital and the pregnancy penicillin clinic at BC Women’s hospital.

See Dr. Raymond Mak’s contributed posts

Disclosures: I have received direct financial payments from Novartis (speaker honoraria on asthma) and Pediapharm (speaker honoraria on oral immunotherapy). I am a member of Sanofi – Dupilumab advisory board. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are unrelated to the products involved in the disclosure statements and are consistent with current practice patterns.


Dr. Roey Malleson

Dr. Roey Malleson is a clinical associate professor holding joint appointments in both the department of family practice and the department of pediatrics. She is currently Education Director in the Department of Specialized Women’s Health at BC Women’s Hospital and provides reproductive health services in various community settings in Vancouver.

See Dr. Malleson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Domnick Manhas MD FRCPC

Domnick Manhas is an R4 General Internal Medicine Fellow. Domnick completed his undergraduate degree and core Internal Medicine Residency at the University of British Columbia. His areas of interest include community Internal Medicine and thrombosis.

See Dr. Domnick Manhas’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Shireen Mansouri MD CCFP-EM FCFP

Shireen Mansouri is a family physician who up until recently lived and worked in Yellowknife NWT for most of the last 25 years. She recently relocated to Ontario but continues to serve the NWT as a locum in Family Practice and GP Oncology.

See Dr. Mansouri’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Mansouri is a certified Compassion Cultivation teacher through the Compassion Institute, a non-profit organization in which she has no financial interest. Mitigating Potential Bias: The article is consistent with current recommendations.


Dr. Julian Marsden

Julian Marsden is an emergency physician who has been in practice for almost 21 years, most of those at St. Paul’s Hospital.
His other interests include knowledge translation and the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine as well as quality improvement and he is the Clinical Director of the Clinical Care Management Program at the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council.

See Dr. Marsden’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Ruth Elwood Martin MD FCFP MPH

Dr. Ruth Elwood Martin is a family physician who worked in British Columbia’s provincial correctional centres starting in 1994. In 2000 she initiated a cervical cancer screening pilot inside prison, and later assisted with the HPV primary screening study in BC, “HPV-FOCAL”. In 2005 she became the Inaugural Director of the UBC Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education (CCPHE), a network of academic, community and prison persons interested in improving the health of individuals in custody, their families and communities. She introduced the unique concept of engaging women in prison, prison staff and academics in participatory health research (PHR) to address concerns raised by the women themselves. Over 200 women became members of the PHR team over three years, and their work included conducting 16 peer health surveys, hosting 10 health research forums, developing and presenting 46 health educational PowerPoints, writing health advocacy letters and presenting to the local high school. In 2013, she was co-principal investigator for the “Bonding Through Bars” project, which examined the topic of children born to incarcerated parents, and was an expert witness in the BC Supreme Court case, which ruled that the decision to cancel a provincial correctional facility mother-child unit infringed the constitutional rights of mothers and babies. In March 2014, Dr. Martin and CCPHE developed best practice evidence-based Guidelines for the Implementation of Mother-Child Units in Canadian Correctional Facilities.

See Dr. Ruth Elwood Martin’s contributed posts

Disclosures:
Dr. Ruth Elwood Martin is the Director of the Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education (CCPHE) at the School of Population and Public Health within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. The CCPHE is a research group with academic faculty and community partners across Canada who are driven by the lived experience of people with incarceration history to study the distinct needs of the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations, using elements of community-based and participatory action research. CCPHE aims to bridge gaps between the prison system, judiciary, health care system, community, and post-secondary institutions to reduce disparities that impact people with incarceration history.


Françoise Mathieu MEd CCC

Françoise is director of Compassion Fatigue Solutions Inc., whose aim is to offer consulting and training to helpers on topics related to self-care, wellness, burnout and compassion fatigue. She is a Certified Mental Health Counsellor and a Compassion Fatigue specialist. Her experience stems from many years as a crisis counsellor, working in a hospital emergency ward, university counselling service and community mental health environments. Her positive outlook and commitment to helping clients grow are hallmarks of her work. Françoise is one of the leaders in Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma education in Canada. Since 2001, Françoise has given hundreds of seminars on compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma across the country to thousands of helping professionals in the fields of health care, trauma services, law enforcement, education and addiction treatment. She is the author of The Compassion Fatigue Workbook which was published by Routledge in 2012.

See Françoise Mathieu’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Director of Compassion Fatigue Solutions Inc., a company that provides educational training and materials on topics related to compassion fatigue.


James McCormack BSc(Pharm) Pharm D

James received his undergraduate pharmacy degree at the University of British Columbia in 1982. He received his doctorate in pharmacy (Pharm D) in 1986 from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. His focus is shared-informed decision-making using evidence based information and rational therapeutic principles. He has presented over 300 seminars on drug therapy, has published over 100 articles in the medical literature, mainly in the area of rational drug therapy, and worked as editor for two internationally recognized textbooks on appropriate/rational drug therapy. He is also the co-host of a weekly podcast called the Best Science (BS) Medicine podcast.

See James McCormack’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. Sarah McCorquodale

Dr. McCorquodale is a family physician who completed medical school at the University of Alberta and residency at MUN. She is a diplomat of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and the theme lead for lifestyle medicine for UBC’s MD undergraduate program. She is a clinical associate professor in the department of family medicine and currently serves as the Regional Associate Dean of the Southern Medical Program.

See Dr. Sarah McCorquodale’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. Diane McIntosh

Dr. McIntosh graduated from Dalhousie University, where she completed an undergraduate degree in pharmacy before completing her medical residency (2 years pediatrics and adult psychiatry). She is a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, has a busy private practice and clinical research program. She presents continuing medical education programs to colleagues nationally and internationally, with a focus on rational pharmacology.
As a researcher, Dr. McIntosh has been a principle or sub-investigator in many clinical trials (phase II-IV), both industry sponsored and investigator initiated, and is the author of numerous papers. She has a particular interest in the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders. She sits on the Board of Directors of CANMAT, the Canadian Network For Mood and Anxiety Treatments.

See Dr. Diane McIntosh’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. McIntosh has received research support, spoken for, or sits on advisory boards for the following companies: Astra-Zeneca, BMS, Otsuka, Sunovion, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Ortho, Shire, Lundbeck.


Janet McKeown MD CCFP DipSportsMed

Dr. McKeown is a family and sports medicine physician and Clinical Assistance Professor at the UBC Health Clinic, a teaching clinic at UBC, since 2004. She is the medical lead for the Westside Mobile Care Unit, MCU, which provides medical care and social services to marginalized in the community.

See Dr. McKeown’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. McKeown has received honorarium from BC College of Family Physicians (BCCFP) which was used to pay individuals who worked on this tool. Dr. McKeown did not keep any of the honorarium. Dr. McKeown is the medical lead for the Westside Neighbourhood Mobile Care Unit. No bias or conflict of interest. Mitigating potential bias: The recommendations are consistent with published provincial and federally government funded resources and current practice patterns.


Laura McLean MD FRCPC DipABLM

Dr. Laura McLean is a settler of mixed European descent who lives and works on land stolen from the Cowichan people. She practiced internal medicine, respirology, and critical care for 13 years, before transitioning into sleep medicine. Dr. McLean works as a consultant in sleep disorders at Aroga Lifestyle Medicine. She also works as a physician and a co-facilitator, helping to provide psychedelic-assisted group therapy with the Roots to Thrive program. Dr. McLean is a recent graduate of the Vancouver Island University Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Graduate Certificate program.

See Dr. Laura McLean’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Stefanie Falz Mclellan MD CCFP-EM

Dr. Mclellan practices emergency and family medicine in Invermere, BC. She is currently completing a point of care ultrasound fellowship at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. She has an interest in wilderness and low resource medicine. She has previously worked for Médecins Sans Frontières in South Sudan and Iraq. She is also an instructor for Wilderness Medical Associates and is a member of her local search and rescue group. She looks forward to using handheld ultrasound in these settings.

See Dr. Stefanie Falz Mclellan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Mclellan received a subsidy through the RCCbc IN PoCUS project to purchase a Clarius phased array probe. At the time of writing she had not received the probe yet.


Brendan McNeely MSc

Brendan McNeely is a UBC medical student currently in his fourth year of studies. He has a keen interest in Otolaryngology with diverse research interests within the surgical specialty including laryngology.

See Brendan McNeely’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Douglas McTaggart

Dr. McTaggart is a retired family practitioner, a graduate of the UBC Medical School and a former intern at St. Paul’s Hospital. He had a thirty year career in longitudinal family practice in North and West Vancouver and was formerly a Chief of General Practice at Lions Gate Hospital. In semi-retirement he undertook rural and remote family practice as a frequent locum for ten years in Hay River, NWT, where he was Medical Director of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. He is a former Board Chair of the Society of General Practitioners of BC, and for six years was a Doctors of BC appointee to the Medical Services Commission of BC. He currently serves as one of two Medical Consultants to the MSC, primarily working with the Guidelines and Protocols Steering Committee (GPAC).

See Dr. Douglas McTaggart’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


David McVea MD PhD FRCPC

Dr. McVea is a public health physician at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. His primary area of responsibility is environmental health.

See David McVea’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. McVea is employed by BCCDC, which developed and hosts the radon exposure map described. Mitigating potential bias: Development of radon-awareness materials is within Dr. McVea’s responsibilities at BCCDC and he does not receive any additional payment for this work. Recommendations are consistent with current public health practice.


Barbara Melosky MD FRCPC

Dr. Melosky is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a Medical Oncologist at the British Columbia Cancer Agency. She graduated from medical school at the University of Manitoba and did a residency in internal medicine and a oncology fellowship at the University of British Columbia. She is currently a medical oncologist at the BC Cancer Agency with clinical interests in lung and gastrointestinal malignancies.

See Dr. Melosky’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Daniela Michel MPH

Daniela Michel is coordinator with Community Antimicrobial Stewardship program at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). She holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Masters of Public Health and since 2020, she has worked on various public and professional education initiatives with the Community Antimicrobial stewardship to support the wise use of antibiotics.

See Daniela Michel’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Ashley Miller, MD, CM, FRCPC

Dr. Miller is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at BC Children’s Hospital. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia where she serves as co-director of family therapy training and psychotherapy director for the child and adolescent subspecialty residency program. She loves working with children, teens and families daily, helping them to reconnect to their own strengths and to each other.

See Dr. Miller’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Miller is the co-author of What to Say to Kids When Nothing Seems to Work: A Practical Guide for Parents and Caregivers. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with attachment literature and do not relate specifically to the contents of the book.


Stacey Miller PT MRSc

Stacey Miller completed a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Physical Therapy in 2004 and a Master of Rehabilitation Science degree in 2014 at the University of British Columbia. She works in the Orthopaedic department at BC Children’s Hospital where she is the Coordinator of the Child Health BC Hip Surveillance Program for Children with Cerebral Palsy, the first provincial or state wide hip surveillance program for children with cerebral palsy in North America.

See Stacey Miller’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Involved in the international consensus process to develop the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine Hip Surveillance Care Pathway.


Yazdan Mirzanejad MD DTM&H FRCPC FACP ASTMH

Dr. Mirzanejad is a Consultant in infectious diseases at Surrey Memorial Hospital- Fraser health Authority and a Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of ID – UBC. He’s an MD Graduate 1985 from Iran University of Medical Sciences and completed his Internship in 1988 at St. Paul’s Hospital- UBC. Residency in Internal Medicine – University of Manitoba 1994. Fellowship in Infectious diseases and Microbiology Vanderbilt University Medical Centre 1994- 1997. Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from Gorgas institute 2008.

