Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈

FM-trained rural emerg doc. Mom of 4 amazing kids, owned by way too many pets, total nerd.

[Ken Milne MD @TheSGEM]

@alandrummond2 It's an emergency department compartment syndrome.

More EMS funding & offloading nurses will not unclog the ED.

While it might solve the EMS problem, it could worsen ED crowding.
@raghu_venugopal @OntariosDoctors @flindall_steve @CanadianKayMD @davidcarr333

[Dr. Fiona Mattatall 🪩🇨🇦 @FionaMattatall]

As of November 1, we're updating how we protect newborns from RSV.

Instead of relying on parental vaccination during pregnancy, babies will be offered a monoclonal antibody after birth for direct protection.
https://t.co/XMvCY2PNPg

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@FionaMattatall I am thankful I have the freedom to pursue my goals, to do the work I love, to raise my family in peace. So many things.

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@DrSarahAxelrath Yeah. I put on audiobooks or podcasts and I snooze. Love flying.

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@Dale_Chapman_NB @Kidsdoc1Rick Mission accomplished.

[Ken Milne MD @TheSGEM]

@fordnation They are long wait times in rural communities when the ER is closed for hours, day or the every weekend. Will this initiative address this problem?
@alandrummond2 @NightShiftMD @raghu_venugopal

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@CraigBaird Agreed

[Neil Stone @DrNeilStone]

YOU LOVE TO SEE IT

Life expectancy for people with cystic fibrosis going up and up and up and uo

That's what REAL science does.

😍

[alan drummond @alandrummond2]

This is true across Canada - big hospitals and small.

With over 20% of our hospital beds occupied by the so-called ALC patient, it is no wonder we are forced to board patients in our ERs.

Each boarded patient denies at least three to four non-urgent patients per hour access to treatment in the ER.

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

This is true of Island ERs as well.

We lack beds for admitted patients because we lack long term care beds and sufficient home supports to be able to discharge patients from the hospital when their acute issue is resolved.

No one should be in hospital who does not need to be.

[Raghu Venugopal MD @raghu_venugopal]

I'm going to make it plain and simple what is the cardinal sin plaguing Ontario ERs before Premier Ford and during his tenure:
1) We lack hospital beds for admitted patients.
2) We lack hospital beds for admitted patients.
3) We lack hospital beds for admitted patients.

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@GamerEMDoc @nsidaniel11 @ConemaughEMres Congratulations!

[Parksy @PfParks]

Let me be clear: we know from evidence in countries around the world that physician dual practice drains resources away from the public system and, in many cases, increases wait times for public patients.

This goes directly against the spirit of the Canada Health Act.
1/3

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@jonathanstea I’m sorry for your loss, and hope your memories of her are a comfort in her absence.

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@DrAmandaSelk A few years ago for a talk I tried to find data on Indigenous maternal health outcomes and there was very little available. My suspicion is we would see similar or worse numbers for Indigenous mothers too. Hard to fix a problem you don’t measure.

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@TheSGEM @EverydayMed Sad I couldn’t join you all. I’m sure it’ll be a fantastic evening.

[Kevin Pho, M.D. @kevinmd]

Women physicians get 25 percent more patient portal messages than men in the exact same practice, and 26 percent more from their own support staff. That is Dawn Sears's figure, and it is one of the quieter reasons she thinks women leave medicine.

Sears, a gastroenterologist for 25 years, has seen it from both sides. She trained with no duty hours and no maternity leave, raised three kids, and served as program director and chief while working 0.8.

Her starting point: "the system was designed for someone who is a male, who is married to a female, who is at home taking care of everything." Seventy to 85 percent of women physicians are moms, and many carry the elder care too. An article she read in May put the average age at which women physicians leave at 45.

She takes on the obvious objection, that someone who plans to leave early should not apply at all. She had classmates who never practiced, and it bothered her. But "we thought we could do it all, and we were sold a pile of lies." She points to April 2020, when visits went from almost all in person to 80 percent virtual within four weeks. Health care can move fast when it has to.

What she says works:

Staff the inbox. If women get 25 percent more messages, give them 25 percent more MAs to sort the real medical questions from the venting.

Ease the return. Three colleagues of hers asked in the past month for 50 percent of call and 50 percent of weekends for the first six months after a baby, and they got it.

Add five days. Women need more screenings, and their children need well visits.

Do the math. Losing her costs half a million to a million dollars, far more than the time she is asking for.

And when a partner says it isn't fair, she asks whether they like their call schedule as it is, because if she quits in two months, their call is going to double.

Listen to the full conversation on The Podcast by KevinMD. Link in the replies.

Search "The Podcast by KevinMD" wherever you listen to podcasts

What is one change your practice made that kept a physician from leaving? #ThePodcastbyKevinMD #WomenInMedicine

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@DrEleanore1 It was fantastic. Here’s a clip of my fight. There was a bit of a storyline to it hence the talking and stuff haha

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

Maritime Sword School will be at the Enchanted Book Ball fundraiser for the library tonight. We’ll be opening the ball with a live fight. There are still a handful of tickets!

[Kay M. Dingwell🍁🩺🏳️‍🌈 @CanadianKayMD]

@TheSGEM @IncrEMentuMconf Still sad I couldn’t come! Looking forward to when I can attend.