REGIONAL NEWS
Update from the Maritimes
By Jamie Henderson, MD
he Maritimes are currently experiencing an oldtime winter. The snow blower has been used more
in the past six weeks than at any time in the past
three years.
The newest twist on the healthcare front is the recent decision by the New Brunswick government to establish a medical
school for the province. The first two years of teaching will be
provided in St. John and the students will be dispersed across
the province to receive their final two years of training. The
medical school will operate under the mantle of Dalhousie
University but will be a separate affiliate. Ultimately everyone’s plate will be a little fuller as a result of the responsibilities for teaching.
The manpower situation in New Brunswick is presently stable. There are nine rheumatologists to serve a population of
750,000 but everyone still has a substantial waiting list.
Moncton leads the pack with four rheumatologists (the venerable Peter Docherty, Leo Picard, Tariq Suhail, and Isabelle
Deschenes). Fredericton now has three rheumatologists
(Jamie Henderson, George Ecker and Joan Pascual) and St.
T
The strength of the CRA executive and Gunnar
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CRAJ 2008 • Volume 18, Number 1
John’s has two rheumatologists (Eric Grant and Ewa
Sadowska). Currently, Prince Edward Island has only one
rheumatologist to serve the island. Dr. Ken McCarthy works
out of Charlottetown to cover the island.
The social highlight of the season for rheumatology in
the Maritimes is still the annual meeting of the Society of
Atlantic Rheumatologists. Every year in early June the
“SOAR” is opened again. A one and a half day gathering is
occasionally punctuated by two, three hour CME sessions
with presentations by two visiting speakers. Our guests
this year will be Dr. Ian McInnes and Dr. Esther Sternberg
from NIH. The meeting is held at a hotel in Brackley
Beach PEI and returns each year by popular demand.
Only occasionally are we visited by rheumatologists from
elsewhere. Dr Murray Baron came for an evening once but
ended up staying two days. Those who like it “like it a lot.”
The meeting this year is being held June 20th to 22nd.
This will be our 25th consecutive annual meeting. Dr Leo
Picard is our President this year and will be organizing
another festive social gathering.
Distinguished Indeed!
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Hurry up and take the picture so we can get ba
Practice of Rheumatology and General
News from Peterborough and District
By Ivan McCully, MB, DCH, MRCP, FRCPC
s subspecialty medicine developed in community
areas in the early 1970s, Peterborough acquired its
first Rheumatologist. Ian Sutherland commenced
practice in 1975 and I subsequently arrived in 1981.
I qualified in my home city of Belfast, Northern Ireland
in 1968. It had been my intention to be a General
Practitioner in Belfast, but after a residency in Salisbury
at the University of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1970
to 1972, I embarked on a career in Internal Medicine. I
had also considered Rheumatology, but opted to continue
as a Generalist. However after several years as a General
Internist in St. Thomas, Ontario working in a one-in-two
night on-call roster I "saw the light," and I am very grateful to Dr. Manfred Harth for finding me a place in the
Rheumatology Program at the University of Western
Ontario in 1979.
Despite our meandering path after qualifying and
before arriving in Peterborough, my wife Pat and I have
very fond memories of this period. I experienced a very
broad spectrum of clinical medicine and we also had an
opportunity to see the world, indeed our three children
were born on different continents, that is Africa, Europe
and North America.
Fred Doris and Susan Sudbury joined us in
Peterborough in 1989, followed by Fred's wife Jane Purvis
in 1992. Up until then I had worked in solo practice and
when Fred joined me in the office, it was great to have a
A
ack to the hot gossip!
Members of the CRA President's Club. A few good
men, one great woman!
colleague to share knowledge, discuss cases and enjoy a
joke together.
Ian Sutherland had done the spadework in setting up a
small but effective RDU, which those of us who followed
were able to take advantage of. However due to various
circumstances it is no longer active.
Susan Sudbury left Rheumatology in 2001 to become
Chief Hospitalist. Ian Sutherland left in 2004 to take up a
Hospital Administrative post in Nova Scotia.
Probably one of the most important changes here in the
last few years has been that the Rheumatologists have left the
Internal Medicine on-call roster. This has led to a much more
relaxing lifestyle and in particular has allowed much more
time to be devoted to our Rheumatology Practice.