See Dr. Mirzanejad’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Nima Moghaddam MD

Nima Moghaddam is a Cardiology Resident at the University of British Columbia. He completed his medical school and Internal Medicine residency at the University of British Columbia. His research interests include critical care cardiology, heart failure, and pulmonary hypertension.

See Dr. Moghaddam’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Tracy Monk MD

Dr. Tracy Monk is a Family Doctor in Burnaby / Coquitlam. She graduated from McGill medical school in 1987. She is the Faculty Lead for the UBC Centre for Relationship Based Care and Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC Department of Family Practice. She is the Physician Lead for the Provincial Pathways website and sits on the General Practitioner Services Committee (GPSC).

See Dr. Monk’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the PathwaysBC Provincial Resource Committee. PathwaysBC is a collaborative non-profit GPSC initiated project, freely available to all BC physicians and their teams.


Julio Montaner MD DSc(hon) FRCPC FCCP FACP FRSC OBC

Professor of Medicine, UBC and St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation Chair in AIDS Research, Head of Division of AIDS, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia; Director, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul’s Hospital-Providence Health Care; Past-President, International AIDS Society, Canada.
Dr Julio Montaner is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He received his Medical Degree with Honors from the University of Buenos Aires in 1979. In 1981, Dr. Montaner joined the University of British Columbia (UBC) at St Paul’s Hospital (SPH) where he completed his training in Internal Medicine and Respiratory Medicine. While still in training, he led several clinical studies that demonstrated the role of adjunctive corticosteroids in PCP-related respiratory failure. In 1988, he became the Director of the AIDS Research Program and the Immunodeficiency Clinic at SPH/UBC. Since then, he focused his research in the development of antiretroviral therapies and management strategies. In the mid 90’s, he played a key role in establishing the efficacy of NNRTI based highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). This was one of the pivotal contributions emerging from the IAS-sponsored Vancouver 1996 International AIDS Conference, of which he was a co-organizer. He is a Professor of Medicine at UBC and has held the Endowed Chair in AIDS Research at SPH/UBC since 1996. He is a founding Co-Director of the Canadian HIV Trials Network. He is the Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. He has been a member of the International AIDS Society since 1988, an elected member of the North American Region since 2002 and President from 2008-2010. Dr. Montaner has authored over 400 scientific publications on HIV/AIDS. His current research interests include HAART as prevention, optimal use of HAART, salvage therapy, new antiretrovirals, as well as hard to reach populations and harm reduction. In 2008, he received the inaugural Avant-Garde Award of $2.5 million over 5 years, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to support his project entitled “Seek and Treat for Optimal Outcomes and Prevention in HIV & AIDS in IDU (STOP HIV/AIDS)”. In September 2009, he was the recipient of the $100,000 Knowledge Translation Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health (CIHR) and, in November 2009, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada-The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences (RSC). Founded in 1882, the RSC, consisting of distinguished Canadian scholars, artists and scientists, is Canada’s senior and most prestigious scholarly organization. In 2010, he received a Doctor of Science honoris causa from Simon Fraser University, the Order of BC as well as the Albert Einstein World of Science Award.

See Dr. Montaner’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Montaner is supported by the Ministry of Health Services and the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport, British Columbia; supported through Knowledge Translation Award from CIHR; and through an Avant-Garde Award from NIDA-NIH. Funding is also received from Merck, Gilead, and ViiV Healthcare to support research into Treatment as Prevention.


Simon Moore MD CCFP FCFP

Dr. Simon Moore, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia, Dept. of Family Practice has a passion for teaching and he hates boring lectures. He is a former President of the Canadian Association of Internes of Residents (now known as Resident Doctors of Canada). He has worked in rural BC, Northwest Territories, and Ontario, and now works in Urgent Care and at an Indigenous Family Health Team. Dr. Moore is an award-winning teacher in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, and is the founder and lead faculty of The Review Course in Family Medicine. He published his first children’s book in 2022.

See Dr. Simon Moore’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Simon Moore is the Physician Lead for UBC CPD Cannabis Education for Health Care Providers series. He is a member of an advisory board for The Review Course in Family Medicine Inc. (includes Vital FM Update). He has received honoraria from The Review Course in Family Medicine, Vital FM Update, Seymour Clinic (clinical work), Doctors of BC, UBC CPD, BCCFP, UBC, Fraser Health. FVCPAA, fees transferred to charity. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines such as the Canadian Simplified Guideline on cannabis. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns as determined by our expert committee. Discussion is of resources developed by committee or by other organizations which is based on published and/or peer-reviewed data. Treatments or recommendations in this article are not in direct financial relationship to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements. Content of the tools and educational resources was approved by a multidisciplinary committee which also mitigated any conflict for the content.


Dr. Erin Morley

Dr. Erin Morley is an academic general internist and UBC clinical instructor at Vancouver General Hospital. She completed her medical school undergraduate training at UBC in 2009 as a Wesbrook Scholar and her internal medicine residency in 2013 at UBC where she served as Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Morley’s fellowship took place at UBC in General Internal Medicine and at McMaster University where she focused on Perioperative Cardiovascular Medicine. She has a special research and clinical interest in perioperative medicine. She has a number of perioperative publications in peer reviewed journals, including a special perioperative edition of CMAJ.

See Dr. Erin Morley’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Ras Mulinta

Dr. Ras Mulinta lives, plays and works on the unceded traditional territories of the Syilx Okanagan and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her ancestry is Indonesian-Dutch Chinese and she is an educator at UBC Faculty of Medicine distributed sites in Vancouver (VFMP) and Kelowna (SMP). She has Ph.D. in Cellular Physiology (2010) and her current academic interest is in social emotional learning/teaching. She supports students in achieving physiological balance within their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual realms. At SMP and VFMP, she is also a FLEX (MEDD 419, 429, 449) activity supervisor for project entitled: Becoming Metacognitive. Instructional Design as a Life Skill for Medical Students Managing Stress.

See Dr. Mulinta’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Paul Mullins MBBS DM FRCP

Dr. Paul Mullins is Head of Gastroenterology at University Hospital of Northern BC and Colonoscopy Lead to the Northern Health Authority for the BC Colon Screening Program. He graduated from The University of London, trained in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology in the UK, was a Lecturer at the University of Southampton, and a Consultant Gastroenterologist in Lancashire UK, where he was Clinical Director of Medicine, Lead in Upper GI Cancer and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He maintains interests in education, training, clinical research, and clinical service delivery.

See Dr. Paul Mullins’ contributed posts

Disclosures: None.


Dr. Kishore Mulpuri

Dr. Mulpuri graduated from Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India and subsequently completed his residency there in Orthopaedics in 1997. After completing Pediatric Orthopaedic fellowships in Australia and Vancouver, Dr. Mulpuri joined BC Children’s Hospital as a Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon in 2003 and joined the UBC faculty in the Department of Orthopaedics in 2004. He has a special interest in chronic pediatric hip conditions including developmental dysplasia of the hip and Perthes disease, as well as Cerebral Palsy. He is Research Director of the International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IHDI) and is the co-lead of the Evidence to Innovation theme at the Child and Family Research Institute (CFRI).

See Dr. Kishore Mulpuri’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Receives research support in the form of grant funding from Depuy, Johnson & Johnson. Currently participating in a multi-centre, prospective observational study of infants with hips dislocated at rest by the International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IHDI). No conflict of interest: Depuy, Johnson & Johnson funding support is for studies unrelated to this article. This article has been based on published recommendations and guidelines and don’t incorporate findings from the ongoing IHDI study. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines by the AAOS: The detection and non-operative management of developmental dysplasia of the hip in infants up to six months of age: evidence-based guideline and evidence report.


Sue Murphy

Sue Murphy is Senior Instructor and Associate Head, Clinical Education in the Department of Physical Therapy. Her research interests are in clinical and interprofessional education. Sue currently holds a TLEF grant related to the formation of a student led clinic at Royal Columbian Hospital and a grant from the Vancouver Foundation Cedar Lodge Fund which to allow a pilot project in interprofessional education on an acute neurosciences unit. Sue is also involved in a pilot project to assist internationally educated Physical therapists obtain licensure in Canada. She was a Killam Teaching Award winner in 2011.

See Sue Murphy’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Eileen Murray MD FRCPC

Dr. Eileen Murray was a clinical dermatologist and Professor, University of Manitoba and now Adjunct Professor, University of British Columbia, Department of Dermatology and Skin Science. She received her MD from the University of Manitoba and did her residency in dermatology at McGill University.
She has served on the Executive Council of the Winnipeg Clinic, the Board of Directors of both the Canadian Dermatology Foundation and the Canadian Dermatology Association for which she was also secretary-treasurer.
She was the coordinator of the dermatology curriculum for the Manitoba Telehealth Video Conferencing Educational Program for rural and northern physicians. Dr. Murray has numerous abstracts and19 publications, including a digital textbook: Diagnosing Skin Diseases: A diagnostic tool and educational resource for pediatricians and primary caregivers.

See Dr. Eileen Murray’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Served as a consultant for the pharmaceutical industry and participated in clinical research evaluating new therapies for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Mitigating potential bias: Treatments or recommendations are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.



Dr. Lisa Nakajima

Lisa Nakajima is a UBC Family Medicine resident at the Chilliwack site. She completed her undergraduate degree in Honours Physiology at UBC and is also a UBC medical school graduate from the Southern Medical Program. Her professional interests include medical education in family medicine.

See Dr. Lisa Nakajima’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Nawaaz Nathoo MD FRCSC

Dr. Nawaaz Nathoo is a comprehensive ophthalmologist practicing in East Vancouver and out of the Vancouver General Hospital. His areas of interest include cataract, refractive, and oculoplastic surgery. He is actively involved in the UBC Department of Ophthalmology in both the undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs, as well as the VFMP Faculty Development Team. First graduating with a doctor of medicine from the University of Alberta in 2010, Dr. Nawaaz Nathoo went on to complete his ophthalmology residency at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2015, and soon after completed a fellowship in clinical education also at UBC in 2017.

See Dr. Nawaaz Nathoo’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Therapeutic recommendations for pilocarpine hydrochloride 1.25% have not received regulatory approval in Canada, they are “off-label” use of medication in Canada. 2019: Member of an Advisory Board for Allergan Inc Shire Pharmaceuticals. Member of a Speaker’s Bureau: Shire Pharmaceuticals Alcon Inc. Received an honorarium from Thea Laboratories. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations for pilocarpine hydrochloride 1.25% are consistent with published guidelines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and with current practice patterns. 2019: Recommendations for dry eye syndrome are consistent with published guidelines and with current practice patterns (Craig JP, Nelson JD, Azar DT, et al. TFOS DEWS II report executive summary. Ocul Surf. 2017;15(4):802-812. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtos.2017.08.003. (Request with CPSBC or view with UBC)).


Dr. Samir Nazarali

Dr. Nazarali is a resident in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Alberta.

See Dr. Samir Nazarali’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Christie Newton MD CCFP FCFP

After graduating from medical school at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, in 1995, Dr. Newton completed her family medicine residency at Queen’s in 1997. She earned her Certification in the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CCFP) in 1997 and Fellowship in the College of Family Physicians of Canada (FCFP) in 2011.

Dr. Newton started her career at the Queen’s Family Practice Teaching Unit in 1997 and completed a fellowship in women’s health in 1998. In 2001 she moved to the West Coast and joined the University of British Columbia (UBC)’s Family Practice Teaching Clinic in Vancouver. She became an academic faculty member in UBC’s Department of Family Practice in 2005.

Since 2010 Dr. Newton has served as the Director of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for the Department of Family Practice at UBC. Dr. Newton became Medical Director of the UBC Health Clinic in 2017, a position she had held previously from 2004 to 2010, and maintains a part-time teaching practice on campus. She is also serving as the Interim Co-head of the Department of Family Practice for 2017 to 2018.

