White Coat, Black Art

Attracting a family doctor to work in a community is challenging, with fewer physicians choosing family medicine. That's why Cheryl Gnyp, the recruiter for Castlegar, B.C., needs to stand out. She uses the board game Operation and specialized coffee as part of her 10-minute sales pitch to potential recruits at conferences. It can take years before a doctor starts working in the community, but she’s in it for the long haul.

The climate is changing. So are we. On What On Earth, you’ll explore a world of solutions with host Laura Lynch and our team of journalists. In 1970, 20 million people showed up to fight for the environment on the first Earth Day. More than five decades later, is it time for this much tamer global event to return to its radical roots? OG organizer Denis Hayes recounts how – amidst other counterculture movements at the time – his team persuaded roughly one in ten Americans to take to the streets. As he approaches 80, Denis offers his singular piece of advice to the next generation of climate leaders. Then, environmental warriors Maria Blancas and Axcelle Campana share ideas on what a reinspired Earth Day could look like – including making it a public holiday. More episodes of What On Earth are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/L2RFol4W We love to hear from our listeners and regularly feature them on the show. Have a question or idea? Email Earth@cbc.ca And if you’d like to learn more about the very special guest Dr. Goldman mentioned, please check out this classic episode of White Coat, Black Art.

Amie Archibald-Varley and Sara Fung are registered nurses who advocate for better healthcare on The Gritty Nurse podcast. Now they’ve published a book called The Wisdom of Nurses: Stories of Grit from the Front Lines. They join host Dr. Brian Goldman for a chat about why nurses make incredible leaders, and how healthcare can improve when we listen to nurses.

Newfoundland and Labrador leaders are ramping up virtual care for the thousands of residents without a family doctor. They’ve turned to private company Teladoc Health Canada to not only have doctors see patients virtually but also fill in on remote and rural ERs, for the next two years. But medical associations say it comes at the expense of recruiting and retaining healthcare workers long-term, and patients aren’t getting the care they need.

A restaurant in Muskoka, Ontario is doing its best to respond if necessary, after the slate of poisonings with a more dangerous form of fentanyl in Belleville. A manager and employee have taken training to accompany their new naloxone kit. But the deputy chief paramedic says the best hope to save people may be to teach bystanders to do CPR and rescue breathing and not flee the scene.

A unique medical team in the UK is able to treat hospitalized patients in their own homes. The team can make a diagnosis in the field, so they can offer treatment on the spot. The result? They're providing the same volume and complexity of care as a 20-bed ward, active 24/7. And it’s cheaper.

As a rapper, Bishop Brigante is no stranger to on-stage battles. Now, the 45-year-old is battling Stage 4 colon cancer, which he says was caught too late. Bishop wants Canadians to have easier access to colonoscopies and says advocacy has given him newfound purpose.

The burden of loneliness on seniors is real and well-documented. That’s why med students at McMaster University in Ontario are visiting a seniors’ home one Saturday a month… not with clipboards, but with emery boards. With manicures comes conversation – helping seniors feel less isolated, and helping med students “polish up” on their soft skills.

Receiving a cancer diagnosis and trying to weave through the health-care system can be confusing and frustrating. That’s where cancer patient navigators come in. They’re the person who takes your calls and listens when it seems like no one else will, and they’re the nurse who wants the best for their patients. They're not available to everyone in Canada — but both navigators and their patients think they should be.

Manitoba nurse Jennifer Noone was assaulted outside her hospital’s staff entrance, leaving her with a concussion and PTSD. She took the unusual step of having her assailant charged with assault. Now, she’s advocating for better protection against violence in hospitals, which nurses' unions say is on the rise.

Dr. Kate Greenaway is devoted to providing gender-affirming care to the trans and nonbinary folks who desperately need it. But with ever-increasing wait times and a lack of funding, she’s done something she never thought she’d do: go private. And as this care falls increasingly under threat in Canada, Kit Sparrow explains how Dr. Greenaway’s clinic saved his life – even though he feels he should have never had to pay for it.

People with complex medical needs are welcome at Centretown Community Health Centre in Ottawa, one of about 120 CHCs across Canada. Teamwork by nurses, dietitians and others frees up family physicians to focus on patients, not paperwork.

When Kalpit Sharma started smoking high-THC weed several times a day, he thought he was just “living his life” as a university student. But then, he started hearing voices. Researcher Dr. Daniel Myran shares the science behind stories like Kalpit’s – and why young men are particularly at risk for concerning mental health outcomes.

Women are advocating for regular breast cancer screening to begin at age 40, pushing back against the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care guidelines that recommend starting at age 50. They’re fighting for their voices to be heard, as the taskforce reviews its guidelines.

Patients don't like waiting in a clinic or ER to get them, doctors hate writing them, and yet, some employers continue to demand sick notes for a minor illness like the flu or a cold. Now, some doctors and other health-care providers are pushing back. They say sick notes tie up an already overloaded system, arguing that more paid sick days are needed instead.

Twenty years after her daughter died, Winnipegger Elaine Stevenson is still fighting to get people better and faster treatment for eating disorders. Roughly a million Canadians have been diagnosed with an eating disorder, and as many as 15 percent will die because of it. Despite that, wait lists for treatment in Canada can be over a year, and it's not offered in every province.

When Mary Jarratt's brother, Billy, had a debilitating stroke at 58, she was thrown into the role of Power of Attorney. She had to make tough decisions about his care, the care of his teenaged son and whether to sell the family home. She wants people to know what they’re getting into when they sign up to be a POA.

Tara de Pratto donated part of her liver to a stranger, saving her life. The recipient was Farah Ali, and she and her family will never forget that act of kindness. In this second episode on living donors, we hear how Tara responded to a unique callout for a donor on social media, thanks to one woman’s passion for connecting donors with people in need. And how it led to a powerful bond between people whose paths might never have otherwise crossed.

Sherbrooke Community Centre’s intergenerational program, iGen, is unique in Canada. The long-term-care home in Saskatoon doubles as a Grade Six classroom and is helping both kids and seniors.

In this season of bearing gifts, it’s been said the highest form of giving is the anonymous kind. Heather Badenoch knows that very well. She donated part of her liver to a child she never met in Toronto. Now she uses her communications skills to recruit donors for people in need of an organ. In two weeks, we’ll have the story of one of the families she has helped.