2024

Unemployment and worklessness are critical social determinants of health and economic stability. Losing their livelihood can put workers at greater risk of morbidity, mortality, and social harms. For employers, losing experienced workers can cause them hardship, affecting overall productivity, staff morale, and their workers’ compensation costs.[1,2]

British Columbia is facing a critical health crisis that is inextricably linked to the environment. Extreme weather events like wildfires, heat waves, and droughts are on the rise, impacting public health.[1] These events are directly connected to the global rise in temperatures caused by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas.[1] The increase in fossil fuel emissions is trapping heat around our planet, turning what were once rare weather events into frequent, severe health emergencies.

Dr Ahmer A. Karimuddin

There is no better or more important time than now to lean in and commit even more to our patients, our work as physicians, and each other as human beings.

I was going to write this editorial as a rant, Rick Mercer style, regarding the woes of family medicine, but I think we are all aware of the ongoing crisis facing us by now. Then I considered writing a Kumbaya piece instead, but that would have been disingenuous. I settled on looking at how 2023 was a year of positive change for family medicine.

I am on a journey of self-reflection and education about Canada’s treatment of Indigenous people. It has been humbling to discover the multitude of ways that I have been oblivious to the harmful traditions of colonialism and my role within them. My complicity could be passed off as unwitting, but that would be too generous. I have learned that it’s my responsibility to actively look for ways to improve myself and our systems in order to do better.