Dr. Newton has served on the Board of Directors of the British Columbia College of Family Physicians 2010 – 2018, including a term as President from 2015 to 2017. She served as a CFPC Board Director in 2014 and 2015 and began her current term as Director at large of the CFPC Board in 2018. Dr. Newton has been a member of numerous CFPC committees, including the Patient Education Committee, the National Committee on CPD, the CanMEDS-FM Working Group on the Collaborator Role, and the Patient’s Medical Home Steering Committee, Governance Advisory Committee and Finance Committee.

Outside of her numerous roles at the CFPC and UBC, Dr. Newton serves on the Regional Advisory Committee 1 of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, is a member of the Doctors of BC CPD Nucleus Committee, is co-chair of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada’s Interprofessional Education Network and she sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative.

See Dr. Newton’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Board Director of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. I do not perceive a conflict with this position and the article.
Board Director of the Canadian Interprofessional Healthcare Collaborative. I do not perceive a conflict with this position and this article.
Full time employee of the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Practice.


Daniel Ngui BSc (PT) MD FCFP

Dr. Ngui is a Family Physician who works at Fraser Street Medical. He is involved with the family medicine training program at St. Paul’s Hospital and has been involved with promoting, developing and providing continuing health education on a local, regional and national level.

See Dr. Ngui’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Speaker and editor for UBC CPD. National Advisory Boards/Speakers Bureau: Amgen, Astra Zeneca, BMS, Bayer, BI, Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Aralez. Grants from: CHRC, CCRN, Bridge Medical Communications MD Briefcase, Medplan, Liv Agency, Four Health Communications, Science and Medicine Canada, Antibody Communications. Grants for EMR Projects: Amgen, Lundbeck, Astra Zeneca, BI, Pfizer, Merck. Investments in Heath Choices First. Clinical trial: Simple Trial, Amgen 20170191 trial, CV Care.


Dr. Karen Nordahl

Dr. Nordahl is a family physician who practices obstetrics at BCWH in Vancouver. She takes a special interest in the benefits of exercise and pregnancy, and has authored two books on the subject. She is also a regular speaker both locally and internationally on the topic.

See Dr. Karen Nordahl’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Jill Norris

Dr. Jill Norris is a family doctor in Victoria who is exploring how incorporating slow medicine principles and keeping “what matters” central to our care might better meet the needs of patients, providers, the health care system, and the environment. She is interested in addressing the barriers to increasing the provision of high-value care and decreasing low-value or inappropriate care. She is curious about the assumptions, beliefs, and structures that shape current medical practice and culture. She lives and works on the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

See Dr. Jill Norris’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received honoraria from Therapeutics Initiative for time spent as a facilitator and preparation and presentation of a webinar. My co-author on this article is a member of Therapeutics Initiative and so has influenced the content. My contribution reflected my personal clinical experience of using a tool offered by Therapeutics Initiative. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.



Heather L. O’Donnell MD FRCSC

Clinical Instructor, UBC Department of Ophthalmology, UBC Faculty of Medicine

See Dr. Heather O’Donnell’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Private practice.


Cait SE O’Sullivan PharmD

Cait O’Sullivan works for Island Health in medical education with BC’s Provincial Academic Detailing (PAD) Service. She received her PharmD from the University of Washington, a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Brunswick.

See Cait SE O’Sullivan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Jessica Otte

Dr. Otte is a family physician in Nanaimo, BC with interests in palliative care and care of the elderly. She is passionate about helping patients find the right health care according to the evidence and their needs and values. She enjoys sharing this approach when supervising medical learners and delivering CME, whether locally or internationally. Her policy work is mainly in the areas of high-value care, resource stewardship, and sustainability in the design of health systems. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Family Practice, and a member of the UBC Therapeutics Initiative. She also Co-Chairs the BC Health Technology Assessment Committee (HTAC) and is Chair of the Doctors of BC’s Council on Health Economics and Policy (CHEP). She lives with her family among the Douglas Firs on traditional Snuneymuxw territory.

See Dr. Jessica Otte’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received payments from UBC Therapeutics Initiative (TI), Doctors of BC, Ministry of Health, Island Health Authority, Division of Family Practice (clinical payments, honoraria, and salary for work related to family medicine, palliative care, judicious use of resources). As a member of the TI, it is part of my role to promote our quality improvement efforts including Portrait and so remuneration from the TI has directly influenced the content. Received funding as a co-investigator on CIHR and UBC Strategic Innovation Fund grants unrelated to this article. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. Not promoting any for-profit products; I follow a strict code of no conflicts of interest with industry.



William Panenka MSc, MD, FPRCPC Neurology, FRCPC Psychiatry

Dr. William Panenka is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. He holds a dual certification from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in both the specialties of neurology and psychiatry. He is currently a member of the BC neuropsychiatry program with a specific focus on brain injury patients.

See Dr. William Panenka’s contributed posts

Disclosures:


Breay W. Paty MD FRCPC

Dr. Paty is a Clinical Associate Professor at UBC and practices general endocrinology at Vancouver General Hospital. He is the undergraduate education director for the VGH Endocrinology section and education director of the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism.

See Dr. Paty’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Paty has received speaking fees and/or sat on advisory boards for Merck, Novo Nordisk, Astra Zeneca, and Boehringer Ingelheim.


Hadley Pearce MSc MSiMR

Hadley Pearce is a neuroscientist working at the Child and Family Research Institute where she works on brain injury research and concussion awareness and management education. She has a Master of Science in Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London and a Masters of Science in Integrative Medicine Research from the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.

See Hadley Pearce’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Fiona Petigara MD CCFP

Dr. Petigara is a family physician in Vancouver and practices full scope family medicine and obstetrics. She is a strong advocate for mental health, which led her to join the CBT Skills Group Program. Dr. Petigara is the Family Physician Lead for Physician Wellness Groups and has a passion for delivering CBT groups to patients and physicians. She completed medical school at UBC and was a graduate of the Calgary Residency Program. Dr. Petigara is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of British Columbia.

See Dr. Petigara’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Min S. Phang MRCP FRCPC

Dr. Phang attended St. Faith’s Primary School and St. Thomas’s Secondary School in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia and attended medical school at Aberdeen University, Scotland. He received his paediatric training in the United Kingdom and obtained his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP), London, UK in 1987. He then became a Neonatal Fellow at BC Children’s Hospital and completed his paediatric residency training at BC Children’s Hospital in 1992.

See Dr. Min S. Phang’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Neora Pick MD FRCPC

Dr. Neora Pick is an Internal Medicine and an Infectious Diseases specialist, with special interest and expertise in HIV in women and youth, and Hepatitis C in women. Dr. Pick is a Clinical Professor in the UBC Department of Medicine, Division Infectious Diseases. She was the Medical Director of the PHSA-BCWH provincial interdisciplinary clinic for women and children living with HIV/HCV for 11 years. Dr. Pick also has a strong clinical, research, and education interest in women’s health and aging/menopause, and bone health in women living with HIV. Dr. Pick has over 100 peer-reviewed publications.

See Dr. Neora Pick’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Jolanta Piszczek BSc Pharm Pharm D MSc (EBM)

Jolanta Piszczek is a board-certified infectious diseases pharmacist. She is currently a full time chair and member of the BC COVID Therapeutics Committee, prior to which she spent 10 years as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Stewardship at Island Health. She is a graduate of the UBC Pharmacy program and also holds a Pharm D from the University of Toronto and a Master of Science in Evidence Based Medicine from the University of Oxford.

See Jolanta Piszczek’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Persia Pourshahnazari MD FRCPC

Dr. Pourshahnazari is an allergist and clinical immunologist working out of Vancouver, BC. She cares for mainly adolescent and adult patients with a variety of hypersensitivity and immunodeficiency disorders. She is a member of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at St. Paul’s Hospital, where she is co-director of the Primary Immunodeficiency Transition clinic and physician co-lead of the Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin Clinic. She is a member of the provincial Secondary Immunodeficiency Working Group and is involved in guideline development. She enjoys teaching and is a clinical instructor at UBC. She also has the privilege of providing outreach clinics to beautiful Haida Gwaii, BC.

See Dr. Persia Pourshahnazari’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received honoraria for speaking engagements from Octapharma, Takeda, CSL Behring, Novartis, and Astra Zeneca. Advisory board member for Octapharma, Takeda, CSL Behring, Novartis, Astra Zeneca, Valeo, Sanofi, and Aralez. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published European and Canadian guidelines and with current practice patterns. Only published trial data are presented.


Natasha Press MD FRCPC

Dr. Natasha Press works as an Infectious Diseases physician at St. Paul’s Hospital. She graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School, and completed her residency training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of British Columbia. Following that, she did a research fellowship in HIV clinical trials. She is the program director of UBC’s Infectious Diseases training program, and currently runs the anal dysplasia clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital.

See Dr. Press’ contributed posts

Disclosures: Advisory board meeting for BMS – attendee; involved in research study (unfunded) with Acroptronix; dealings with multiple pharmaceutical companies to obtain funding for the Infectious Diseases Residents’ Education Fund.


Dr. Daniel Raff MD MSc

Dr. Daniel Raff is a family physician with a focus in addiction medicine practicing in British Columbia’s lower mainland. He pursued his medical studies, family practice residency, and Master of Data Science at UBC. Dr. Raff has adopted digital tools in his practice, particularly in response to the pandemic, enhancing electronic processes and video communication. As the interim medical lead for the Virtual Health Addiction Clinic, he refined virtual addiction services throughout Fraser Health. He collaborates with the UBC Digital Emergency Medicine group as a Data Science consultant, researching the potential of predictive machine learning models to enhance triage. Driven by his conviction that technology can revolutionize clinical care delivery, he co-founded and managed Hatching Health, a non-profit annual event fostering collaboration among clinicians, designers, and engineers to craft innovative healthcare solutions.

See Dr. Daniel Raff’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received payments from UBC Digital Emergency Medicine.
Mitigating potential bias: No influence on the content of the article.


Anna Rahmani MD

Dr. Anna Rahmani is a Clinical Associate Professor at The University of British Columbia. She completed her MD PhD at UBC, followed by core Internal Medicine residency and General Internal Medicine fellowship at McGill University. She completed a year of fellowship in Thrombosis Medicine at McGill and is currently the co-director of Thrombosis Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital.

See Dr. Anna Rahmani contributed posts

Disclosures: Received funding for grants/research: University of Ottawa Blood Disease Center (not supported by pharmaceutical companies). Received financial payments: Pfizer: speaker honoraria. Servier: unrestricted educational grant for thrombosis clinic. Bayer: speaker honoraria.
Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Treatments and recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in the disclosure statement.



Dr Krishnan Ramanathan

Dr Krishnan Ramanathan graduated from University of Otago Medical School, in Dunedin, New Zealand. He completed his training in Cardiology at Green-Lane Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand before travelling to North America where he gained experience in Interventional cardiologist and clinical research. He returned to Vancouver in 2006 with appointments’ at both St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital. He is currently the Medical Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at St. Paul’s Hospital as well as being a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. Since coming to British Columbia he has been active in research to better understand the complex interplay between coronary artery disease (CAD), Diabetes mellitus and or reno-vascular disease through international multi-centre clinical trials and local research. He is also a leader in ethnicity research trying to understand the determinants for the increased incidence of atherosclerosis amongst South Asians. His experience in clinical trials consists of membership in many Steering / Operations Committees, Data and Safety Monitoring Boards and Writings Committees. He was the inaugural recipient of the St Paul’s Hospital Foundation Physicians Scholars Award and a co-applicant on a number of national grants. His publications are numerous and he is actively involved in all levels of education ranging from medical students to organising continuing medical education for physicians. He has been involved with provincial guideline development for Chest pain management and Atrial fibrillation. He is a co-chair of the regional STEMI management committee and the co-chair of the provincial ACS registry.

