YDM Newsletter: Polaris (Feb - Sep 2023)

Over the last six months, Family Medicine Early Career Physicians, Residents and Medical Students in our Polaris region have continued to immerse themselves into full scope family practice, while continuing to support their patients, colleagues and local/broader communities. Our members continue to partake in diverse initiatives and play various leadership roles, in addition to their clinical responsibilities, across our region.

In March 2023, Polaris collaborated with the Working Party on E-Health to run a webinar on Digital Health: The role in Family Medicine. This webinar included discussions on the rise of digital technology throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, its utilizations across different types of family medicine settings, the types of digital health/apps physicians can utilize, and a comparison of digital health use in various countries. It can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/XUCash5cNiM?si=b8y4rYe9p-w9g8Lt.

In May 2023, we celebrated World Family Doctor’s Day by collaborating with the other YDM chapters to develop a video that highlights the role of a family doctor in our communities and at various stages of a person’s life. It can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/s3BmZRE_V6o?si=aAfXlWxN0tbQEXLp

As part of the ASPIRE team initiatives, Natalia Galarza (Polaris ASPIRE Lead) will be presenting in the WONCA Leadership Curriculum Webinar Series (three session webinar series). The first webinar, Part 1: Introduction to Physician Leadership, took place in August 2023. The next session will be on September 2, 2023 and will cover effective leadership practices.

To illustrate the broad scope of clinical practice in which our physicians, residents, and medical students work and learn, we have continued to develop our spotlight of the month campaign using our social media platforms (Instagram and Facebook: @woncapolaris), highlighting the clinical and non-clinical activities of one individual in our region each month. As well, we have developed a “debunking myths in family medicine” campaign to help increase awareness on what the field of family medicine entails. Our hope is to break down common misconceptions and broaden our understanding of what family medicine has to offer.

Our Polaris executive team has also continued to develop newsletters that highlight relevant topics in family medicine. Our next issue will be released in September 2023 and will focus on top resources in family medicine for young doctors. This includes resources on clinical work, fellowship opportunities, teaching roles, and research opportunities in our Polaris region.

Congratulations Brunèe Dorsett

Our very own Brunèe Dorsett (Vice President of WONCA Polaris and Caribbean representative) has been selected as the Rising Star Award nominee for the Polaris region. Brunèe brings a range of leadership skills and expertise to this role, previously serving as her school’s Family Medicine Chief Resident, helping to develop weekly academic resident sessions, and initiating a resident mentorship program for her school’s family medicine residency program. She will also be transitioning to the role of Chair of the Polaris YDM Region (beginning January 2024). We congratulate her and wish her all the best as she takes on this new role!