November

Dr Ronald Walker (Ron) was born in Quebec but told everyone he left at 6 weeks of age because he didn’t speak French.

The first study to compare the development of and survival from cancer between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in British Columbia, conducted jointly by the BC Cancer Agency and First Nations Health Authority, shows a lower incidence of the disease for Indigenous people overall but also lower survival rates for most cancers. (The 1993 to 2010 data set includes only Status Indian peoples and not all First Nations, Métis, or Inuit peoples in BC.)

A new US study conducted in a cancer centre in a state with legalized medicinal and recreational marijuana found that approximately one-quarter of surveyed patients used marijuana in the past year, mostly for physical and psychological symptoms. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study also revealed that legalization increased the likelihood for use among patients.

More than 400 doctors have improved the quality of their patient data by using the Practice Support Program’s (PSP) new set of EMR-based tools. The Understanding Your Patient Panel tools support doctors in managing their patient panels so that they can use the data to inform planned, proactive care.