See Dr. Ramanathan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of an Advisory Board or similar committee for: NorvoNordisk, Bayer, AstraZeneca. Pfizer, BI. Member of a Speaker’s Bureau: Bayer, Server, Pfizer. Mitigating Potential Bias: Only published trial data is presented.


Launette Marie Rieb MSc MD CCFP FCFP DABAM FASAM

Dr. Launette Rieb is a Family Physician and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia. She is a diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Rieb’s graduate work was in the area of pain neurophysiology, and she has completed two research fellowships. She is the Medical Director of a multidisciplinary team at CBI Vancouver (previously named OrionHealth), and works as a consultant for the Rapid Access Addictions Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital, and the Orchard Recovery Centre. She was the co-creator and initial Physician Director of the BCCSU Addiction Medicine Fellowship (previously named St. Paul’s Hospital Goldcorp Addiction Medicine Fellowship). Her research areas include opioid withdrawal-associated injury site pain, overdose deaths, and addiction in marginalized populations. Dr. Rieb lectures internationally and is the recipient of a UBC Post Graduate Teaching Award.

See Dr. Rieb’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Medical consultant at OrionHealth – Vancouver Pain Clinic. It is 51% worker owned, including Dr. Rieb’s shares. Employed as a medical consultant for clinical work in the Pain Management Program.


Dr. Jennifer Robinson

Jennifer Robinson is a fellowship trained Sports Medicine Physician. Her current clinical practice is focused on work with amateur sports teams.

See Dr. Jennifer Robinson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received fees from WorkSafeBC. Mitigating statement: There is no bias. The article is related to sports injury with no mention of work injury or WorkSafeBC.


Carolyn Rondeau MOT

Carolyn Rondeau is an occupational therapist practicing in Vancouver. She currently works as a coordinator and occupational therapist at the GF Strong Adult Concussion Service (GFACS). She received her Master’s in Occupational Therapy from the University of British Columbia and her bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Queen’s University. Her areas interests include brain injury, mental health and self-management.

See Carolyn Rondeau’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Carolyn Rondeau works at the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre.


Greg Rosenfeld MD FRCPC

Dr. Greg Rosenfeld is a gastroenterologist with additional subspecialty training in Gastroenterology. He is currently completing an Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and a Masters of Health Science at UBC. Dr. Rosenfeld is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the UBC department of Family Practice and will be joining the St. Paul’s Hospital division of Gastroenterology in July 2014. Dr. Rosenfeld’s research interests are in diagnostic techniques for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

See Dr. Greg Rosenfeld’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Hayden Rubensohn MD

Dr. Hayden Rubensohn completed his medical school training at the University of Calgary in 2012, and is thrilled to be continuing his training in Vancouver through UBC. He is currently a 3rd year internal medicine resident planning on pursuing a career in palliative medicine. Hayden previously completed 2 years of psychiatry residency training and is interested in psychosocial aspects of end of life care. Given his early residency focus on inter-personal dynamics, Hayden is interested in the way physicians communicate with patients and their families, and looks forward to enhancing and utilizing these skills in a palliative setting.

See Dr. Charlie Chen’s contributed post

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Jennifer Russel MD FRCPC MSW

Dr. Jennifer Russel is a psychiatrist in British Columbia. She is the Clinical Director of the Compass Program at BCCH, and a psychiatrist with the Physician Health Program in BC where she co-leads the physician peer support program. Her areas of interest include Trauma Informed Practice, Physician Health, Psychological PPE, Compassion Fatigue and Burnout. She is an Associate of TEND Academy and an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia.

See Dr. Jennifer Russel’s contributed post

Disclosures: Dr. Russel is a psychiatrist with a consulting practice and is one of Tend Academy’s associates.
Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with best practice guidelines recommended by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Secondary Traumatic Stress guidelines, CMA, and AMA. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.



Carol-Ann Saari MD FRCPC

Dr. Carol-Ann Saari is a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Victoria BC.  Dr. Saari received her MD and completed specialty training in child psychiatry at UBC. She consults to the Foundry, Vancouver Island Youth EPI, Fraser Health General Child Teaching clinic and the new BC MAAP project at BCCH. Dr. Saari is the current Past President of the BC Psychiatric Association and is a clinical instructor at UBC. Dr. Saari has an Executive Masters of Business Administration from the Sauder School of Business.

See Dr. Saari’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Honorarium by Reckitt Benckiser to present on “trauma, women and addictions” and on “adolescent brain development and youth concurrent disorders”.


Dr. Leslie Sadownik

Dr. Leslie Sadownik is a gynaecologist with expertise in lower genital tract disease – colposcopy, benign and pre-malignant vulvar disorders and chronic vulvar pain. She is an Associate Professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Division of Gynaecologic Oncology; and an Associate Member of the UBC Department of Dermatology and Skin Sciences at the University of British Columbia. She is the current Director of the BC Centre for Vulvar Health (Vancouver General Hospital). She has a Master’s Degree in Adult Education from UBC.

See Dr. Leslie Sadownik’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Shirley Samuel-Haynes MD CCFP FCFP (COE)

Dr. Shirley Samuel-Haynes is a family physician with care of the elderly certification who mostly cares for frail older adults in Alberta. She enjoys working with older adults with complex medical conditions along with their caregivers towards the later stages of their life.

See Dr. Samuel-Haynes’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Suren Sanmugasunderam MD FRCS (C)

Suren Sanmugasunderam finished medical school at the University of Ottawa and completed his residency at UBC in ophthalmology. He is a clinical professor at UBC.
His clinical practice is in cataract and refractive surgery. His research interests are in clinical service delivery.

See Dr. Sanmugasunderam’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Dr. Laura Sauvé MD FRCPC MPH DTM&H

Dr. Laura Sauvé is a pediatric infectious diseases specialist in Vancouver with a clinical focus on pediatric HIV, congenital infections and infections in newcomers to Canada, and she is the medical lead for infection control. Her research focus is on pediatric HIV. Dr Sauvé is the Vice President of the Canadian Pediatric Society and was the Chair of the CPS Infectious Diseases and Immunization committee from 2020-2023. She has co-authored Canadian Pediatric Society position statements on Hepatitis C in children and infections in infants born to mothers who did not have prenatal care.

See Dr. Laura Sauvé’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No conflicts to disclose. Has received research funding from Public Health Agency Canada and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines.


Tyler Schwaiger MSc

Tyler Schwaiger completed his Bachelor of Science at the University of Ottawa, specializing in Biology and Animal Physiology. He then completed a Master of Science in Animal Science from the University of Saskatchewan, where he was awarded the top Master’s thesis award in the life sciences category for 2013-2014. His published works focus mainly on whole-animal transport physiology, in both goldfish (ammonia excretion) and beef cattle (SCFA absorption), as well as beef cattle nutrition, behaviour, and gastrointestinal microbiome. He is currently an MD candidate at UBC, with primary interests in psychiatry.

See Tyler Schwaiger’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Alex Scott

Dr. Alex Scott is a graduate of the UBC PT program (BSc), and the UBC Experimental Medicine program (PhD). He is a full time researcher in the Department of Physical Therapy, where he also teaches pathology in the Master of Physical Therapy program. Alex’s research targets tendinopathy, and current projects include two randomized controlled clinical trials; one examining the effect of IMS (intramuscular stimulation) for Achilles tendinopathy, and the other looking at PRP (platelet rich plasma) for patellar tendinopathy. His research group is located at Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Centre for Hip Health and Mobility.

See Dr. Alex Scott’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Sorayya Seddigh

Sorayya Seddigh is a medical student at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She completed her BSc (Honours) in the Cellular, Anatomical and Physiological Sciences (CAPS) program at UBC. Her research interests include various topics in clinical ophthalmology, medical education, and support models aimed at improving diabetes care in underserved communities. Disclosures:

See Sorayya Seddigh’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Therapeutic recommendations have not received regulatory approval, they are “off-label” use of medication in Canada. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and with current practice patterns.


Dr. Tara Sedlak

Dr. Tara Sedlak received her Bachelor’s degree with Honours from the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta) and her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, British Columbia). Dr. Tara Sedlak was awarded the Gold Medal for top graduate from the Doctor of Medicine Program. She completed two specialist residencies (Internal Medicine and Cardiology) at the University of British Columbia, where she twice served as Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Tara Sedlak also completed a fellowship at Cedar Sinai Medical Centre (Los Angeles, California) with Dr. Bairey Merz, the world’s leading expert in women’s heart health. Dr. Tara Sedlak is the only Canadian physician to have completed this program.
Dr. Tara Sedlak practices General Cardiology for men and women. She is also the only certified Women’s Heart Health Cardiologist in Canada. Her research interests include etiologies of myocardial infarction in women with normal coronary arteries and therapeutic strategies in microvascular coronary dysfunction and spontaneous coronary artery dissection.

See Dr. Tara Sedlak’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Mary V. Seeman

Dr. Mary Seeman is Professor Emerita in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada and of the American Psychiatric Association. She has received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Toronto and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. She serves on the editorial boards of several psychiatric journals and is an inaugural member of the College of Reviewers of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She is also an honorary director of Doctors against Racism and Anti-Semitism. Dr. Seeman has written a number of books and journal articles on psychiatry, with an emphasis on gender differences in psychosis.

See Dr. Mary V. Seeman’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Ken Seethram MD FRCSC FACOG

Dr. Seethram is a clinical lecturer in the department of OBGYN at the University of British Columbia. He received his undergraduate and post-graduate training at the University of Alberta. He is certified through the Fetal Medicine Foundation to provide First Trimester Screening. Conjunctly, he works at the Pacific Centre for Reproductive medicine, providing advanced fertility investigations and assisted reproductive technologies. In addition, he is the co-chair of both the Specialist Services Committee (SSC), and the Shared Care Committee (SCC) which work in concert with the Ministry of Health to deliver practice changing programs. His special interests include ultrasound, minimally invasive pelvic surgery, and fertility.

See Dr. Seethram’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Seethram works at the Pacific Centre for Reproductive medicine, providing advanced fertility investigations and assisted reproductive technologies. In addition, he is the co-chair of both the Specialist Services Committee (SSC), and the Shared Care Committee (SCC) which work in concert with the Ministry of Health to deliver practice changing programs.


Dr. David Sheps

Dr. Sheps received his medical degree at the University of Manitoba in 1997 and completed his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Saskatchewan in 2002. He undertook further subspecialty training following his residency, completing a shoulder fellowship at the University of Alberta in 2003 and an elbow and wrist fellowship at the University of Calgary in 2006. Concurrent with his fellowship in elbow and wrist surgery, Dr. Sheps fulfilled the requirements of a Master of Science in Epidemiology at the University of Calgary. He recently completed a Master of Business Administration at the Sauder School of Business at UBC.
Dr. Sheps joined the Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic as a consultant in 2008. His clinical practice includes the treatment of disorders of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist, with a particular focus on the arthroscopic treatment of disorders of the shoulder. As part of the upper extremity group at the Sturgeon Community Hospital, Dr. Sheps also treats traumatic injuries of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Dr. Sheps has been the Site Medical Director for the Sturgeon Community Hospital since 2012.
His research interests include clinical outcomes following shoulder, elbow, and wrist surgery as well as the epidemiology of injuries of the shoulder and elbow. He is a member of both JOINTS Canada (Joint Orthopaedic Initiative for National Trials of the Shoulder) and SURGE (Shoulder and Upper extremity Research Group of Edmonton).

