Search

The Canadian Digestive Health Foundation initiated a scientific program to assess the incidence, prevalence, mortality and economic impact of digestive disorders across Canada in 2009. The current article presents the updated findings from the study concerning irritable bowel syndrome.

The rapid decline of clinician-scientists in all facets of medicine, including gastroenterology, has been well documented. Many groups have also been severely challenged by the inability of their fee-for-service billings to enable them to meet their rapidly expanding educational commitments in addition to sustaining their research programs. Together, these trends have threatened the core academic mission at many Canadian institutions. In the late 1980s, the concept of a provincial government global funding envelope in place of fee-for-service billings was introduced in response to these challenges, and in 1990 the first Alternative Funding Plan (AFP) appeared in the Department of Paediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. We now have four additional AFPs or Alternative Relationship Plans (ARPs) in place, one each at Dalhousie Universtiy (Halifax, Nova Scotia), Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario), the University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta) and the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta). Moreover, AFPs are currently being negotiated at all the remaining academic centres in Ontario and are being considered elsewhere in Canada. The existing programs are at various stages of maturity and a number have been renegotiated one or more times with their respective provincial governments and medical associations. In this interview, I have communicated with three heads of gastroenterology (GI) divisions: Dr Ron Bridges (University of Calgary); Dr Des Leddin (Dalhousie University); and Dr William Paterson (Queen’s University). I have also communicated with a previous Chair of Paediatrics, Dr Hugh O’Brodovich (the Hospital for Sick Children), as well as a department head, Dr Jon Meddings (University of Alberta), to gain their insights into whether they believe these funding plans will be the ultimate saviours of academic medicine and what experience and advice they have to offer to those who are considering joining similar programs.

The Canadian Digestive Health Foundation initiated a scientific program to assess the incidence, prevalence, mortality and economic impact of digestive disorders across Canada. The current article presents the updated findings from the study concerning gastroesophageal reflux disease – a condition that develops when the reflux of stomach contents causes troublesome symptoms and/or complications (Montreal definition).

The Canadian Digestive Health Foundation initiated a scientific program to assess the incidence, prevalence, mortality and economic impact of digestive disorders across Canada in 2009. The current article presents the updated findings from the study concerning inflammatory bowel diseases – specifically, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.