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This article documents a collaborative effort between university teacher educators and an urban school district in Wisconsin to address acute teacher shortages in bilingual education. The effort took shape as a Grow-Your-Own program based on the teacher residency model. Several innovations were required in program design and implementation to satisfy state licensure requirements, including how uncredentialed teachers working as teachers of record would meet clinical stipulations. The COVID-19 pandemic posed obstacles to the program in the very first year; however, due to the pressing teacher shortage, all parties decided to push on rather than suspend the program. The authors discuss bilingual teacher shortages, program design and implementation, challenges associated with the pandemic, and conclude with recommendations for teacher educators interested in creating a similar pipeline.

Introduction: Health system disruptions, caused by unexpected emergencies such as disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and cybercrimes, impact the delivery of routine preventative care. As comprehensive care providers, family physicians (FPs) devote significant time to prevention. However, without emergency and pandemic plans in place in primary care, FPs face added barriers to prioritizing and sustaining preventative care when health systems are strained, which was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to describe FPs' experiences providing preventative care during the COVID-19 pandemic and their perceptions of the impacts of disrupted preventative care in primary care settings.Methods: Using a qualitative descriptive approach, we conducted semistructured interviews with FPs across 4 provinces in Canada (i.e. Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, British Columbia) between October 2020 and June 2021 as part of a larger multiple case study. These interviews broadly explored the roles and responsibilities of FPs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were coded thematically and codes from the larger study were analysed further using an iterative, phased process of thematic analysis.Results: Interviews averaged 58 min in length (range 17-97 min) and FPs had a mean of 16.9 years of experience. We identified 4 major themes from interviews with FPs (n = 68): (i) lack of capacity and coordination across health systems, (ii) patient fear, (iii) impacts on patient care, and (iv) negative impacts on FPs. Physicians voiced concerns with managing patients' prevention needs when testing availability and coordination of services was limited. Early in the pandemic, patients were also missing or postponing their own primary care appointments. Change in the provision and coordination of routine preventative care had negative impacts on both patients and physicians, affecting disease incidence/progression, physician workload, and psychological wellbeing.Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, upstream care efforts were impacted, and FPs were forced to reduce their provision of preventative care. FPs contribute direct insight to primary care delivery that can support pandemic planning to ensure preventative care is sustained during future emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, primary care nurses were often redeployed to areas outside of primary care to mitigate staffing shortages. Despite this, there is a scarcity of literature describing their perceptions of and experiences with redeployment during the pandemic. Objectives: This paper aims to: 1) describe the perspectives of primary care nurses with respect to redeployment, 2) discuss the opportunities/challenges associated with redeployment of primary care nurses, and 3) examine the nature (e.g., settings, activities) of redeployment by primary care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with primary care nurses (i.e., Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, and Licensed/Registered Practical Nurses), from four regions in Canada. These include the Interior, Island, and Vancouver Coastal Health regions in British Columbia; Ontario Health West region in Ontario; the province of Nova Scotia; and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Data related to redeployment were analyzed thematically. Results: Three overarching themes related to redeployment during the COVID-19 pandemic were identified: (1) Call to redeployment, (2) Redeployment as an opportunity/challenge, and (3) Scope of practice during redeployment. Primary care nurses across all regulatory designations reported variation in the process of redeployment within their jurisdiction (e.g., communication, policies/legislation), different opportunities and challenges that resulted from redeployment (e.g., scheduling flexibility, workload implications), and scope of practice implications (e.g., perceived threat to nursing license). The majority of nurses discussed experiences with redeployment being voluntary in nature, rather than mandated. Conclusions: Redeployment is a useful workforce strategy during public health emergencies; however, it requires a structured process and a decision-making approach that explicitly involves healthcare providers affected by redeployment. Primary care nurses ought only to be redeployed after other options are considered and arrangements made for the care of patients in their original practice area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In a previous study, we found a decline in the proportion of Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) medical alumni practising in rural areas, particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador. The current study focused on the work location of recent graduates and examined the predictors of working in rural Canada and in rural Newfoundland and Labrador within the first 15 years following