See Dr. Dr. David Sheps’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Kam Shojania

Dr. Kam Shojania is a Clinical Professor and the Head of the Division of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine at University of British Columbia (UBC). Dr. Shojania is also Chief of Rheumatology at St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital. Dr. Shojania is the Medical Director of the Mary Pack Arthritis Program – BC’s Provincial Arthritis Program.
Dr. Shojania is a graduate from UBC medical school where he also completed his specialty training in Internal Medicine and his fellowship in Rheumatology. Dr. Shojania is an investigator at Arthritis Research Canada (ARC) and at the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHEOS) in Vancouver.
Dr. Shojania’s awards include a Clinician-Teacher Award from The Arthritis Society and a UBC Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is a recipient of the UBC Master Teacher Award, the Howard Stein Award, the Fay Dirks Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the Canadian Rheumatology Association Teacher-Educator Award. He has been an invited speaker at over 60 national and international meetings. Dr. Shojania has over 100 publications and six book chapters

See Dr. Kam Shojania’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No conflict of interest. Has been involved with: Augurex, Pfizer, UCB, Abbvie, Janssen, Roche, and Celgene.


Noah Silverberg PhD R.Psych

Dr. Noah Silverberg is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Divisions of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Neurology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He holds a Clinician-Scientist award from the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute to develop a research program in brain injury rehabilitation. He supervises student research and serves on journal editorial boards. Dr. Silverberg is also a practicing neuropsychologist at GF Strong Rehab Centre. He is a registrant of the College of Psychologists of B.C. and Clinical Neuropsychology diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology.

See Dr. Noah Silverberg’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Involved in research grants and funding from: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, WorkSafeBC, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. These organizations were not involved in the published work. Received consulting fees from National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, WorkSafeBC. These organizations were not involved in the published work. Mitigating Statement: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines (e.g., Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation Guidelines for Concussion/mTBI & Persistent Symptoms). Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Adrienne Sim, BHK MPT

Adrienne Sim completed her Physiotherapy training in Australia in 2010 and went on to pursue a Post Graduate Certificate in Clinical Physiotherapy – Continence and Women’s Health in 2014. Her clinical practice has been focused in Pelvic Health since then with a commitment to ongoing education and evidence-based care. She incorporates a partner-centered approach with a biopsychosocial and functional lens. Adrienne is enthusiastic about educating and presenting on various topics in her field to the community, her peers and other health care professionals. She is actively working to advocate and improve pelvic health awareness and accessibility in BC through various committees, collaborative opportunities and research initiatives. Currently, Adrienne is working in Langley, BC as a member of Full Circle Physiotherapy, a collective of passionate independent practitioners serving areas across the Lower Mainland.

See Adrienne Sim’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Chase Simms

Chase Simms is a Research Officer for the Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee (GPAC). In 2017 she graduated from the University of Victoria with a Masters of Public Health, in 2014 she graduated from the University of British Columbia majoring in Sociology and minoring in Law and Society. She has over 10 years experience working at various levels of government, as well as working frontline in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with people with lived/living experience.

See Chase Simms’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Janet Simons

Dr. Simons completed Bachelor’s of Science in Honours Biochemistry from the University of Waterloo,  medical school and residency training in Internal Medicine and Medical Biochemistry at McMaster University. After the residency training, Dr. Simons moved to Vancouver to join the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at St. Paul’s Hospital. In addition to the laboratory practice, she continues to enjoy clinical work in Internal Medicine, helping both the clinical services and the laboratory increase efficiency by improving communication and achieving better mutual understanding. Current research interests include: cardiac biomarkers, lipids, test utilization and clinical practice guidelines. Current teaching interests include: clinical chemistry, optimizing diagnostic pathways, myocardial infarction, and laboratory utilization.

See Dr. Janet Simons’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Rohit Singla PhD

Rohit Singla is a MD/PhD student and Vanier Scholar at UBC. They research intelligent ultrasound for chronic kidney disease and transplantation. They firmly believe in technology’s ability to improve the lives of patients and healthcare providers. Their current research interests include ultrasound, artificial intelligence, chronic kidney disease (T2DM, IgAN, and SLE), kidney transplantation and medical trainee education.

See Rohit Singla’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Sandra Sirrs MD FRCPC

Dr. Sandra Sirrs is an endocrinologist at Vancouver General Hospital. She is also the medical director of the Adult Metabolic Diseases Clinic which specializes in the diagnosis and therapy of adults with inborn errors of metabolism.

See Dr. Sandra Sirrs’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Heather Smith

Dr Heather Smith graduated from the University of British Columbia (NMP cohort) in 2008 and completed her family practice residency at Memorial University in Newfoundland. She moved home to Prince George, BC in 2010 and has been practicing in Prince George since then. She serves as a preceptor in the Family Medicine Residency Program as well as the Northern Medical Program and she is a clinical instructor with the family medicine department of UBC. Dr Smith provides equity-oriented care in her work as a family physician at Central Interior Native Health.

See Dr. Smith’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Worked at the clinic with the EQUIP research team at the time of data collection and was involved in the designing of components of the EQUIP toolkit as well as beta testing the final website and tools. Mitigating Potential Bias: Only published trial data is presented.


Martha Spencer MD FRCPC

Dr. Martha Spencer is a practicing internist and geriatrician at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver and is a Clinical Instructor at UBC. Her current practice consists of acute internal medicine on the Clinical Teaching Unit, and inpatient and consult work in geriatric medicine. She is the founder of a novel multidisciplinary continence clinic that specialized in medical approaches to bladder and bowel continence. She also enjoys geriatric outreach work to Terrace and Kitimat. Her clinical interests include geriatric continence and medical education.

See Dr. Martha Spencer’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Speaking honorarium (unrestricted), fellowship bursary, clinic grant, unrestricted research grant (Pfizer); Speaking honorarium (unrestricted), national geriatric consultant meeting, conference symposium (Astellas). Mitigating statements: only published data presented, recommendation are consistent with current practice, treatments in this article are unrelated to treatments in disclosure statement.


Dr. Pam Squire

Dr. Squire currently practices in Vancouver BC where she has a consultative practice in complex pain. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia and is involved in medical education and curriculum development for both undergraduate and post-graduate physicians. She was a member of the guidelines committee (2010-2012) for Pain Medicine, the national group mandated to write the curriculum for the new Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons specialty of Pain Medicine.
In 2008 she was given the inaugural Helen Hays award for excellence in pain management and in 2010 she was given the Academic Pain Educator of the Year award by the American Society of Pain Educators.

See Dr. Pam Squire’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Squire has received financial support from the following companies within the last 2 years: Speakers Bureau/Honoraria: Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Purdue. Consulting Fees: Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Purdue, Astra Zeneca.


Ted Steiner MD

Dr. Steiner received his MD and completed internal medicine residency at Duke University. He did his infectious diseases fellowship at the University of Virginia, training in enteric pathogenesis and Tropical Medicine with Richard Guerrant. Dr. Steiner joined the faculty at UBC in 2000 and he is currently Associate Professor and Associate Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases. His clinical interests are intestinal infections, Tropical Medicine, and Infections in patients on biologic agents. His research focuses on basic immunology of the gut.

See Dr. Steiner’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Honorarium for educational speeches from Amgen, Wyeth, and Pfizer. Iroko Pharmaceuticals advisory board.


Julia R. Stewart MD CCFP FCFP

Dr. Julia Stewart received her MD from l’Université de Montréal and completed residency in Family Medicine at Dalhousie University (CCFP). She has been in active medical practice for over 20 years, at first in rural and urban family medicine, followed by a career in hospital medicine, now based out of Burnaby Hospital in BC. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Practice, teaching medical students and residents on hospital wards and in the ER.
Dr. Stewart has been involved in guideline development in BC for 10+ years, sitting on the BC Guidelines and Protocols Committee and currently serving as the Doctors of BC Co-Chair on GPAC. She has extensively participated on or chaired working groups on a large variety of guideline topics. She is a Fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (FCFP) and has been on numerous hospital committees, in various departmental roles, and involved with the Medical Staff Association of Burnaby Hospital.

See Dr. Julia R. Stewart’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Chris Stewart-Patterson MD CCBOM FACOEM

Dr. Stewart-Patterson has practiced Occupational medicine since 1989. He provided occupational medical services to the City of Vancouver, BC Government Occupational Health Programs, Health Canada’s Workplace Health, RCMP, BC Rail and Canadian Armed Forces among other organizations. He specializes in fitness to work evaluations for safety critical/sensitive occupations such as police, fire, and railway personnel. He frequently lectures both locally and internationally on both medical and psychiatric disability evaluation including a series of lectures at Harvard Medical School Dubai Center. He has instructed for the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) lecturing on assessment of disability in workers and is the co-director of the ACOEM Foundation Course for new Occupational Physicians. Dr Stewart-Patterson is a clinical instructor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, is a course director at Harvard Medical School and is an honorary Senior Lecturer in Occupation Medicine at University of Otego.

See Dr. Chris Stewart-Patterson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Sylvia Stockler

Sylvia Stockler-Ipsiroglu, MD PhD FRCPC, is a Professor of Pediatrics in at the Department of Pediatrics, UBC and Head of the Division of Biochemical Diseases at BC Children’s Hospital. With her background in biochemical genetics and pediatric neurology her main interest resides in finding treatments for children with neurometabolic conditions. Together with Dr Clara van Karnebeek, she developed the TIDE protocol which aims to screen children with developmental intellectual disabilities for treatable inborn errors of metabolism (www.tidebc.org). This ongoing project was funded as the first collaborative area of innovation by the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. She is also the PI of several investigator initiated and industry sponsored clinical trials for rare disease treatments and is especially interested in practice and observation-informed evidence in rare diseases.

See Dr. Sylvia Stockler’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Research funding / involvement in clinical trials (Biomarin, Ultragenyx, Shire) and sits on an Advisory Board (MedUnik). No direct conflict of interest.


Sarah Stone MD CCFP

Sarah Stone, MD, CCFP, is a Family Physician working in Vancouver in the John Reudy Immunodeficiency Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital where she has practiced since 2004. Sarah has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including rural medicine, low risk obstetrics, and as a hospitalist and clinical associate. She completed her MD at the University of British Columbia and her residency in the Rural Family Medicine Program at the University of Calgary. Sarah is a member of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Providence Health care. She is a Clinical Instructor at the University of British Columbia and actively teaches and mentors medical students, residents and nurse practitioners in primary care and HIV medicine.

See Dr. Sarah Stone’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Involved in a study funded by CIHR CTN (Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canadian HIV Trials Network) using the Merck vaccine. Received honoraria from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Merck, and Viive for speaking fees and attending conferences.


Valeria Stoynova MDCM FRCPC CEF MHPE

Dr. Val Stoynova is a practicing general internist in community and tertiary care in Victoria at Island Health and a Clinical Associate Professor at UBC. She has added training in medical education with a two-year clinical educator fellowship and a master’s degree in Health Professions Education from Maastricht University. A passionate cyclist and climate advocate, Dr. Stoynova believes we can provide better care at a lower carbon cost. Along with Dr. Celia Culley, she is the recipient of a SIFEI grant and their work on climate-conscious prescribing was recently selected as a national innovation in partnership with the CASCADES network to further develop, implement and study sustainable inpatient care. She sits on the National Advisory Committee for inhaler sustainability and is a frequent guest lecturer on sustainable healthcare at local and national conferences.

