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Despite self-congratulatory rhetoric, Canada compromised COVID-19 vaccine equity with policies impeding a proposed global waiver of vaccine intellectual property (IP) rules. To learn from Canada’s vaccine nationalism we explore the worldview – a coherent textual picture of the world – in a sample of Government of Canada communications regarding global COVID-19 vaccine sharing. Analysed documents portray risks and disparities as unrelated to the dynamics and power relations of the Canadian and international economies. Against this depoliticised backdrop, economic growth fueled by strict IP rules and free trade is advanced as the solution to inequities. Global vaccine access and distribution are pursued via a charity-focused public-private-partnership approach, with proposals to relax international IP rules dismissed as unhelpful. Rather than a puzzling lapse by a good faith ‘middle power’, Canada’s obstruction of global COVID-19 vaccine equity is a logical and deliberate extension of dominant neoliberal economic policy models. Health sector challenges to such models must prioritise equity in global pandemic governance via politically assertive and less conciliatory stances towards national governments and multilateral organisations. Mobilisation for health equity should transform the overall health-damaging macroeconomic model, complementing efforts based on specific individual health determinants or medical technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the differences between international medical graduates (IMG) and canadian medical graduates (CMG) in the medical learning environment (MLE) as there is progression from matching to residency and beyond. Method: A narrative literature review was done using the search engines pubmed, medline and embase on publications from 2000 to 2021 comparing IMG to CMG and those that compared IMG to non IMG in international publications were also considered. Results: The IMGs are offered less residency program positions compared to CMGs during the CaRMS selection process and specifically less in specialty programs. Amongst the article, 66% of IMGs compared to 90% of CMG were successful in the certification examination of the college of family physicians of Canada. A US article on the other hand found similarities in performance of USMGs and IMGs in a surgical residency program. Conclusion: A lot of IMG face several challenges including perceived systemic and individual discrimination, lack of mentorship and poor ability to navigate after immigration even after they are matched into a Canadian residency program. These are significant issues that should be dealt with to enable increase success and survival of IMGs in the MLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural, cold climate communities, such as those in coastal and northern Newfoundland and Labrador, face documented challenges pertaining to financial and infrastructure constraints and changing personnel considerations. Fire service delivery must adapt to these realities. The aim of this paper is to understand the scope of the scholarly and grey literature addressing challenges and solutions for fire service delivery and firefighting in rural and cold climate contexts, particularly as they pertain to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The review was conducted using an academic search engine, topic-specific search engines, grey literature databases, and a review of relevant websites to produce information sources. Peerreviewed articles, professional reports, theses and dissertations, and other article types indicated several challenges and solutions. The challenges identified were represented in scholarly and grey literature. These included challenges related to resources, the environment, firefighting tasks, and community. Likewise, solutions centred around resources, firefighting tasks, and community were represented in both scholarly and grey literature. Specific identification of future research needs was limited in the research reviewed. Further investigation and evaluation of the efficacy of solutions for specific cold climate, rural regions are advised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To limit the risk of transmitting the COVID-19 virus during in person interactions, modes of telemedicine, such as teleoncology, have been on the rise more than ever. This narrative review examines the effectiveness of current Canadian teleoncology services in providing adequate services to the residents of Canadian rural areas. This paper also seeks to analyze current international research and models of teleoncology and how they may be applicable in a Canadian rural context. The paper additionally provides well-supported and appropriate suggestions for future developments of Canadian rural teleoncology and future research directions within the field. Methods: Through a literature search on platforms like Google Scholar, 14 Canadian and international pieces of literature have been selected and reviewed. Common trends of teleoncology strengths and weaknesses have been retrieved, analyzed and summarized. Results: Upon analysis of advantages and disadvantages, it can be stated that teleoncology is a relevant mode of healthcare delivery in the current Canadian context. Despite its limitations, teleoncology can enhance and diversify the quality and types of services delivered to Canadians, especially those in rural areas. Conclusion: Overall, it can be safely deduced that teleoncology has the potential of becoming a prominent aspect of the future of healthcare especially in Canadian rural contexts. The next step towards enhancing the Canadian rural teleoncology system is to gain a better understanding of this system through more recent, standardized research. This can be followed by careful examination of the international status of teleoncology for potential inspirations for change and areas of research. In its analysis, the paper at hand provides a series of suggestions for future areas of research in this topic and potential methodologies for enhancing current Canadian rural teleoncology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]