Welcome to the Section Update Newsletter | December 2010 |
What's the Scoop? | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Section Updates | |||||||||||||||||
| Read the latest news from your section. (Click on a title to show the article) | |||||||||||||||||
Adolescent Health |
Paediatric Emergency Medicine | ||||||||||||||||
Child and Youth Maltreatment |
Paediatric Environmental Health | ||||||||||||||||
Community Paediatrics |
Paediatric Oral Health | ||||||||||||||||
Hospital Paediatrics |
Residents | ||||||||||||||||
International Child Health |
Respiratory Health | ||||||||||||||||
Mental Health |
Sports and Exercise Medicine | ||||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||||
Adolescent Health Section | |||||||||||||||||
| Greetings! The Adolescent Health Section executive is thrilled to congratulate those who sat for the first-ever Royal College subspecialty examination in adolescent medicine, at the end of September 2010. We are certain these candidates will be happy to add the designation "subspecialist, adolescent medicine" to their professional title. Any paediatrician interested in writing the examination in 2011 should notify the Royal College NOW of your intent. The Adolescent Health Section is hoping to offer financial support to one trainee with demonstrated interest in adolescent health for attending the CPS Annual Conference. Stay tuned to the Section eForum to see if we can get a grant organized in time for the 2011 meeting. Happy holiday wishes from your Adolescent Health Section executive: Margo Lane, Mark Norris, Christina Grant and Johanne Harvey |
|||||||||||||||||
Allergy Section | |||||||||||||||||
Child and Youth Maltreatment Section | |||||||||||||||||
| The first Canadian Symposium for Advanced Practices for Child Abuse Pediatricians was held in Toronto on November 17th. This day-long conference was an opportunity for the more than 40 physician delegates to discuss practical and evidence-based approaches to treating children with suspected abusive injuries. Coordinated by Dr. Michelle Shouldice from Sick Kids, and with three participating teams of presenting physicians, this gathering offered topical review, open discussion and early steps to consensus-building in the management of bruises, fractures in infants, and head trauma. Careful prep-work meant that participants could share templates for evaluation, differential diagnoses and supportive references. These materials are being revised and the plan is to distribute them more broadly. We already appreciate how valuable this type of exchange is for our group, and ideas for a second symposium are now in the works. Stay tuned... The 2011 Annual Conference will be held in Quebec City in June. Please note that our Section is co-hosting an academic half-day program with the Association des Médecins en Protection de l'Enfance du Québec (AMPEQ) on Wednesday, June 15th. On the Tuesday afternoon, AMPEQ will organize an afternoon meeting where interesting and challenging cases will be discussed. An evening of fine dining in Quebec City will follow. More details are to come, but for those who plan their travel well in advance, be sure to arrive in time for these activities! Laurel
Chauvin-Kimoff | |||||||||||||||||
Community Paediatrics Section | |||||||||||||||||
| They're new and the CPS recommends them: Are you using the WHO growth charts in your practice? In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO), in conjunction with the United Nations Children's Fund, released new international growth charts. These charts depict the growth of children from birth to age five years in six different countries, in accordance with recommended nutritional and health practices, including exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. These charts are "growth standard" charts as opposed to "growth reference" charts. The U.S. CDC growth charts Canadian doctors have used to this point are growth reference charts: they describe how the sample population of children grew, regardless of whether their rate of growth was optimal or not. By contrast, children in the WHO growth study were raised in optimal conditions: their charts represent the best scenario of physiological growth for children from birth to five years of age. This is an important difference because we already use growth charts as growth standards with our patients! Earlier, in 2007, the WHO released charts for monitoring the growth of older children and adolescents that take into account the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. The CPS, along with the College of Family Physicians of Canada, Dieticians of Canada and Community Health Nurses of Canada, have come out in full support of the new WHO growth charts, recommending that all doctors use them for patients from birth to age 19 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations differ from the CPS position. The AAP recommends using the WHO charts from 0-24 months, and using the CDC charts from age 2 to 20 years. Their rationale for using the WHO growth charts for the 0-2 age group is similar to that of the CPS. The AAP's reasons for using the CDC growth charts for children aged 2 to 20 years include: 1) the methods used to create the WHO and CDC charts are similar after 24 months of age; 2) the CDC charts can be used continuously through age 19 years; and 3) transitioning at 24 months is feasible because measurements switch from recumbent length to standing height at this age. It is important that paediatricians across Canada be consistent in our approach to monitoring growth. Discuss this issue with your colleagues and engage with other community paediatricians and family physicians to ensure that the same standards for monitoring healthy growth are applied across Canada. USEFUL LINKS: For
the full joint-statement on the WHO growth charts, see: For a note to download for parents, see: For