See Dr. Val Stoynova’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the Sustainable Inhaler National Advisory Committee and received a small stipend for this work from a not-for-profit organization CASCADES. Received funding: the work on sustainable inhalers was selected as a national innovation by CASCADES to support some of the costs of the project. CASCADES is a not-for-profit organization funded by Environmental and Climate Change Canada with no pharmaceutical ties or commercial ties. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented and all recommendations are consistent with current published GINA, CTS, and BTS guidelines on asthma therapy.


Max Sun MD FRCPC

Dr. Sun is a certified Internist and Rheumatologist. Dr. Sun grew up in Surrey, British Columbia. He finished 3 years of honours Pharmacology as well as a minor in economics before entering UBC medical school. After he graduated in 2006, he went on to train in the Internal Medicine residency program at UBC from 2010 to 2013 and a Rheumatology fellowship from 2013 to 2015. He has a special interest in interventional pain procedures and chronic musculoskeletal pain management.

See Dr. Max Sun’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No direct conflict of interest.


Omesh Syal, MD, CCFP

Dr. Omesh Syal grew up in Dawson Creek, BC and completed both medical school and family residency at UBC. He began practice in Prince George allowing him to stay close to the north. Dr. Syal has seen the importance of data collection, and its interpretation to implement change at the physician, community, and provincial levels. Early in his career, he was taught the importance of data collection to help run his practice more efficiently to improve patient care and has seen firsthand how data can affect change. As the Chair of the Health Data Coalition (HDC), he is inspired to empower his physician colleagues with their own data insights, to nurture a physician-led movement to create change within his community and province. Please note: The Health Data Coalition (HDC) is a physician-led data sharing initiative that encourages reflection and collaboration with colleagues and facilitates quality improvement in patient care through its HDC Discover application. HDC is a not-for-profit organization, funded by the Family Practice Services Committee (FPSC) and powered by the enthusiasm and dedication of a growing network of family physicians from across the province, with the primary focus of empowering physicians and clinics to understand and use their data for practice improvement.

See Omesh Syal’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Omesh Syal is the Chair Divisions of Family Practice – Prince George, and Chair at HDC. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines and current practice patterns.


Christy Sutherland MD CCFP dABAM

Dr. Christy Sutherland is the Education Physician Lead with the BCCSU and is a family doctor and diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine who works in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side providing care to Canada’s most vulnerable population. Dr. Sutherland is is the Medical Director of the Portland Hotel Society where she leads a team of physicians and nurses who are embedded in low barrier, harm reduction projects, as well as a member of the St Paul’s Addiction Medicine Consult Service, and the lead physician for the Rapid Access to Consultative Expertise (RACE) line. She received her MD at Dalhousie University and completed her Family Medicine Residency at UBC in 2010. Dr. Sutherland was recently awarded the “Excellence in Clinical Teaching” Award from the GoldCorp Addiction Medicine.

See Dr. Christy Sutherland’s contributed posts

Disclosures: I have received funding from the BC Naturopathic Association and Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine for speaking at conferences. I am the physician education lead for the BC Center on Substance Use. I have participating in guideline writing committees for the Center and use these guidelines in my clinical practice and educational sessions. I am the Medical Director of the PHS Community Services Society, a nonprofit that provides low barrier housing and supervised injection facilities.


Nigel Sykes MA FRCP FRCGP

Dr. Nigel Sykes has served as Treasurer of the Association of Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland, and as a member of the Association’s Executive and Ethics committees. Currently, he is a member of the Neurological Diseases Strategy Group of the UK National Council for Palliative Care. He set up the first UK clinical ethics committee to be located in a hospice and has spoken on television and radio, and made presentations to British parliamentary committees, on ethical issues relating to palliative care.

See Dr. Nigel Sykes’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Shirley Sze BMSc MD CCFP FCFP

Dr. Shirley Sze started full service family practice in 1979. Dr. Sze has been a member of the Continuing Medical Education Committee for the Royal Inland Hospital for over 20 years and Chair of the Committee for over 10 years and has been highly involved in organizing and chairing CME for physicians as provincial CME Coordinator. She has taught and facilitated at various educational workshops. Dr. Sze has been involved with CME for the BCMA, the Practice Support Program (PSP) as a presenter, Family Practice Champion, and has received the Distinguished Leadership Award for the Improvement of Primary Care in BC through the PSP. Dr. Sze has been a member of many Advisory Committees through UBC Division of Continuing Professional Development (UBC CPD) and continues to Chair the BCMA Continuing Medical Education Nucleus Committee. She has been a representative for BC and Yukon to the CMA Council on Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development. Recently, Dr. Sze was an invited presenter at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement for Re-designing the Clinical Office Practice in 2009 and 2010. She reviews online medical educational programs for University of Western Ontario and UBC and is a Faculty Member for Health Literacy Prototype Collaborative (Ministry of Health). Dr. Sze continues to be involved with teaching and research forums and highly committed to CME for BC Family Physicians.

See Dr. Sze’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Funded by Interior Health Tobacco Cessation Program to attend Mayo Conference on Tobacco Cessation and to teach in this area – paid on hourly basis. Not funded to submit the article.



Kennard Tan

Dr. Tan is a Medical Microbiologist at Fraser Health. He received his Medical Degree from the University of Alberta, and trained at UBC, and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He also has a Masters in Health Informatics, and is a physician leader and consultant for informatics and data analytics teams in multiple health authorities, including PHSA, and the Ministry of Health.

See Dr. Ken Tan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Edward Tam MD FRCPC

Dr. Edward Tam is a hepatologist at Pacific Gastroenterology Associates in Vancouver, BC. He has been principal investigator in numerous clinical trials in the areas of hepatitis C, hepatitis B, primary biliary cholangitis, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and is active in education and community outreach. Dr. Tam is a longstanding board member of the Canadian Liver Foundation (CLF) BC/Yukon region, and its medical advisory committee. Currently, he has a full-time clinical practice managing all indications of liver disease.

See Dr. Edward Tam’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Intercept Pharmaceuticals: Advisory board/speaker honoraria/clinical investigator. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns and published guidelines (Primary Biliary Cholangitis: 2018 Practice Guidance from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases).


Dr. Paul Thiessen

Dr. Thiessen obtained his undergraduate and medical degree at the University of Alberta, completing his pediatric training at UBC and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He has a strong interest in children with special needs, and is the Medical Director of the Spinal Cord Clinic at BC Children’s Hospital which provides co-ordinated multidisciplinary care for children with spina bifida and spinal cord injuries. He has a keen interest in International Health, and has enjoyed the challenge of volunteer medical projects in Honduras, Ecuador, India, Ukraine and Uganda. He has a longstanding interest in medical education, and is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UBC.

See Dr. Thiessen’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures


Michele Thomasse MD

Michele Thomasse is a family physician in Kelowna, and has been a member of the Pathways resource committee since June 2020.

See Dr. Michele Thomasse’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Member of the PathwaysBC Provincial Resource Committee. PathwaysBC is a collaborative non-profit GPSC initiated project, freely available to all BC physicians and their teams.


Glynnis Tidball MSc (Aud, SLP) RAUD

Glynnis Tidball is a clinical audiologist at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver and clinical instructor at the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences in the UBC Faculty of Medicine. Her primary professional focus for the last 16 years has been clinical management of tinnitus and hyperacusis.

See Glynnis Tidball’s contributed posts

Disclosures: A) I am the audiologist that runs the St. Paul’s Hospital Tinnitus Clinic mentioned in the article. Patients pay the hospital for the services they receive here as tinnitus management is not covered by MSP.

B) Widex, a hearing instrument manufacturer, sponsors me to give presentations and pays for my registration fee at international tinnitus conferences. The article describes the benefits of hearing instruments but does not specifically identify Widex which is one of several manufacturers that make instruments for hearing loss and tinnitus management.

C) I have no financial interest in Sound IdEARS clinic.


Dr. Anna Tinker

Anna Tinker MD, FRCPC, Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Medicine and the UBC Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical Oncologist, British Columbia Cancer Agency. Dr. Tinker is a Medical Oncologist at the British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver Centre and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. She treats women with gynecologic cancers as her primary clinical focus. She enjoys teaching and mentoring students and residents. Her research interests are in the area of clinical trials and translational research. She has been an active member of OvCaRe and is the present Director of the Cheryl Brown Ovarian Cancer Outcomes Unit. She is an active member of the NCIC- Clinical Trials Group, and sits on the NCIC Ovarian Cancer Working Group Committee.

See Dr. Anna Tinker’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Mustafa Toma MD FRCPC

Dr. Mustafa Toma is a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia. He completed his training in internal medicine and cardiology in Edmonton, AB followed by training in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation at the Cleveland Clinic. His areas of interest are in advanced heart failure, cardiac transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support.

See Dr. Mustafa Toma`s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received honoraria from Pfizer Canada.


Dr. David Topps

Dr. David Topps is a Family Medicine Professor at the University of Calgary. Previously Director of Clinical Informatics at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, with over 20 years of experience in educational technology, mobile communications and ubiquitous computing. A family physician by background, he has worked in rural and remote medicine since 1984, turning to academic medicine in 1997. He has worked and taught in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, and has been part of a number of international collaborative projects. Current areas of research include digital professionalism, virtual patients, and mixed modality simulation in Interprofessional education.

See Dr. David Topps’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Konia Trouton BSc MD MPH FCFP

Dr. Trouton graduated from Queen’s University in 1990. She completed residency training in Calgary, followed by a Master’s of Public Health at Harvard in 1993. She has worked in contraceptive and abortion care in Ontario, New Brunswick, NWT, Alberta, and BC, where she founded the Vancouver Island Women’s Clinic in 2003. She is a clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at UBC and is engaged in various teaching and research initiatives in reproductive health.

See Konia Trouton’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Trouton has received honoraria from Bayer, Organon, and Searchlight for being on advisory boards. She has received honoraria from Bayer and Organon for teaching engagements. She is a medical consultant to Linepharma. Products of these companies are discussed in this article. To mitigate that bias, only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with the SOGC and CPS published guidelines, and consistent with current practice patterns.


Erica Tsang

Erica Tsang is a medical resident at the University of British Columbia. Her interests include internal medicine, medical education, public health, and working with marginalized populations.

See Erica Tsang’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Ricky Turgeon BSc(Pharm) ACPR PharmD

Dr. Ricky Turgeon is an assistant professor at the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and clinical pharmacy specialist in the PHARM-HF clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital. His clinical practice and research focus on integrating evidence and shared decision-making into the care of people living with cardiovascular disease, particularly patients with heart failure.

See Dr. Ricky Turgeon’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Kristin Turner MSc CCGC CGC

Kristin Turner is a board certified genetic counsellor with the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors and American Board of Genetic Counselling. She is a clinical genetic counsellor with the Hereditary Cancer Program (Abbotsford site) at the BC Cancer Agency. Kristin holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Queen’s University and a Master of Science in Genetic Counselling from the University of British Columbia.

See Kristin Turner’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.



Linda Uyeda MD CCFP

Dr. Uyeda is a family physician from Surrey, BC. She completed medical school and her family practice residency through the University of British Columbia. She works at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and several Fraser Health Youth Clinics. Over the past several years, she has begun educating in the community, speaking to groups about preventative measures we can all take to support our mental and physical health.

See Dr. Uyeda’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Engaged in public speaking and has received honoraria. Mitigating potential bias: The information provided about attachment theory and the recommendations outlined are referenced clearly to show where the evidence was obtained.



Dr. Antoinette van den Brekel

Dr. van den Brekel graduated from McGill Medical School, interned at St. Paul’s Hospital and went on to do pediatric residency at New England Medical Center in Boston. Following this she returned to Vancouver for fellowship training in pediatric hematology oncology. She has been practicing as a general pediatrician in BC since 1998. She is on staff at St Paul’s Hospital, caring for newborns. She is also active in undergraduate medical education. She is interested in seeing patients aged 0 to 18 with acute and chronic medical concerns. Aside from her passion for pediatrics, she is a happy wife and mother of three.

