POLARIS
Connecting North American young doctors and trainees to the global Family Medicine community.
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Winter 2019-20
Pregnancy Termination in North America
CANADA
“It is an honour to participate in the full spectrum of women’s health as a GP-Anesthetist who also practices intrapartum obstetrics and abortion care. In doing so, I hope to help sustain the tradition of rural generalism according to the needs of the communities I serve.” - Dr. Lee
THE CARIBBEAN REGION
In most countries – regardless of the law – abortion is frequently available. Despite the noted risks of illegal abortions, governments are hesitant to change the law out of fear of public backlash. Many countries have exceptions for rape, incest, and fetal abnormalities and restrictions for gestational age. Additionally, in many places the law differs from what is enforced on physicians and women.
UNITED STATES
Title X “continues to require, that abortion not be provided as a method of family planning…a project must give pregnant women the opportunity to receive information and counseling on each of the following options: prenatal care and delivery; infant care, foster care, or adoption; and pregnancy termination.’”
- Angela Napili, senior Congressional Research Service librarian paraphrasing in
2017 from the Code of Federal Regulations 42 part 59.5 (part of Title X code)
Spring 2019
Match Day 2019
A Welcome to new physicians from the President of WONCA North America -
It is said that Family Physicians provide care across the life cycle from embryo through to old age and until death. The Family Physician is the vanguard of the public health system in any country. The World Health Organization states that “We are convinced that strengthening primary health care (PHC) is the most inclusive, effective and efficient approach to enhance people’s physical and mental health, as well as social well-being, and that PHC is a cornerstone of a sustainable health system for universal health coverage (UHC) and health-related Sustainable Development Goals”, (WHO ASTANA Declaration 2018), a position long advocated by WONCA. In fact, there is international consensus that this goal can only be achieved by investments and strengthen of Family Medicine training and deployment.
It is within this context, that I extend a hearty welcome to those of you who have started the journey to become Family Physicians as well as those who are almost at the end and about to sit residency exams. Although at different points of the training spectrum, your choice indicates your commitment to quality health care not only for your individual client, but the family unit and community as whole. For this commitment, I salute you and wish for you a successful onward journey.
In closing, it would be remiss of me not to encourage you find time to network and share of your time and skills with like-minded physicians. This you can do by becoming involved with POLARIS, the young doctor’s movement of the North American Region of WONCA. Through your participation, you will be exposed to greater diversity of experiences at the individual, community and International level. In fact it is a great way to become involved in Global Health.
With best wishes
Marvin Reid
President, North American Region (WONCA)
Dr. Maria Leigh-Ann Clapperton
Lack of resources and under staffing can be challenging, so I hope to see more emphasis and more budgetary allocations being made towards strengthening primary health care in my country (Trinidad & Tobago). It is my goal to one day see Family Physicians receive the recognition they truly deserve not only as Specialist physicians but also as the gate keepers of the health care system and for Family Medicine to really be recognized on par with other specialties.
WINTER 2018
WONCA World 2018
Seoul, South Korea:
The conference began with the Young Doctors Movement (YDM) Pre-Conference, which provided an opportunity to meet other young doctors from around the world and learn about the activities of other YDMs. After the sessions, many of the YDM group members ventured to the Gyeongbokgung Palace for beautiful views of the mountains around Seoul and a wonderful introduction to Joseon architecture. The night continued with Korean barbeque, drinks, and conversation to top off an excellent prequel to the conference and build friendships. Thursday morning, the conference proper began with a drum performance and the reading of the Seoul Declaration.
The conference continued with many wonderful sessions on Health Equity, primary care evaluation, aging, emergency medicine, and women’s health. There were several excellent poster sessions, one of which featured an FM360 evaluation presentation which will be traveling to several other conferences this year. The conference was an amazing opportunity to network with other family docs and trainees from around the world and learn about the diversity of health systems in which our colleagues practice. We hope to see you there next time!
Dr. Shawna Pandya
When you ask Dr. Shawna Pandya about her path in family medicine, she describes it as a "choose your own adventure" type of field. "Literally, whatever aspect of medicine you like, you have the capacity to take and make it a part of your own practice: emergency, obstetrics, procedures, hospital medicine - it all comes with the territory. The best part is that you get to choose which 'territories' you want to explore. For me, this has allowed me to explore and develop my passions for surgery, space, extreme environment and wilderness medicine, and take on extra training in these fields, with the Enhanced Surgical Skills program and a Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. It's been a great adventure so far, and here's hoping for many more!"
