Some of the best medicine? Exercise!

Sybil Millar — Thu, 22 May 2014 15:05:07 +0000

To raise awareness about cardiovascular health in pregnancy, Dr. Karen Fleming and several other Sunnybrook physicians and former patients entered a team in the Toronto GoodLife Marathon on May 4, 2014. Pictured: Dr. Dini Hui, Dr. Janet Bodley, Dr. Betty Chen and Dr. Fleming, together with former patients Elizabeth Seger and Melanie Chryssafis. Learn more about cardiovascular health after pregnancy on Sunnybrook’s website.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he days are getting longer and temperatures are consistently into the double digits- May is the perfect month to come out of hibernation and get back into an exercise routine! Exercise is, after all, one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. So, it’s probably no coincidence that May is “Exercise is Medicine” Month.

Most Canadians are not meeting their physical activity guidelines, according to Dr. Karen Fleming, including pregnant women and new moms. “We want to make sure women are as active as they can be,” says Dr. Fleming, a family physician at Sunnybrook who started the 4P Clinic earlier this year. The first of its kind in Toronto, the clinic aims to help new moms lower their risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Fleming says “a prescription for exercise is often as effective, if not better than, a prescription for medication when it comes to preventing cardiovascular disease.” See the infographic below for more information and tips on reducing your risk of developing cardiovascular disease:

[toggle title=”Click here to read a text-only version”]

May is Exercise is Medicine Month

Exercise is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

9 in 10 Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke.

Only 5% of Canadian adults get 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 days a week.

Cardiovascular disease can affect men and women at any age. But, women who experienced certain complications during pregnancy, like gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, are at higher risk of strokes, heart attacks and Type 2 Diabetes later in life.

30 minutes of physical activity, 4 to 6 times a week, keeps the heart strong and can prevent cardiovascular disease

In addition to exercise, other steps can be taken to reduce your risk:

Losing weight: Getting 150 minutes of exercise per week is an important part of losing weight. Even exercising in 10 minute bursts is beneficial

Eating healthy: A diet that is low in fat and sodium, and rich in fruit, vegetables and dairy products helps to manage blood pressure, diabetes and a healthy body weight

Quitting smoking: Smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels

Using medication: Taking medications as prescribed is essential to managing certain cardiovascular risk factors

[/toggle]

The post Some of the best medicine? Exercise! appeared first on Your Health Matters.

Internal Medicine Residency…A Day in the Life

Education Team — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 00:23:00 +0000

Not many people are aware of what goes into completing an internal medicine residency, let alone all the day to day education that occurs. Having just completed my internal medicine residency as Chief Medical Resident, I thought I would highlight a typical day at Sunnybrook for a trainee on internal medicine.

8am:

Time for Morning Report. Here, a staff physician teaches approximately 20 residents and med students about an interesting case that came in the previous night. It helps to be a morning person in this pressure-packed situation…you have to be able to answer questions on the spot in front of all your peers and staff!!!

9am:

Time to review newly admitted cases from the previous night with your staff and team. The entire history and reasons behind the patient’s illness are discussed…with lots of quizzing of med students and residents along the way (click here for an example from the TV show scrubs)

10am:

Time to start seeing patients! Each resident is the primary caregiver for 6-10 patients, who they take care of every day until they are well enough to be discharged

Noon:

Lunch rounds…focused on a different medical topic each day. It is always a mad dash to try and attend these rounds and if you’re lucky squeeze in lunch.

1-4pm:

Finish seeing your assigned patients…this is the best learning that we receive all day…it’s here that you learn you really must practice medicine in order to learn it properly (check out this interesting article on the topic of “practicing” medicine)

4pm:

Time to review all of your team’s patients with the staff. These rounds are usually accompanied by another informal teaching session

5pm-late:

One resident from each team is on-call each day. This resident will stay in the hospital until 8am the following day in order to take care of the patients already admitted to hospital, as well as admit new patients to their team from the emergency department. Sleep is a luxury on these nights, which happen once every 4 days

8am (the next day):

Time for morning report again (see picture below). Hopefully, the on-call resident won’t get picked on and will get home to sleep!!!

An action packed day of teaching to say the least!!! Note the combination of teaching rounds with staff and patient care…seeing patients is the most important thing that residents do, and provides the best opportunity to learn. Thanks to all of our patients for helping to educate the next generation of Internal Medicine Specialists!!!

Samuel Silver

Chief Medical Resident 2011/12

The post Internal Medicine Residency…A Day in the Life appeared first on Your Health Matters.

medicine Archives - Your Health Matters

Some of the best medicine? Exercise!

Internal Medicine Residency…A Day in the Life