See Dr. Antoinette van den Brekel’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Sander Veldhuyzen van Zanten, MD FRCPC MSc MPH PhD

Dr. Veldhuyzen van Zanten has been a member of the University of Alberta GI Division since 2006. He is an Academic Gastroenterologist who went to medical school and did his Internal Medicine training in Holland. He did his GI training and a Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster’s University in Hamilton, Canada from 1986 to 1990. In 1992, he received a Ph.D. in Medicine on the topic of “Clinical Aspects of Helicobacter pylori infection” from the University of Amsterdam. From 1990 to 2006 he worked at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. In his last three years at Dalhousie University, he held the Howard Webster Department of Medicine Research Chair. From 2006-2017 he was the Director of the GI Division at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Since 2017 he is the Senior Medical Director of the Digestive Health Strategic Clinical Network (SCN) of Alberta Health Services (AHS).

See Dr. Veldhuyzen van Zanten’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received peer and non-peer-reviewed funding for clinical studies of Helicobacter infection in the past. Received speaker fees and member of advisory boards for H. pylori related activities. None in the last five years. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with published Canadian and International guidelines. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Dr. Colleen Varcoe

Dr. Colleen Varcoe is a professor in the University of British Columbia School of Nursing. Her clinical background is in Emergency, Critical Care and Primary Health care. Her research focuses on violence and inequity, with an emphasis on both structural and interpersonal violence. Her completed research includes studies of the risks and health effects of violence, including for rural and Indigenous women. Her current research includes studies to promote equity (including cultural safety, harm reduction, and trauma- and violence-informed care) in primary health care and Emergency and studies of health interventions for women who have experienced violence, most recently for Indigenous women.

See Dr. Varcoe’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Co-led the EQUIP research team and oversaw the design of the EQUIP toolkit and related knowledge mobilization. Mitigating Potential Bias: Only published trial data is presented.


Vishal Varshney, MD FRCPC

Dr. Vishal Varshney is an anesthesiologist and pain medicine physician at Providence Healthcare, Vancouver, BC, Canada. He completed medical school from the University of Calgary, and his residency in anesthesiology at the University of British Columbia. He completed his fellowship in Pain Medicine at the University of Calgary, being one of the first physicians certified in Pain Medicine by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in western Canada. He has an interest in neuromodulation and administration, serving as a board member for both the Canadian Neuromodulation Society and the British Columbia Anesthesiologists’ Society.

See Dr. Vishal Varshney’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received honoraria from Medtronic Abbott. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Dr. Kiran Veerapen

Dr. Veerapen trained in Rheumatology in the United Kingdom and practiced in Malaysia from 1986 to 2004. As a pioneer Rheumatologist in Malaysia, she led the field in early descriptive and epidemiological studies in the region.

In 2004, she moved to British Columbia and has been involved in Medical Education since 2006. In 2008 she completed a Master’s degree in Medical Education through the University of Dundee and in 2012, she was awarded a PhD from the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program at the University of Victoria.  Her doctoral thesis is entitled “The impact of uniprofessional medical and nursing education on the ability to work collaboratively”.

As Assistant Dean, Faculty Development, she is committed to remaining responsive to emerging needs in undergraduate and postgraduate education in the Faculty of Medicine. Her current interests are developing contextually relevant longitudinal programs for residents and teachers and innovative strategies for Inter-professional Faculty Development

As Director of Assessment for Undergraduate Medical Education, UBC, she has led the development and implementation of Programmatic Assessment.

See Dr. Kiran Veerapen’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Rohit Vijh MD MPH CCFP

Dr. Rohit Vijh (he/him/his) is a community family physician and Medical Health Officer at Vancouver Coastal Health. Rohit completed his BSc at McGill University in Pharmacology and his Doctor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He also completed his Master of Public Health at the University of British Columbia with a focus on epidemiology and biostatistics. He completed his family medicine and public health and preventive medicine residency at UBC. He currently works as a sessional STI physician at the BC Centre for Disease Control. In addition to this work, he is working full-time as a Medical Health Officer and Regional Medical Director of Communicable Disease Control at Vancouver Coastal Health.

See Dr. Rohit Vijh’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Board Member Vancouver Division of Family Practice Locuum Family Physician, Mid Main Community Health Centre CBT Skills Physician Facilitator, CBT Skills STI Sessional Physician, BCCDC Public Health and Preventive Medicine Resident, UBC PGME Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, UBC (receive payments for teaching UGME/PGME students). Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines (BCCDC, PHAC, Perinatal Services BC). Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Diane Villanyi MD FRCP(C)

Dr. Diane Villanyi, Clinical Assistant Professor, is a geriatrician working at VGH and UBCH.  Her clinical areas of interest are polypharmacy, frailty, osteoporosis and preventive health with a goal to optimize QOL for the elderly.

See Dr. Diane Villanyi’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Hester Vivier MBChB MBA

Dr. Hester Vivier is a family physician. She completed her medical degree in 1987 at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and worked in England, Newfoundland and Manitoba before eventually settling in Langley, B.C. in 2002. Dr. Vivier is involved in the Hear Africa Foundation, a non-profit society whose mandate is to create sustainable solutions to the issues of poverty, social support, health care, education and infrastructure development in Zimbabwe. Dr. Vivier earned a Master’s of Business Administration in 2012 at Trinity Western University and is using these newfound skills to improve clinic management.

See Dr. Hester Vivier’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.



Tony Wan MD FRCPC

Dr. Tony Wan completed his MD undergraduate training and core internal medicine residency at UBC. Dr. Wan went to Ottawa for one year to complete a clinical fellowship in thrombosis. He is an active member of Thrombosis Canada and The Canadian Venous Thromboembolism Clinical Trials and Outcomes Research (CanVECTOR) Network. Dr. Wan divides his clinical time between the clinical teaching unit service at St. Paul’s Hospital and the Thrombosis Clinic, where he focuses on the management of venous thromboembolism and anticoagulation.

See Dr. Tony Wan’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received honoraria from AstraZeneca for work on the regional clinical protocol for the reversal of direct oral anticoagulants in patients with major bleeding. Mitigating potential bias: Only published trial data is presented. Recommendations are consistent with published ASH and ASCO guidelines on thromboprophylaxis. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements.


Emily Wagner MSc

Emily Wagner, MSc, is the Senior Medical Writer at the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU), where she provides content development, writing and editing support on a variety of projects that support the translation of research evidence into clinical practice. She worked closely with the BCCSU guideline committee and chairs to develop the Provincial Guideline for the Clinical Management of Opioid Use Disorder. Emily completed her Master’s of Science at Simon Fraser University. Prior to joining the BCCSU in 2015, she worked as a Research Manager at BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre for seven years in the field of reproductive infectious diseases.

See Emily Wagner’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Andrea Warnick RN MA

Andrea Warnick is a Nurse Psychotherapist whose passion lies in helping families and communities support children who are grieving the illness or death of someone close to them. With a degree in nursing, a Master’s degree in Thanatology and years of nursing experience both in Canada and abroad, Andrea brings to her work a rare mixture of medical and psychosocial expertise. Andrea currently runs an independent education and counselling in Toronto, Andrea Warnick Consulting.

See Andrea Warnick’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Self-employed Nurse Psychotherapist. No conflict of interest.


Dr. Ed Weiss

Dr. Ed Weiss is a family physician who practices in Toronto. He completed medical school at the University of Western Ontario and residency at McMaster University. He also practices part-time at the Immunodeficiency Clinic at University Health Network.

See Dr. Ed Weiss’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Clinical trials with the University Health Network. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Randall F. White MD FRCPC

Dr. Randall F. White is clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and the medical director of the British Columbia Psychosis Program at UBC Hospital. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, and a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and has practiced psychiatry in Canada and the United States. In addition to pursuing clinical care, research and education in his subspecialty of treatment-resistant psychosis, he has collaborated with family physicians in several primary-care settings. He has written on medical topics and health policy for Medscape.com, The Vancouver Observer, The Victoria Times-Colonist, The Medical Post, and maintains a blog on psychosis research.

See Dr. White’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. White is a freelance medical writer for Medscape.com which is sponsored by pharmaceutical companies including Shire, Janssen, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.


Daryl Wile MD MSc FRCPC

Dr. Wile is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Southern Medical Program, UBC Okanagan. He completed medical school and Neurology residency at the University of Calgary and fellowship training at the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre supported by the Parkinson Society Canada. His research interests include genetic and imaging markers of clinical differences in Parkinson’s disease, applying telemedicine services in Parkinson’s disease, and analysis of tremor.

See Dr. Daryl Wile’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Wile received fellowship support from the Parkinson’s Society of Canada. No conflict of interest is perceived. Mitigating statement: Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statement.


Graeme E Wilkins MD FRCPC

Dr. Wilkins was a Clinical Professor Emeritus (Ret.) at the UBC Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and he also chaired the weekly Endocrine Rounds for residents and staff at St. Paul’s Hospital. His major teaching interest have been to introduce residents and fellows to the management of patients with endocrine disease by utilization of clinical practice and office practice. Post Graduate Training: Junior internship: Toronto Western Hospital- 1965-66. Assistant Resident Medicine: Vancouver General Hospital- 1966-67. Fellow in Metabolism: Toronto Western Hospital- 1967-1968. MRC Fellow in Endocrinology: Vancouver General Hospital 1968-69. Chief Resident Medicine: Vancouver General Hospital- 1969-1970. Fellow in Nuclear Medicine: Vancouver General hospital- 1970-1971.

He’s the recipient of 2006 The Prix d’Excellence from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Region 5, in recognition of his longstanding contribution to medical education and to the academic community. Dr. Wilkins has also received Career Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching: Awarded by UBC Faculty of Medicine in 2005.

See Dr. Graeme Wilkins’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Tandi Wilkinson MD CCFP-EM

Dr. Tandi Wilkinson practices rural emergency medicine, and divides her time between practice in Nelson BC and Yellowknife NT. She has an interest in the development and delivery of rurally specific medical education and is a consultant for UBC Rural Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program and the creator and medical lead of the UBC CPD HOUSE program, a travelling education program on point of care ultrasound for rural providers. She has a special interest in physician wellness. She has been a UBC Dept of Family Practice Rural Scholar Grant recipient, and is currently writing up her research on peer support.

See Dr. Tandi Wilkinson’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Received a UBC Dept of Family Practice Rural Scholar Grant to conduct research on the topic of peer support. Received a funding grant from Rural Coordination Center of BC (RCCbc) to support that project. Mitigating Potential Bias: No conflicts of interest. The article is consistent with current recommendations.


Dr. Christina Williams

Dr. Christina Williams is a Gynaecologist at the BC Women’s Centre for Pelvic Pain & Endometriosis. She holds a UBC Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.Dr. Williams’ practice involves helping women with pelvic pain, endometriosis, infertility, fibroids, and recurrent pregnancy loss. Her expertise is in advanced minimally invasive surgery for both pelvic pain and infertility including microsurgical tubal reversal, laparoscopic tubal reconstruction, fibroid removal, excision of complex endometriosis and laparoscopic hysterectomy. As the former Medical Director of the BC Women’s Centre for Reproductive Health and UBC IVF Program, she continues to be very interested in Assisted Reproduction, especially where it pertains to Endometriosis. Through Dr. Williams’ advocacy efforts, the interdisciplinary Centre for Pelvic Pain & Endometriosis was created in 2011 and continues to provide active research, teaching and clinical services for women with this complex disease.

