Research Report
Dr. Shelley McLeod
The past year has been defined by outstanding research accomplishments from our SREMI researchers and scholars, and I am very proud to highlight some of our recent successes and ongoing projects that exemplify our commitment to advancing the field of emergency medicine.
Research Impact
SREMI is expanding its academic reputation both nationally and internationally. With 42 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious journals like Canadian Medical Association Journal, Academic Emergency Medicine, and Age and Ageing, our scientists are at the forefront of high-quality emergency medicine research. Many of our faculty were invited speakers and track chairs at the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) 2024 conference and continue to be vital members of committees, working groups and panels, acknowledging the important contributions we are making towards emergency medicine.
Commissioned by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), Dr. Bjug Borgundvaag led the development and publication of the Guidelines for Reasonable and Appropriate Care in the Emergency Department (GRACE-4) guidelines on alcohol use disorder and cannabis hyperemesis syndrome management in the ED. These guidelines aim to improve patient outcomes by standardizing care practices in the ED and serve as a resource for educating ED staff about the complexities of alcohol and cannabis-related conditions. Dr. Borgundvaag has been invited to present these findings at numerous provincial, national and international conferences, raising awareness of alcohol use disorder and cannabis hyperemesis syndrome and promoting best practices well beyond Canada.
Over the past year, SREMI clinician scientist Dr. Rohit Mohindra continued to build the emergency medicine research program at North York General Hospital (NYGH), successfully leading and participating in multiple on-going projects. One new study being led by Dr. Mohindra is using machine learning algorithms to improve the accuracy of asthma diagnosis in the ED. This innovative study is supported by a grant from the NYGH Exploration Fund and represents a forward-thinking approach to integrating technology in healthcare, paving the way for future research and applications of machine learning in various aspects of emergency medicine.
Dr. Keerat Grewal and Dr. Catherine Varner co-authored an extremely impactful editorial in the CMAJ entitled “The emergency department is no place to be told you have cancer.” It emphasized the challenges and emotional distress associated with receiving a cancer diagnosis in the ED and outlined the need for dedicated resources and processes to ensure patients receive their diagnoses in a supportive and suitable setting. Dr. Grewal was interviewed by various media outlets, including CBC News, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and CTV News.
Dr. Varner also published two additional editorials advocating for enhanced and streamlined access to early pregnancy care in Canada, which led to multiple media interviews with the CBC, CTV News, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and National Post. In acknowledgment of her research and expertise in the care of pregnant patients in the ED, Dr. Varner was invited to be the Keynote Speaker and Visiting Professor at the emergency medicine research days at both the University of Alberta and the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Jacques Lee, our SREMI Research Chair in Geriatric Emergency Medicine, is actively enrolling patients in his trial on social isolation and loneliness. In addition to directly connecting over 135 seniors with volunteers, extensive media coverage of Dr. Lee’s research, including features on The National, The Current radio show, Global News, and The Globe and Mail, has significantly raised awareness about the effects of social isolation and loneliness across the country.
Last year I completed the provincial evaluation of Ontario’s virtual urgent care pilot program, which helped inform provincial policy decisions on how to structure virtual care services across the province. Findings highlighted the need to better understand the inherent limitations of virtual care and ensure future virtual providers have timely access to in person outpatient resources for follow up to reduce subsequent ED visits and ensure appropriate use of ED services. This work resulted in numerous publications, with the main findings published in the CMAJ with an accompanying editorial by Dr. Varner. The CMAJ article received 249 media mentions across 12 countries.
In September, we completed the on-site data collection for the third iteration of the Predictors of Workload in the Emergency Room (POWER) study, a prospective, time-and-motion study of physicians working in 14 EDs in Ontario to determine the distribution of physician time by activity during a shift. This study was commissioned by the Ontario Ministry of Health, and data derived from the POWER study will be used as the basis of a formula used to determine physician hours of coverage for the ED Alternate Funding Arrangement workload model used in Ontario and other provinces.
