Health Minister Christian Dubé and Prime Minister François Legault appeal for help during a press conference. Their director of public health, the good Dr Horacio Arruda, has just resigned. “We are missing more than 20,000 health professionals,” said the Minister of Health. We are at level 4 of hospital “load shedding”. It is almost time to apply “death triage” protocols, only those with the best chance of survival will go to intensive care.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
Among the Quebecers listening to the press conference are graduates of the fifth prototype cohort of a training course in leadership and innovation in times of pandemic in rural areas at the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University, a project of Living Lab Charlevoix.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR
Medical students and interns from the Living Lab in Charlevoix at Université Laval could make up for the shortage of health workers, estimates Richard Fleet. From left to right: Diane Singhroy, Émeryck Plante-Belleau, Émilie Perron, Cody Rozon and Nicholas Scherrer (back).
These students know it: the figure of 20,000 is an underestimate! They read pre-COVID reports estimating that 70,000 people would miss the system in 2024 in Quebec. Today, most healthcare workers suffer from illnesses related to COVID-19 or are in burnout. Already, before COVID-19, a report by the Canadian Medical Association pointed out that 30% of doctors suffered from near-depression or exhaustion. The situation would be worse among nurses.
” Something has to be done ! exclaims a student. “Why don’t they call on us? »
“Yes, and there are many of us,” they say, almost in unison.
Quebec currently has nearly 4,000 medical students, 4,000 residents and approximately 4,000 nursing students about to graduate. Not to mention the hundreds of students in pre-hospital care, pharmacy and other health fields.
During their internship, our students must propose and test user-centered solutions to improve rural health care. The internship was inspired by McGill University’s International Masters for Health Leadership (IMHL) program, designed by an exceptional thinker, Professor Henry Mintzberg. The training is based on five main pillars: leadership, creativity and innovation (“design thinking”), pandemic management, the basics of rural medicine and best practices in well-being.
Living Lab interns tested the idea of students in health programs being released from training to support struggling health care workers for a few months. A creative brainstorming session quickly produced a list of practical contributions.
We could learn how to put in fluids, take blood tests, comfort sick children and depressed or anxious teenagers, be there for someone who is suffering alone. It would be great if we could board the ambulances and help with resuscitation, if needed. We can take care of frail elderly people in CHSLDs. But simply saying that we are here to listen and help these courageous professionals would already be that.
Living Lab interns
They also imagined new programs. “First you have to vaccinate 24/7, a megablitz. We could help organize a telemedicine system to support patients at home. We could create a second line of care for 811 Info-Santé, through which we could virtually treat patients with minor ailments, with the support of our teachers. We could set up community programs where paramedics would visit patients in their homes. How about a wellness and peer support program for hospital staff, inspired by Jo Shapiro1 and as does the DD Marie-Claude Miron, from the CHU Sainte-Justine. »
“But we must not delay our training. Practical experience, in these difficult and historic times, must have academic value.
Then, they anticipate the potential doubts of the university administration. “Will it disrupt the curriculum? What will accrediting colleges think of this time spent outside the classroom? The students are ready to refute these arguments: medical errors are caused by factors other than a lack of factual knowledge and clinical skills. The works of Pat Croskerry2 reveal that it is more often fatigue, distraction, prejudices and communication problems that cause us to make mistakes.
The students want to expand their proposal to other disciplines: “Engineering students could design and implement innovative health technology programs. Law and ethics students could come up with “creative” legislation to “encourage” recalcitrants to get vaccinated. Management scholars could coordinate the logistics of the massive deployment of students. Psychology/social work students could intervene in mental health. Collectives of art students could create works of art that criticize, celebrate and commemorate these difficult times. etc etc »
This is an extremely serious health emergency. We need a new and creative emergency response. No one teaches creative problem-solving strategies or leadership in the 5-10 years of medical training. The public pays the price for this lack of imagination.
These students believe there is a future where healthcare workers are happier, where levels of burnout are decreasing, where the workforce is slowly starting to come back. For every young Ostrogothic influencer we saw on the Sunwing flight to Cancun, there are hundreds of healthcare students patiently waiting to help save lives in this pandemic. Their question to MM. Dubé and Legault is: “When will you call on us? »
2. Croskerry P. “The Rational Diagnostician and Achieving Diagnostic Excellence”. JAMA. Published online January 7, 2022. doi: 10,1001/jama.2021.24988 The Living Lab of Charlevoix-a report by Myriam Fimbry: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1853835/laboratoire-
* The author also holds the Research and Innovation Chair in Emergency Medicine at Université Laval-Dessercom-CISSS Chaudière-Appalaches and Living Lab Charlevoix
** Co-signatories: Jennie Barrette, Coordinator, Community Relations, Living Lab de Charlevoix, and five medical students and interns, Living Lab de Charlevoix, Université Laval: Émilie Perron, Émeryck Plante-Belleau, Cody Rozon, Nicholas Scherrer, Diane singrhoy