an executive summary on the WHO growth charts, see: For additional information on the charts for health care professionals and parents: www.cps.ca/english/publications/CPS10-01.htm For
the AAP/CDC statement, visit: Martha Linkletter | |||||||||||||||||
Developmental Paediactrics Section | |||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||
Paediatric Emergency Medicine Section | |||||||||||||||||
| The Paediatric Emergency Medicine Section is looking for energetic, enthusiastic, and innovative individuals to help build the field of paediatric emergency medicine (PEM) in Canada. We are working on a number of national initiatives, and are always looking for new ideas and projects. Here are some updates on current activities:
Your current section executives are:
| |||||||||||||||||
Paediatric Environmental Health Section | |||||||||||||||||
| Stemming from community paediatrics and branching into the subspecialties, PEH serves through health promotion and preventive strategies to enhance the care of all children. Already in our third year, the section is 39 members strong and diverse in membership - including researchers, administrators, paediatricians, and other health professionals. Fortunately, our younger colleagues, residents in whom we shall entrust succession, are also active participants. We have heard from one another through eForum, and look forward to using this very useful tool to dialogue, exchange ideas, and build strategies. Our Annual Conference section seminar in Vancouver, co-hosted with the Developmental Paediatrics Section, was very informative. We heard case studies on mercury and pesticides affecting child development, and on the complexities of PEH research, especially when there are often long lag-times between insult and presentation for medical assessment. In the wake of B.C. forest fires crossing the Rocky Mountains in late August, causing visibility and health problems in Alberta before affecting air quality further east, our section's focus in the coming year will be on air pollution. As Canada grows and develops, our children are being exposed to different types of air pollution depending on where they live: in urban, rural or remote environments. With the Respiratory Health Section, we are preparing an exciting seminar for this year's Annual Conference in Quebec. We'll learn about Canadian studies linking ambient air pollution with various health outcomes, and sources of - and regulations for controlling-air pollution in Canada. We'll discuss some interesting case studies and learn about ways to advocate, both locally and regionally, to protect children in our own communities. Through its biennial publication Are We Doing Enough?, the CPS is helping to eliminate exposures of children to passive smoking in cars. We are beginning discussions toward a CPS advocacy project on the same topic in collaboration with the Action Committee on Children and Teens (ACCT), and hope to engage you all in this initiative as we proceed. We encourage all of you to share your ideas with us through eForum or any other form of communication you prefer. We'd like to hear about puzzling patients as well as what is going on in your community. If any of you are planning a talk we may be able to assist (e.g., with a slide deck presentation). The Canada Paediatric Environment Health Specialty Unit has useful links and information. Please visit www.pehsu.ca. We look forward to seeing you all in Quebec at our section seminar, on Wednesday, June 15, from 8:00-11:30 a.m., and at our business meeting on Thursday, June 16, from 7:00-9:00 a.m. Irena
Buka | |||||||||||||||||
Hospital Paediatrics Section | |||||||||||||||||
| The Hospital Lounge: The newsletter of the CPS Hospital Paediatrics Section First, we wish you and your family all the very best for 2011! The Hospital Paediatrics Section executive has been working on several initiatives this year. We welcome any questions or suggestions for section activities, so don't hesitate to e-mail us with your input to S-HospitalPaediatrics@cps.ca. For the upcoming CPS Annual Conference in Quebec City (http://www.cps.ca/English/AnnualConference/2011/Highlights.asp) we have two sessions planned. The first is an interactive "town hall" forum, with three experts present to discuss controversies around managing common infections in the hospitalized child. This format allows for lots of interest-specific discussion. The second session is a Hospital Paediatrics journal club, where the most current and relevant papers in the field will be reviewed in a "quick hit" format. We can now use an electronic social network (eForum) on the CPS website to connect with section members for informal discussion around clinical issues. We also encourage use of this forum to get feedback on issues relating to practice in the inpatient setting. E-mail your message through the eForum at CPS-HospitalPaeds@eforums.cps.ca. As a CPS section, we have the opportunity to write brief features "called Practice Points" on specific paediatric topics in inpatient settings for the CPS journal, Paediatrics & Child Health. To suggest content or take the lead in developing a practice point, please contact your section executive at: sanjay.mahant@sickkids.ca. Sanjay
Mahant | |||||||||||||||||
International Child Health Section | |||||||||||||||||
