Apr 2024
22 Apr
Meet the psychiatrist who never burned out
A career in one speciality doesn't have to mean boredom or burnout. Dr. John Crosby tells the story of a colleague whose career looked very different from year to year.
Feb 2024
13 Feb
A Canadian on the pros and cons of practising in the U.S.
A Canadian doing her final-year of family medicine residency in the U.S., highlights concerns about the increasing dominance of mid-level practitioners in American healthcare.
Jan 2024
31 Jan
My list: Why Canadian family doctors are collapsing
Here's my list of reasons—after all, it's a massive problem with far more than one cause to blame.
Nov 2023
21 Nov
Help! My receptionist is in voicemail jail!
Patients have no idea that we don’t work 24/7/365. Everything else in their life is instantly available. Pizza at 3 a.m.? 30 minutes or it’s free.
Oct 2023
26 Oct
A union for family doctors?
I spoke with Dr. Ramsey Hijazi, who is spearheading the (very) new Ontario Union of Family Physicians—which wants to see government funding for FPs rise dramatically.
Aug 2023
31 Aug
Is perfectionism making your life as a doctor difficult?
Dr. John Crosby makes the case for anti-perfectionism when it comes to medicine, especially in the family physician's office.
01 Aug
My moment of truth
I couldn’t be a banker. I couldn’t balance a cheque book. I was useless with my hands.
I would have been eaten alive as a teacher or lawyer.
June 2023
14 Jun
Recruitment and retention of family doctors
In his latest video blog, Dr. John Crosby talks about how his community went from a dire shortage to solid team of family docs.
08 Jun
How to make sure you actually get paid for uninsured services
OMA members get discounted rates on PatientSERV, so we ought to be leveraging this tool.
May 2023
19 May
Time managing the top 12 diagnoses in family practice
How I keep the bread and butter of my practice from going stale.
05 May
62 burnout hacks from the Quack
I have been an emergency, then family doctor for 50 years. Here are some tips that have helped me avoid burnout and still love medicine.
Apr 2023
20 Apr
What are the strangest complaints you have had?
My son is tired for school, but has the energy for hockey. How curious!
Mar 2023
31 Mar
Canada is switching to metric time: What you need to know
At midnight one hour will consist of 100 minutes and one minute will consist of 100 seconds.
29 Mar
Ontario pharmacists will be doing drive thru neurosurgery
Just kidding, just like last time—but we are seeing yet another expansion of their scope.
22 Mar
I flunked my CPSO peer review
Actually, I flunked it twice! And after decades of being a doctor, having to go back and refresh a certain skill gave me a new perspective on it.
18 Mar
What it actually feels like to retire as a family doctor
Weird, empty, fulfilled, happy, sad, relieved, numb and content.
03 Mar
Boomer patients are getting older, but so are boomer doctors
Becoming an FP is a very different proposition for this new generation of MDs. The age of the Baby Boomers' is ending—what comes next?
Feb 2023
21 Feb
How Cambridge, Ont. cured its family doctor shortage
Four simple ingredients have put us in an enviable position. And I'm not going to keep them secret.
10 Feb
Want a happy marriage as a doctor? It's all about protecting each other's peace
Being a doctor is one of the most stressful jobs in the world because we look after people, the most important things in the world. So we have to set up systems to ensure our marriages survive and thrive.
03 Feb
Burnout buster: Doctor’s scribe pays for herself
He used to think that, when he died, he would be buried under his paperwork.
Jan 2023
13 Jan
Times I tell my patients 'no' and how I go about it
A lot of doctors are like me. Passive aggressive people pleasers. We hate confrontation. But sometimes you have to say 'no' to help patients. Here are my top tips.
Dec 2022
08 Dec
A Canadian medical Christmas Miracle
I was exhausted and depressed after having seen 32 patients, many with the flu and colds, looking in vain for a miracle cure to save Christmas.
Nov 2022
24 Nov
Patient perspective: Chronic pain
A patient recently wrote me the following chronic pain journal—a good reminder for docs to deepen on what some of their patients may really be experiencing.
20 Nov
Small ERs are shuttering across Canada. Is this really such a bad thing?
In small towns across the country, patients seeking urgent care can't always rely on small emergency rooms that have typically served their communities before. But are these small ERs really what local patients need to get the best care?
07 Nov
What's next? Ontario pharmacists to start doing open heart surgery?
Just kidding. But as of Jan. 1, 2023 they will be diagnosing and treating.
Oct 2022
12 Oct
The best of Stitches – and Dr. John Cocker
Dr. John Cocker, founder of the beloved medical humour magazine that ran for many years, died Oct. 3.
02 Oct
Is one Newfoundland ER's system the cure for long waits?
A whopping 87% of Canadian emergency physicians are burned out vs. 25% of physicians overall. That is because they are trying to hold together our healthcare non-system.
Sep 2022
11 Sep
Helping patients taper down off opioids
I've had patients tell me they hate my guts during my taper-down method. But it works.
Aug 2022
17 Aug
Was there burnout in the olden days?
Is burnout the result of new factors impacting doctors' work and lives or did we just call it something different back in the day?
02 Aug
B.C. vs. Ontario: Why one province's FPs are much happier
Dr. Steve Shore, a British Columbian family doctor, wrote about being fed up and not wanting to take it anymore. I think I know why docs in Ontario are so much happier.