See Dr. Christina Williams’ contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Katarina Wind

Dr. Wind is a Family Medicine PGY2 in the UBC St. Paul’s residency program. She has a pre-clinical background in biochemistry and diabetes research. Her current clinical interests are in weight-inclusive care, women’s health, and palliative care.

See Dr. Katarina Wind’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Dr. Michelle Withers

Dr. Michelle Withers is a community-based medical and surgical dermatologist. She completed her undergraduate training and medical school at the University of British Columbia. She graduated from the Department of Dermatology and Skin Science at UBC in 2004 and now practices in north Burnaby. Dr. Withers is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the UBC Department of Dermatology and Skin Science and teaches medical students and residents in her private office. She is the president of the Dermatology Society of British Columbia and an active member of the Canadian Dermatology Association.

See Dr. Michelle Withers’ contributed posts

Disclosures: Advisory board for Pediapharm and Valeant, both makers of barrier repair creams. Honorarium from Valeant, speaking on atopic dermatitis.


Jason Wong MD MPH CCFP FRCPC

Dr. Jason Wong is a public health and preventive medicine specialist at the BC Centre for Disease Control. He has a doctor of medicine (MD) from the University of Alberta and a master of public health (MPH) from the University of British Columbia. He holds a Certification in the College of Family Physicians (CCFP) and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC).  Dr. Wong is currently the Medical Director for the Clinical Prevention Services division at the BC Centre for Disease Control where he provides public health leadership for the prevention and control of sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBIs) as well as tuberculosis (TB). He is also a clinical assistant professor in the UBC School of Population & Public Health.

See Dr. Jason Wong’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Maggie Wong ACPR PharmD

Dr. Maggie Wong is the pharmacy coordinator for Fraser Health antimicrobial stewardship program (AMS) in British Columbia. Her interest in infectious diseases began when she was the outpatient antimicrobial therapy clinic (OPAT)/home IV pharmacist from 2012 to 2016. She subsequently worked as an inpatient AMS pharmacist at various sites prior to becoming the coordinator. She has done a few quality improvement projects on topics such as asymptomatic bacteriuria and reducing the use of broad spectrum antibiotics in a vascular ward. Her research interests include carbapenemase-producing organisms and multidrug-resistant pseudomonas aeruginosa.

See Dr. Maggie Wong’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Steve Wong MD FRCPC

Dr. Steve Wong completed his MD degree at the University of Calgary. He joined the Internal Medicine residency program at the University of British Columbia and completed a fifth year in the General Internal Medicine Fellowship with a focus on perioperative medicine.

Dr. Wong has developed a number of courses and initiatives aimed at bridging technology, evidence-based medicine and clinical practice in close collaboration with the UBC Division of Continuing Professional Development (UBC CPD). He is currently the Medical Director for “This Changed My Practice”, a free, web-based educational resource for BC physicians at UBC CPD. The site won the Royal College award for Innovation in Medical Education as well as the CFPC Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program Award .

Currently in practice in Vancouver at the Seymour Clinic and in Richmond, BC as a General Internist, Dr. Wong’s clinical interests include hypertension, lipids, cardiology and global management of diabetics. He also attends on the clinical teaching unit at VGH and has trainees 12 months a year integrated into all of his practice environments.

See Dr. Wong’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Speaker’s honoraria: Abbott, Bayer, Lilly, Janssen, Novonordisk, Boehringer-Ingelheim.


Tiffany Wong MD, FRCPC

Tiffany Wong is a Pediatric Allergy consultant and a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Paediatrics at BC Children’s Hospital. She received her MD at UBC, completed her pediatric residency at the University of Calgary and fellowship training in Allergy and Immunology at UBC. She is currently the Medical Lead for the BC Children’s Hospital Allergy Clinic and Hudson Scholar for 2020-2022. Her primary areas of interest are in health quality improvement, drug, and food allergy. She has been working with the Antimicrobial Stewardship Steering Committee at BC Children’s Hospital to remove labels of penicillin allergy in pediatric patients.​ In addition, she has provided guidance and leadership in the development of penicillin de-labeling programs at multiple hospitals and community centers across the province.

See Dr. Tiffany Wong`s contributed posts

Disclosures: I have received honoraria from Stallergenes-Greer and Pfizer. I am a member of Leo Pharma advisory board. I have received funding from PHSA Medical Staff Association Engagement Funding.
Mitigating Potential Bias: Only published trial data is presented. Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements. Recommendations are consistent with published guidelines. Recommendations are consistent with current practice patterns.


Susan Woolhouse, MD, MClSc, CCFP, FCFP

Dr. Susan Woolhouse is a family physician in Toronto, Ontario. In addition to her primary care practice with the Inner City Health Associates, she provides medical assistance in dying (MAID) and has a small grief therapy practice for children and teens. She is Co-Chair of the Palliative Care/End of Life and MAID Collaborative Mentoring Network with the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

See Dr. Susan Woolhouse`s contributed posts

Disclosures: Co-Chair of the Ontario College of Family Physicians Palliative/End of Live Care and MAID Collaborative Mentoring Network.  Medical advisor on the Behaviour Protocols Committee at L’Arche Community (volunteer). No conflicts of interest. Mitigating Potential Bias: Recommendations are consistent with the evidence-based literature about and practice standards on how to support grieving children and their families. Given that MAID is so new, tips are extrapolations from this literature.


Dr. Alissa Wright

Dr. Alissa Wright is trained in infectious disease subspecializing in the care of immunocompromised patients. She has established a Transplant Infectious Disease program for both solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. She is a consultant for BC Transplant on infectious disease issues in organ donors, BC Cancer on infectious issues in cancer patients, and is the current Division Head for Infectious Disease at Vancouver Acute.

See Dr. Alissa Wright`s contributed posts

Disclosures: Single session advisory board meetings for AVIR Pharma, Pendopharm, Merck and Takeda. No relationship is currently ongoing. Received funding from Shire/Takeda from being the site PI on a study of a commercial product for CMV treatment. The products were antifungals, CMV treatment or antibiotics. None were related to COVID. Received speaker fees from Merck, Roche, Sanofi Genzyme for talks. The only talk around COVID was for Sanofi Genzyme and it was specific the MS group and around the benefits of vaccination. I was a member of the COVID therapeutics committee who created the treatment guidelines. Mitigating potential bias: Treatments or recommendations in this article are unrelated to products/services/treatments involved in disclosure statements with the exception of my participation on the COVID Therapeutics Committee. We have used the CTC guidelines (which are provincial) to draft this paper.


Dr. Andre van Wyk MBChB MBA

Dr. Andre van Wyk is a family physician. He graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 1988. After finishing medical school, he worked in England, before coming to Canada in 1992. He worked in Newfoundland for 2 years and rural Manitoba for 9 years, taking a sabbatical in 1998 to complete a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at the University Cape Town, South Africa. He has a special interest in child and youth mental health, serving as the founding co-chair of the Langley Youth Action Team (LAT) tasked with reducing barriers to access to child and youth mental health in our community. He is a founding board member of the Langley Division of Family Practice and is also involved in peer teaching through Practice Support Program of Doctors of BC and is a clinical instructor at UBC.

See Dr. Andre van Wyk’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.



Julianne Yeager

Julianne Yeager is an associate lawyer and a member of the Law Society of British Columbia. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with an undergraduate degree in Political Science, and graduated with Distinction from the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice in Oxford, England. Julianne has appeared as counsel before the Provincial and Supreme Courts of British Columbia. In her litigation practice she represents clients, both employees and employers, from the initial stages of negotiation up to trial. She also advises employers on workplace matters including employment contracts, employee discipline, and lawful termination of employment. She lives and works on Vancouver’s North Shore.

See Julianne Yeager’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Associate lawyer at an employment law firm. Mitigating potential bias: Recommendations are consistent with legal advice.


Eric M. Yoshida MD MHSc FRCP(C) FACP FACG

Dr. Eric Yoshida is a Professor of Medicine and the Past Head of the Division of Gastroenterology of the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver General Hospital. Dr. Yoshida is the past Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Program of BC Transplant and remains a member of the liver transplant program. He is the Head of the BC Hepatitis Program, a partnership of the BC Centre for Disease Control and the UBC Division of Gastroenterology and is the Past President of the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver. He is the Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee of the national Canadian Liver Foundation as well as the Chair of the MAC of the local BC Canadian Liver Foundation. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Liver Journal, the official journal of the Canadian Asosciation for the Study of the Liver. He has been appointed to the Order of British Columbia.

See Dr. Yoshida’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Yoshida has been the principle investigator of clinical trials sponsored by Vertex Inc, Merck Inc (formerly Schering Plough), Hoffman LaRoche Inc, Pfizer Inc, Boringher Ingleheim Inc, Norvartis Inc, Gilead Sciences Inc, Astellas Inc, Human Genome Sciences Inc. He has received unrestricted research grants from Cangene Corp, Hoffman LaRoche Inc and has received honouraria for CME lectures and industry sponsored forums/symposia from Hoffman LaRoche, Merck Inc, Vertex Inc and Cangene Corp. He is a consultant for BC Pharmacare in the area of viral hepatitis adjudication.


Cheryl Young MD CCFP

Dr. Young is a fifth year Public Health and Preventive Medicine Resident at the University of British Columbia and a family physician in Vancouver. She completed medical school at the University of Toronto.

See Dr. Cheryl Young’s contributed posts

Disclosures: Dr. Young completed a residency rotation at BCCDC, which developed and hosts the radon exposure map described in the article.
Mitigating potential bias: Development of radon-awareness materials was within Dr. Young’s responsibilities during her rotation at BCCDC and she did not receive any additional payment for this work. Recommendations are consistent with current public health practice.


Terence Yung MD FRCPC

Dr. Yung is a Clinical Instructor with the UBC Division of General Internal Medicine. He practices primarily at St. Paul’s Hospital, where he provides care to hospitalized patients with complex acute medical problems. His outpatient practice at the Rapid Access Clinic sees referrals for multisystem chronic disease management, assessment of preoperative and postoperative patients, and other internal medicine problems. At Vancouver General Hospital, he is also a staff physician on the IMPCT (Internal Medicine Perioperative Care Team) service. His areas of interest include perioperative care of surgical patients, management of multisystem chronic diseases, and integration of point-of-care ultrasound into clinical practice. Dr. Yung received his MD from the University of Toronto and completed his Internal Medicine residency and General Internal Medicine fellowship at UBC. Afterwards at McMaster University, he also finished the Perioperative Vascular Medicine training program under the mentorship of Dr. P.J. Devereaux.”

See Dr. Terence Yung’s contributed posts

Disclosures: None.



Dr. Nadia Zalunardo

Dr. Zalunardo is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the UBC Division of Nephrology. Her clinical practice is based at Vancouver General Hospital; she also provides Nephrology consultation service in North Vancouver. She is the medical director of the kidney care clinic at VGH. She has an interest in optimizing the timing of dialysis preparation including vascular access creation for hemodialysis.

See Dr. Nadia Zalunardo’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.


Lily Zhou

Lily Zhou is an adult neurology resident at UBC. She completed her undergraduate degree in Health Sciences at McMaster and her MD at UOttawa before being seduced by the mountains and Pacific Ocean.
Her interest in education began in medical school, where she helped prepare more than 700 students for their MCATs. She is the neurology associate editor for the Wiki Journal club website and smart phone app, an educational tool for evidence based medicine, as well as the editor of the UBC student and resident neurology handbook, a resource for rotating students and residents with pearls on neurological examination, localization and approaches to common inpatient neurological consult issues. She is currently completing a master’s in epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. When not working or studying, she is a champion sleeper and youtube surfer and occasional jogger, swing dancer and experimental chef.

See Lily Zhou’s contributed posts

Disclosures: No disclosures.