| The Global Health Curriculum project for paediatric residents is nearly complete. A dedicated group of ICH members has designed, piloted and evaluated four 1-hour modules covering what every resident needs to know about global health. This curriculum will be launched at the next CPS Annual Conference, with a "Train the Trainers" workshop for site champions. We'll be looking for faculty from each residency program who'd be interested in teaching on global health. Helping Babies Breathe (www.helpingbabiesbreathe.org/) is a collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups to teach simple resuscitation skills to health care workers in settings without physicians. Section members have been involved from the program's inception, and we have several "master trainers" preparing "Train the Trainers" workshops for interested members. Healthy Child Uganda (www.healthychilduganda.org/) continues to be a model program, with a number of Canadian paediatricians working in partnership with local colleagues at the grass roots level to lower mortality rates and improve child health. The Don and Liz Hillman International Health Grants (www.cps.ca/English/Awards&Grants/InternationalGrant.htm) provide funds for two residents per year to learn first-hand about global child health: a life-changing experience for many residents. This past spring, Dr. Andréanne Villeneuve went to Mali and Bénin, and last fall, Dr. Kirsten Ebbert went to Paarl, South Africa. The submission deadline for next spring's grant is April 30, 2011. CPS Annual Conference events: At the 2010 meeting, the section's "Real World" Dinner raised over $1500 per program for Healthy Child Uganda and the Don and Liz Hillman International Health Grants. Concurrent sessions included an interesting discussion on the mental health needs of new Canadian children, presented by Dr. Anneke Rummens. We will have our usual section activities at the next (2011) Annual Conference, including a concurrent session on caring for children in disaster situations, "Train the Trainers" workshops and (of course!) a dinner evening for socializing and networking. Watch the eForum for details on these and other ICH initiatives. Laura Sauvé | |||||||||||||||||
Mental Health Section | |||||||||||||||||
| Mental health in children and youth: The orphan's orphan The Mental Health Commission of Canada was established in 2007, the result of an extensive Senate Committee report on mental health in Canada chaired by Senator Michael Kirby. Many important issues were raised, one of the most concerning for paediatricians being the fact that 70% of adults with mental health disorders have their first episode as a child or youth. The report concluded that early identification and treatment was critical to avoiding years of suffering and the secondary consequences of living with an untreated illness. Yet fewer than 1 in 5 children with mental health disorders are identified, and fewer still get to see a mental health professional. Many things need to change before Canadians can even approach the goals of earlier identification and intervention for children, youth and their families living with mental illness. The Child and Youth Advisory Committee, led by Dr. Simon Davidson, felt that getting the best bang for our buck means concentrating on where the young spend most of their time... in the schools. A funded study led by the School-Based Mental Health Consortium (health professionals, researchers and educators from across Canada), and headed by Dr. Ian Manion, is conducting a systematic review of the literature on school-based mental health. They will survey implementation issues involved in school-based programs. Importantly, a scan of school-based programs currently in use in all school boards across Canada will be conducted. The hope is that these programs can be highlighted and shared among all school boards and concerned Canadians, who can then use streamlined versions to suit and serve their own communities. This initiative is a great opportunity to inform many communities about how your local schools are trying to address this national crisis in child and youth mental health. If you know of any such school-based programs in your area, please have them contact Despina Papadopoulos at DPapadopoulos@cheo.on.ca For more information on the work of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, please visit their website, at http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/english/pages/default.aspx. Diane Sacks | |||||||||||||||||
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Section | |||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||
Paediatric Oral Health Section | |||||||||||||||||
| Hello section members! This update is to let you know what is going on in the Paediatric Oral Health Section, and what we can look forward to in the coming year. We await the publication online of new fluoride recommendations from Health Canada. They will be in line with recommendations from the Canadian Dental Association and the Canadian Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Once published, our section will submit that the CPS should adopt these consensus fluoride guidelines. Dr. Ross Anderson continues to work on a physician/dentist primary health care initiative and partnership. This collaboration links primary care physicians who complete an online CME course on preventing early childhood caries, with dentists in the same community. When a young child at risk is identified by a physician, an immediate referral can be made to a local primary care dentist, thus meeting the goal of finding a dental home for children at risk by age one. Finally, Dr. Rocio Quinones is to speak for the Paediatric Oral Health section at the CPS Annual Conference in Quebec City in June. Her lecture, scheduled for Thursday, June 16, at 10:30, is entitled "Paediatricians on the front line: Collaborations between medicine and dentistry to address early childhood oral health." I look forward to seeing everyone in Quebec City in June. Happy holidays! Kelly Wright,
President | |||||||||||||||||
Residents Section | |||||||||||||||||
