#catherinevarner

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CMAJ NEWS -- Parents on the front lines of COVID-19 face tough choices 

BY CATHERINE VARNER (CHI ‘20) -- Front-line health care workers with children are grappling with difficult decisions about how to protect their families as Canada’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak worsens. Many were already managing a precarious work–life balance and complex child care arrangements before the pandemic. But COVID-19 has brought new challenges and anxieties. READ MORE. 

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HEALTHY DEBATE --  Separating fact from fiction: McMaster students, Toronto physician earn international praise for online tools

BY CATHERINE VARNER (CHI ‘20) --  Separating facts and sound advice from lies and conspiracy theories has become a non-stop challenge for health care workers on the COVID-19 frontline. READ MORE. 

[dlsphchijournalism]

CMAJ NEWS --  Pandemic advances alternatives to hallway medicine

BY CATHERINE VARNER (CHI ‘20) --  Efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Canadian hospitals have produced a surprising change in emergency departments: an abrupt end to hallway medicine. Hospital corridors are no longer overflowing with stretchers. Instead, social distancing in waiting areas, virtual emergency department visits, and a clear sight-line along every hallway have become the new normal. READ MORE. 

[dlsphchijournalism]

HEALTHY DEBATE --  Rolling out the welcome mat: Hospitals making visits less intimidating

BY CATHERINE VARNER (CHI ‘20) --  The bustling main floor of Canada’s big hospitals, with their unfettered entryways, coffee shops and fundraising tables, are now places of the past. In the pandemic, they feel more like fortresses, guarded by screeners in masks and an array of rules sure to intimidate patients and visitors. READ MORE. 

[dlsphchijournalism]

CMAJ NEWS --  Hospitals rolling out the “welcome mat” to ease COVID-19 fears

BY CATHERINE VARNER (CHI ‘20) --  Clinical, chronically crowded and tough to navigate – few would describe hospitals as welcoming at the best of times. And for many patients, the COVID-19 pandemic has made visiting the hospital even more daunting. READ MORE. 

[dlsphchijournalism]

HEALTHY DEBATE -- The end of hallway medicine?

BY CATHERINE VARNER (CHI ‘20) -- As the number of patients visiting emergency rooms approaches pre-pandemic levels, a debate has erupted over whether COVID-19 has changed emergency medicine in Canada forever. READ MORE. 

[dlsphchijournalism]

THE CONVERSATION -- Coronavirus: How medical experts are deciding which treatments should be used for COVID-19

BY CATHERINE VARNER (CHI ‘20) --  Ontario doctors and scientists have formed two high-powered committees to sift through the mountain of often conflicting and even dangerous scientific studies on how best to treat patients with COVID-19. READ MORE.                                                                                      

[dlsphchijournalism]

HEALTHY DEBATE --  Can artificial intelligence predict emergency department crowding?

BY CATHERINE VARNER (CHI ‘20) -- Unlike other areas of day to day life, health care has been late to adopt artificial intelligence as a tool for improved efficiency, satisfaction, and outcomes. Yet three Toronto hospitals are now using machine learning to predict and prevent overcrowding in their emergency departments and test artificial intelligence for direct patient care. READ MORE.