graduation. Methods: We linked data from graduating class lists and the alumni and postgraduate databases with Scott's Medical Database to create a record of all graduates from 1973 to 2008, including their work location. We identified differences and significant predictors for each outcome and then described and compared the characteristics of 4 cohorts of graduating classes. Results: In their early career, 127/1113 (11.4%) MUN medical graduates were working in rural Canada, and 57 (5.1%) were working in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Having a rural background and being a family physician were predictors of working in rural Canada, and having a rural background, doing at least part of the residency at MUN, being from Newfoundland and Labrador and being a family physician were predictors of working in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Seventy-four (13.6%) and 33 (6.1%) of 1989-1998 graduates worked in rural Canada and rural Newfoundland and Labrador, respectively, compared to 53 (9.3%) and 24 (4.2%), respectively, of 1999-2008 graduates. Conclusion: The proportion of MUN medical graduates who worked in rural communities early in their career decreased among recent cohorts. The results show the impact of changes in the characteristics of MUN medical graduates, who increasingly opt for specialist practice and residency training outside the province, and the important role of local postgraduate training. Introduction: Une etude anterieure a revele une baisse du nombre de diplomes en medecine de l'Universite Memorial de Terre-Neuve (MUN) exercant en region rurale, plus particulierement a Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. L'etude actuelle portait sur le lieu de travail de diplomes recents et sur les predicteurs du travail en milieu rural au Canada et dans la province de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador dans les 15 premieres annees suivant l'obtention du diplome. Methodes: Nous avons etabli un lien entre les listes de diplomes, les bases de donnees des anciens et des postdoctorants et la Base de donnees medicales Scott's afin de creer un dossier de tous les diplomes de 1973 a 2008, y compris de leur lieu de travail. Nous avons etabli des differences et des predicteurs importants pour chaque resultat et avons ensuite decrit et compare les caracteristiques de 4 cohortes de classes de diplomes. Resultats: Au debut de leur carriere, 127 sur 1113 (11,4 %) diplomes en medecine de MUN travaillaient en region rurale au Canada et 57 (5,1 %) en region rurale a Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Le fait de venir d'un milieu rural et d'etre un medecin de famille etait des predicteurs de travail en milieu rural au Canada alors que le fait de venir d'un milieu rural, d'avoir fait au moins une partie de sa residence a MUN, d'etre originaire de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador et d'etre medecin de famille etaient des predicteurs de travail en milieu rural a Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Soixante-quatorze (13,6 %) et 33 (6,1 %) diplomes de 1989 a 1998 travaillaient en milieu rural au Canada et en milieu rural a Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, respectivement, par comparaison a 53 (9,3 %) et a 24 (4,2 %), respectivement, pour les diplomes de 1999 a 2008. Conclusion: La proportion de diplomes en medecine de MUN qui ont travaille dans des localites rurales au debut de leur carriere a diminue au sein des cohortes recentes. Les resultats de notre etude montrent l'incidence du changement des caracteristiques des diplomes en medecine de MUN, lesquels choisissent de plus en plus de se specializer et de faire leur residence a l'exterieur de la province, ainsi que le role important de la formation medicale postdoctorale a l'echelle locale., INTRODUCTION Part of the social accountability mandate of medical schools is to address the local, regional and national physician workforce. (1, 2) Medical schools, through their 'organization, location and mission [...]

Background: As the first point of contact in health care, primary care providers play an integral role in pandemic response. Despite this, primary care has been overlooked in previous pandemic plans, with a lack of emphasis on ways in which the unique characteristics of family practice could be leveraged to create a more effective response. Aim: To explore family physicians' perceptions of the integration of primary care in the COVID-19 pandemic response. Design and setting: Descriptive qualitative approach examining family physician roles during the COVID-19 pandemic across four regions in Canada. Method: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with family physicians and participants were asked about their roles during each pandemic stage, as well as facilitators and barriers they experienced in performing these roles. Interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis approach was employed to develop a unified coding template across the four regions and identify recurring themes. Results: In total, 68 family physicians completed interviews. Four priorities for integrating primary care in future pandemic planning were identified: 1) improve communication with family physicians; 2) prioritise community-based primary care; 3) leverage the longitudinal relationship between patients and family physicians; and 4) preserve primary care workforce capacity. Across all regions, family physicians felt that primary care was not well incorporated into the COVID-19 pandemic response. Conclusion: Future pandemic plans require greater integration of primary care to ensure the delivery of an effective and coordinated pandemic response. Strengthening pandemic preparedness requires a broader reconsideration and better understanding of the central role of primary care in health system functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]