| Residents and programs... now in sync! This has been an exciting year for paediatric residents across the country. Notably, this past June marked the first paediatric subspecialty match through CaRMS (the Canadian Resident Matching Service). After years of trying to organize a synchronized application and match process for residents to subspecialty programs, program directors and resident representatives were thrilled with the successful outcome this year. The success of (and satisfaction with) the process are testament to the extensive input of Canadian residents and programs, both through surveys and representation on the planning committee. Residents wholeheartedly welcomed a synchronized, standardized process, only wishing that the match had occurred later in the year to allow for more exposure/training prior to application time. As a result of this feedback, next year's match will occur four months later, in the fall of 2011. For more information on the match, please see www.carms.ca. Another major change involving senior residents is afoot as well. Starting in the fall of 2012 (affecting current PGY-2s), the Royal College paediatric certification exam will undergo a change in timing. Currently, the written portion of this exam is taken in early May of PGY-4, and the OSCE portion in June of the same year. However, the college has decided to move the written portion of the exam to fall of the PGY-4 year (in this case, a move from May 2013 to the fall of 2012). This change has met with a mixed response from residents: Some feel they will be unable to consolidate the core paediatric knowledge needed for certification by that time. We look forward to hearing from the Royal College with updates and more information regarding this announcement in the near future. As always, there are many more initiatives and activities going on within our section. We're hoping to launch a national advocacy day in the spring, and are working on updating the CPS elective databases both within Canadian programs and internationally. Look for updates and news in our semi-annual newsletter, coming in January. Please feel free to contact us for more information, or with your questions or comments, at S-Res_officers@cps.ca. Gillian Dolansky | |||||||||||||||||
Respiratory Medicine Section | |||||||||||||||||
| Breathing Easy: Not just a lofty goal Renaming the section last year reflected our new focus on "respiratory health" in children (vs. the old "respiratory medicine"), and the wider paediatric issues related to breathing. The eForum, an online tool on the CPS website, facilitates the exchange of information among section members on all kinds of issues, including answering questions on clinical dilemmas. If you have specific questions for a paediatric respirologist, such as "Should infants with cystic fibrosis get palivizumab?," "What is the best practice for managing children with non-CF bronchiectasis?," "How about severe asthma management?," or "How do I identify patients with obstructive apnea?" - please, ask away! Honorary members were named at the Annual Conference in Vancouver: Drs. Victor Chernick, Allan Coates and Melvin Wise. We'll have more on their career contributions in the next e-news. The Respiratory Section meeting for 2011 takes place in Quebec City. This year's spotlight will be on managing paediatric sleep apnea, since this is a common and increasingly recognized concern. We have a group of wonderful speakers. Dr. Marianne Deschênes, a neonatologist at the Centre mere-enfant du CHUQ in Quebec, will speak on central and obstructive apnea in the very young child. Dr. Robert Brouillette, a neonatalogist at the Montreal Children's Hospital, is world-renowned for his work on obstructive apnea in children and will speak to that topic. Dr. Manisha Witmans, paediatric respirologist and the vice-president of our Respiratory Health Section, will speak on obstructive apnea and hypopnea in the older child, and on non-invasive ventilation needs. A second session, given in French, has an interesting twist: a paediatric and an adult respirologist will discuss asthma in their respective populations, as well as the transfer of patients from the paediatric to the adult clinic. We look forward to seeing you in Québec! À bientôt! Thanks, Manisha and Patrick | |||||||||||||||||
Sports and Exercise Medicine Section | |||||||||||||||||
|
World Cup Fever! Soccer fever infected the Paediatric Sport and Exercise Medicine Section last June, as the World Cup unfolded amid the cacophony of thousands of vuvuzelas. The section hosted a concurrent session entitled "Youth Soccer 2010" at the Annual Conference in Vancouver. Drs. Krisitn Houghton and John Philpott, both national team physicians with Soccer Canada, spoke on the injuries most associated with soccer and ways to prevent them. Sian Bagshawe, a former player and current coach, shared her own experiences as a player and mentor. Following the concurrent session, children attending the conference had the opportunity to practice soccer skills with Sian and with Russell Tiebert, a current U18 national team player. The 6th annual "Practice What You Preach 5km Walk/ 8km Run" took place in idyllic Stanley Park. More than 200 participants turned out to raise more than $13,000 for the Healthy Generations Foundation. Thanks to all for your generous support of this event. Some sport-related position statements from the Healthy Active Living and Sport Medicine Committee are nearing completion. A joint statement with the American Academy of Pediatrics on boxing in youth is being reviewed by the boards of both organizations, and will be published in the new year. A revised concussion statement is being reviewed internally by the CPS. The section executive encourages residents to apply for the section's Sport Medicine Resident Bursary. This $1,000 award is given annually to allow residents to do electives in this exciting area of paediatrics. For more information about the bursary, visit http://www.cps.ca/english/Awards&Grants/SportsMedicineGrant.htm. Laura Purcell | |||||||||||||||||
Information | |||||||||||||||||
| For more information, please contact us at education@cps.ca. | |||||||||||||||||