At the end of 2019 the @CASUpdate wellness committee was formed. I had two broad goals for my term as Chair
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supported by an amazing committee (I didn’t know a 🌎 pandemic ws coming!)
1.Train anesthesiologists 2provide quality evidence based #PeerSupport 2one another,esp after critical events&encourage creation of institutional peer support programs
👀 4more on this another day
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2. To embed tangible & specific wellness recommendations into our National Guidelines (because healthy physicians are safer physicians and also…urmmm…basic humanity!)
- Appropriate breaks 🚽
- Enough rest 😴
- Skilled help esp after hrs 👩🏽⚕️
- Transparent&equitable policies
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- Transparent&equitable hiring & scheduling 🗓
- Zero tolerance of discrimination/harassment/bullying based on any identity (microaggressions def a form of bullying) 🛑
- Support during career transitions 🚊
The wonderful Standards committee,Chaired by Dr Dobson,reached out
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With the help of many smart folks on my committee - special shout out to @AnitaChakravar2@MndpSingh7@YesSrICanBougie@DrFadiTO @annekwong and all the non-tweeps - we managed to embed all of the above, based on the wellness literature and our own experiences
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This is the *first* major rehaul of the wellness section of our standards
It is now entitled Physician Health and Wellness
Next few tweets are screenshots of the context for this new section and the recommendations 📸
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We recognize that this is just a start and there’s much more to do.
The #Wellness and Standards committees will continue our collaboration and update and refine as we continue to listen & learn
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Our hope is that leaders in Canadian #anesthesia translate these recommendations into practice.
Tagging a few of those leaders here to please 📣 & implement these recommendations
Addendum
Many of the Wellness Committee members (including our two fantastic resident members) are not on Twitter. But their names are listed on the @CASUpdate website. So much gratitude to all of them for their extra work in the MIDST OF A PANDEMIC! Fin/
Ah the risks of forgetting to tag people who actually *are* on Twitter and were so central to the committee and the work (I’m blaming having to online school my kiddos for my short term amnesia!) @cpaolag@brittp_27@sukhibasran
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The surgical procedure may be short&sweet but the patient may be
very sick
have multiple co-morbidities
be anxious
have previous trauma
or
have a number of other reasons that require
a careful,gentle,quiet anesthetic
This takes planning, time, & an abundance of skill
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2. Basic lack of respect or understanding for the role of other key people in your team has been shown time and time again to impede the above mentioned planning/time/use of skill
This phenomenon of lack of respect is especially felt by minoritized physicians
Questioning of womens’ expertise doesn’t always come via men
I had to be “appropriately confident” (to quote the brill @DrJenGunter) recently when my professional expertise was questioned
A female colleague asked for a male colleague to get involved in something which was
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A) clearly within my domain of expertise
B) I had been working on w another woman of colour expert
C) I had been working on for some time as it was complex
During the meeting I clearly outlined mine and my colleagues expertise and our ability to appropriately advise&manage
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When said colleague and I debriefed afterwards she said she “couldn’t believe” I had done that.
That I had just said it
Plainly
No nonsense
Just like that
In front of everyone
But that she was happy I did
I’m at a stage&age where being “appropriately confident”
When I think about colleagues who’ve influenced me,rarely is it their academic work/publications I think of
Rather it’s their ➡️humility
➡️ability to hold space
➡️compassion
➡️advocacy
➡️integrity
So,the past few weeks when greeted w “Oh I’m so glad it’s you!” by a colleague 1/
who is a patient, or by a colleague with whom I’m working with that day on a complex case; or a patient in clinic asking “could YOU look after me in the OR?”; or a colleague who calls me cos’ their child is havin a *really* hard time as woman of colour in medicine; or a friend 2/
who says “I don’t think my specialist is listening to me& I’m scared - can you help?”; or an acquaintance who asks “can you talk to me about vaccine risks”; or a parent who says “can we chat about how hard this home schooling thing is?”; or a group of physicians doing 3/
What I’ve learnt about advocacy work from my running app...
“It’s not about speed, it’s about endurance,”she reminds me as I find myself flagging half way through the run.A little voice in my ear,the steady&reliable lady on my app,reminding me,“One foot in front of the other”
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I keep going. This non-runner, trying time remember how far I’ve come from week 1 till now.
I think about how much work there is still left to do with regard to anti-oppression, anti-racism, the intersectionality of race and gender, and my head begins to swim.
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The little “to-do lists” are popping up in my mind. Pinging at me and stinging my conscious.
“You’re not doing enough, not working hard enough,”
And then my trusted running coach again, in my ear,
“Remember how hard you’ve worked, keep running. Slow down. Just don’t stop.”
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