Canadian Medical Association

I remember when Tommy Douglas introduced Medicare in the province of Saskatchewan.

The Liberals, the Conservatives, the Chambers of Commerce, every right-wing organization you could possibly think of, including the Medical Association, the Canadian Medical Association.

They even had the American Association putting money into trying to destroy that Medicare program that Tommy Douglas tried to introduce.

Fortunately, they were not able to do so.

No, but I think that's why this podcast continues is that are still acknowledging the systemic issues that our people are facing.

You know, even at one of the guests from last season talking about how the Canadian Medical Association doesn't even acknowledge racism and discrimination in their code of ethics.

Acknowledging that there are still deficits.

It starts everywhere.

It's hard even saying that alcohol use disorder is a disease because I've seen people roll their eyes.

I did put in a request to the Canadian Medical Association for a response to the criticisms that doctors don't address alcohol use disorder effectively because of insufficient education and training in substance use.

A reply from Media Relations said it was too niche a topic for their spokespeople, and instead they suggested the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

That group didn't have a spokesperson available by deadline, and pointed me to a section of the website which outlines how family doctors should screen for and treat alcohol use disorder, including with medications.

The collagen hashtag has passed 4.4 billion views on TikTok and influencers are selling it as a fountain of youth.

The Canadian Medical Association reports that 62% of us regularly run into faults or misleading health information online.

So on today's health tag, we're checking collagen against the research, what's real, what's hype, and what's worth your money.

Right, Kat? Linda, collagen is everywhere.

So Marlee, having that human in the loop, that, the healthcare professional being the one to sort of understand and digest and communicate.

You know, and I'll also share that the Canadian Medical Association has a great page that outlines, like, when you're using ChatGPT for health-related questions, how you might think about what you get from ChatGPT.

So we can link that page in the chats to the podcast as well.

And one last thing.

Okay, sweet.

Obviously, CMA presidency is a pretty big deal.

So congratulations and rep in Atlantic provinces and dermatology.

So double kudos from me.

So I found, I just found that between those different experiences, I like to be involved in leadership and to be at the table as it were.

So I finished at UBT in 2018.

And what the CMA does at the time, they had a, yeah, it was a rotation list of kind of which province or territory the CMA president would be coming from.

And I did notice that about seven to eight years into practice, he'd be from Newfoundland and Labrador.

Um, you know, through all of the angst and the, um, the time consumed by the conflict with the Americans, the trade conflict, and the convulsive nature of the president's, um, uh, time in office, uh, Trump 2.0, uh, there's a nagging problem that remains for Canada, which is fundamental to the country, of course, which is healthcare.

And it has kind of fallen off the radar, but the Canadian Medical Association is hoping that it does not.

Um, we're joined b- now by Dr. Bolu Ogunyemi, the president of the CMA.

Welcome to the show, Doctor.

... seeing resonating very loud and clear from coast to coast to coast from, you know, from, from Canadians, that, uh, it's important that access to the medical necessary care is based on the need and not on ability to pay, right? So people shouldn't be able to jump the queue just because they have deep pockets, right? So that is something that is a sentiment that is, is, uh, yeah, is, is, I'm hearing consistently.

Doctor, appreciate your time.

Uh, Dr., uh, Bolu Ogundemi is the president of the Canadian Medical Association.

Thanks for coming on, sir.

There were many, uh, medical association who made a statement back then.

The Canadian Medical Association did it, for example.

But I thought that my dream was every phys- physician would say, "A hospital is not a target." And this is possible, but people needs to, to want to, um, to stick out their neck for things they believe.

And, and it takes effort.

Exactly.

Um, I'd like to throw a bouquet to the Canadian Medical Association this morning.

Um, they, in June, launched a national public action campaign, uh, which is encouraging Canadians to support stronger online safeguards for children through what's being known as the Safe Social Media Act.

Uh, if anyone would like to learn more about that, they can check their website healchildhood.ca. That's healchildhood.ca. And these doctors are very concerned about the harmful effects on physical, mental health of children when they're dealing with technology.

Um, that's increasing in children, and nearsightedness, dry eye because they blink less.

Uh, studies have shown that children using earbud headphones for any more than 80 minutes a day are five times as likely to develop hearing loss, and some doctors have even begun to notice arthritic issues in younger hands.

Uh, all of these things, uh, the Canadian Medical Association, uh, they're concerned about them and, uh, we all should be, in my humble opinion.

Um, Brian, I'd also like to talk about this incident involving Cornell University.