Our big News from Peterborough is the opening of our
new hospital which replaces the old Civic Hospital and St.
Joseph's Hospital. It is scheduled to open on June 8 2008.
It will have a capacity of 494 beds including a 30 bed
rehab in-patient unit.
The Peterborough area has presently a shortage of
rheumatologist, however we are confident with the excellent medical manpower that we already have. With the
beautiful and vibrant Kawartha area which we live in; the
fact that we are a University town, and that we are only
just over an hour from downtown Toronto, gives assurance
that we will have no problem in attracting several new
Rheumatologists to Peterborough over the next few years.
Dafna pontificating which is common and Bob listening which is
uncommon.
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CRAJ 2008 • Volume 18, Number 1
23
REGIONAL NEWS
EDITORIAL
Pediatric Rheumatology:
Solo in Saskatchewan
By Alan M. Rosenberg, MD
stablishing one of Canada’s earliest pediatric
rheumatology programs in Saskatchewan in 1981
seemed, at the time, nonsensical to some and
visionary to others. During that era rheumatology was not
entrenched as a pediatric discipline. It was the late Don
Mitchell, a renowned Saskatchewan adult rheumatologist,
who realized then that diagnosing and caring for children
with rheumatic diseases could not be achieved by simply
doing in little people what was customarily done in big
ones. His vision led to the recruitment of Saskatchewan’s
first (and still only) pediatric rheumatologist.
Being the sole provider of specialized care for thousands of children for many years provided opportunities
to appreciate the courses of childhood rheumatic diseases
and to witness the growth of many inspiring children, who
despite their arthritis, achieve astonishing successes.
Many of Saskatchewan’s pediatric rheumatology
patients reside in rural and remote locales. Ensuring adequate access to care necessitates traveling clinics and utilization of Saskatchewan’s vast network of teleconferencing facilities to conduct remote clinics.
Potential challenges confronting solo pediatric
rheumatology practitioners have been mitigated substantially in Saskatchewan by local support and by accessibility to colleagues elsewhere. Phone calls, e-mails, videoconferencing with colleagues in neighbouring provinces,
and visiting faculty provide opportunities to consult.
Teaching is an essential responsibility for the
Saskatchewan pediatric rheumatology program. General
pediatric healthcare in Saskatchewan is provided almost
exclusively by family physicians who must be prepared to
recognize rheumatic diseases early and assist with care
locally.
Research is an integral component of our program. The
Pediatric Rheumatic Disease Research Laboratory has
functioned continuously since 1981. The recently estab-
E
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CRAJ 2008 • Volume 18, Number 1
lished Institute of Child and Adult Arthritis Research
(ICAARE; www.icaare.ca) will facilitate collaborative
research. A prospective longitudinal database comprises
comprehensive clinical, epidemiological and lifestyle
information on approximately 4000 patients. Our
research program benefits from national collaborations
and leads a nationwide initiative studying biologicallybased outcome predictors in juvenile arthritis (the BBOP
Study; www.bbop.ca). The Laboratory is also studying the
earliest origins of disease, focussing on antecedents of
future inflammatory-mediated conditions.
The Laboratory is committed to transdisciplinary
research. Collaborators, representing an array of disparate
disciplines, contribute to our multidisciplinary studies.
Inter-disciplinary research is facilitated by being situated
on the University of Saskatchewan campus in the midst of
all academic colleges and many renowned research facilities including, as examples, the Canadian Light Source
and the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization. An
expansive and vibrant research park housing private
enterprises fosters collaboration with industry partners.
Two new research towers at the College of Medicine are
being constructed for health sciences research. A planned
new children’s hospital will further enhance clinical care,
teaching and research opportunities.
The younger, more sensible pediatric rheumatologists
will not be attracted to a circumstance in which they are
alone. Because of this and because of increasing clinical
and research responsibilities, our institution is recruiting
a second pediatric rheumatologist.
Saskatchewan’s current economic growth has been
associated with remarkable increases in biomedical and
biotechnological research. The Saskatchewan pediatric
rheumatology program is intent on continuing to mirror this momentum to benefit children with rheumatic
diseases.
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