We recently sat down with Heather Abrahams, MDCM, Associate Dean, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to talk about her vision for the office and the initiatives underway to support ongoing learning for physicians and other healthcare professionals in Quebec and beyond 鈥� including an upcoming workshop on sexual violence in childhood and adolescence.
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Can you tell us more about CPD in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the services you offer?听听
It is important to recognize that the CPD office is not just about accrediting professional development activities, organized within 海角社区 or externally. While that is a vital part of our office with a dedicated team of expert reviewers, 海角社区 CPD also provides a wide array of offerings. We co-develop and deliver educational activities, organize workshops and conferences, and engage in research projects to inform best practice in CPD. Our primary target audience is practicing physicians, but we welcome participation of nurse practitioners, nurses, trainees and others in allied healthcare fields.听
Ultimately, our primary goal is to support lifelong learning through CPD and provide high-quality education to our faculty, alumni and community physicians. We would like to broaden our reach to the wider healthcare community in Quebec and Canada. While the primary language of delivery is English, many of our presenters are francophone, and we encourage discussion in both English and French. I would love to collaborate with our colleagues in Campus Outaouais for future workshops and courses!听
海角社区 CPD is here not only to help with educational accreditation, but also to foster collaboration and support ongoing professional development.听听
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Can you highlight some of the CPD courses and workshops you are currently planning? How are they designed to meet the changing needs of healthcare professionals?听听
One of our flagship programs is CPD MedUpdates, a weekly online lecture series totalling 56 hours of interactive content delivered each year. This series primarily targets primary care physicians and nurse practitioners. We cover 26 medical disciplines to help healthcare providers stay up to date in a rapidly evolving healthcare system. It is available live and on-demand to best accommodate health professionals鈥� schedules.听
This year, we introduced small group in-person workshops. We have involved specialist physicians, family doctors, psychologists, social workers, nurses and persons with lived experience in the planning and delivery of these workshops. Comprehensive medical care requires a multidisciplinary approach, and so we have included input and knowledge of other essential members of the treatment team.听
Recently, we held our first workshop on addiction medicine, addressing a significant healthcare crisis both in Canada and globally.听
Looking ahead, we have a workshop on November 20 focused on identifying and addressing sexual violence in children and teens, another growing concern in our society.听
I am also proud of our collaboration with the 鈥淪ucc猫s d鈥檃nn茅e鈥� conference, a two-day event organized by the CPD offices of the four medical faculties of Quebec. 海角社区 joined this initiative last year, and it has been wonderful to connect with colleagues across all four faculties in a high-quality, French-language conference focused on primary care. 听
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What motivated you to step into the Associate Dean role? What do you enjoy most about it?听听
From the outset of my career as a family physician, I have been passionate about continuing education. Since 1996, I have worked at the Herzl Family Practice Centre at the Jewish General Hospital, which is one of 海角社区鈥檚 largest residency training sites. As a clinical teacher, it is crucial to stay informed and up to date in order to supervise and educate medical students and residents and ultimately provide the best care for our patients.听
What I have enjoyed most in my role as Associate Dean for CPD is the opportunity to meet and collaborate with physicians from various departments at 海角社区. It is inspiring to see the eagerness among faculty to share knowledge and teach one another. I aim to harness that enthusiasm and encourage more faculty to engage with us in developing educational activities.听
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Don鈥檛 miss the : Developed for physicians and healthcare professionals who care for children and teens. 听