July 2022
26 Jul
89-year-old surgical assistant cries foul
I recently spoke with a doctor who after 47 years of a very comprehensive general practice, is still working at the age of 89 as a surgical assistant in the OR 15 days per month.
11 Jul
One internist's recipe for survival during residency
A young female Canadian general internist wrote this for me. As an emergency physician for 20 years, I get to see many specialties and one of the toughest was internal medicine.
June 2022
28 Jun
How to best care for super seniors: A portrait of a favourite patient group
If you are thinking of taking on super-seniors as patients, I highly recommend it. They don’t Google, they respect doctors, they are not trying to bag work and they are living history, unfiltered by writers, historians or politicians.
21 Jun
We need to teach freshly minted physicians how to pace themselves
The fresh MD is never off the clock. This is a quick route to burnout. How do we fix it?
02 Jun
How to avoid college complaints
In a new video, Dr. John Crosby gives his preventative prescription for patient complaints.
May 2022
11 May
There is no doctor shortage
Dr. John Crosby argues that fee-for-service is broken and that family doctors with well-run clinics in Canada wouldn't be so few and far between if capitation were the norm.
08 May
Financial atorvastatin
A cardiologist wonders whether he's made the right preventative moves to avoid a 'financial stroke' down the line.
Apr 2022
10 Apr
You're fired: My criteria for ending things with a patient
I have a list of patients in the notes section of my iPhone who I’ve fired or have fired me over the last 50 years. When I get depressed, I read it and it cheers me up. They are happy without me and I without them. It is like a good divorce.
05 Apr
Never give up trying the change the system
There are lots of things in our healthcare non system that annoy me but I don’t dwell on them and I try to fix them.
Mar 2022
23 Mar
The reality is, you might get sued: Proactive physician tips to soften the blow
Here's what I do to make sure the process is as painless as a possible should a patient even become a plaintiff.
16 Mar
Insomnia: 10 tips to help your patients (and yourself)
Sleep is a habit just like putting on a seatbelt when you get in the car or brushing your teeth in the morning. Here are the top 10 things I tell patients struggling with it.
07 Mar
The 8 best ways to avoid a nursing home
Choosing to retire from a career in medicine is one thing, but figuring out how to age in place is quite another. As the medical director of two nursing homes, we provide excellent care, but there is no place like home.
02 Mar
Can we afford to be picky when it comes to solving the orphan patient problem?
Nova Scotia has recently started a small program to test having clinics where a nurse practitioner and pharmacist team up to offer primary care. I like the idea. What do you think?
Feb 2022
15 Feb
Physician tips: How not to get yourself sued
I’ve been sued just once in 49 years, during which time I’ve been involved in over 700,000 patient interactions. Am I smart? Not particularly. Am I lucky? Yes. Am I well organized? Yes.
06 Feb
Getting a handle on administrative medicine
When you're in charge, administrative tasks can loom large, but it's important that they don't get in the way of big-picture planning and leading. Here are some tips.
06 Feb
Are you a crazy busy doctor?
I was recently talking to a young family doctor in Toronto who told me he was finishing his charting at midnight. I couldn’t believe it because I am home every day at 5:00 p.m. with no homework.
Jan 2022
20 Jan
Obesity: The disease that keeps on giving
One of the biggest failures I have had as a family doctor over 49 years is helping patients lose weight and keep it off. But the future of obesity medicine is bright.
16 Jan
The art of treating depression 2022
It's known as the most depressing time of the year. Cold, snowy, no holidays in sight. Many experience the winter blues, and for those who already suffer from depression, this can be a particularly difficult time.
Dec 2021
29 Dec
New Year’s resolution: How to love paperwork in 2022
This is the year you're going to get the paperwork under control. All it takes is a plan and some discipline.
21 Dec
Letter from a lazy Quebec family physician
I recently wrote about how the threat to penalize Quebec FPs (who don’t have a certain number of patients) will only lead to worsening morale. Then I received this letter.
07 Dec
Retirement for MDs: I married him for life not for lunch
Dr. John Crosby talks to physician colleagues about the mishaps and successes of retiring.
Nov 2021
28 Nov
November's the worst
March also sucks with similar cutting winds and grey skies and leafless trees. There is little clean snow to blanket the ugly.
19 Nov
Threat to penalize Quebec FPs will only lead to worsening morale
Workload comparisons with Ontario family physicians are ill-conceived and inappropriate.
11 Nov
The heartbreak of dementia
I have seen thousands of patients with dementia over my career. It is difficult to treat patients and handle caregivers. This is how I do it.
Oct 2021
28 Oct
Stop charting evenings, weekends and holidays
Dr. Smith has a story similar to many of you: For 15 years she brought her medical charts and paperwork home to work on them after the kids went to bed. From 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. each evening was typical for weeknights.
18 Oct
Psychiatrists and suicide
Why do psychiatrists have one of the highest suicide rates among physicians? I spoke to an expert and the answer is complex but points to ways of prevention.
05 Oct
How to love patients with chronic pain
Chronic pain has no cure. The patients are often angry with us for failing them.
We struggle to keep them working. My heart used to sink when I saw a chronic pain patient on my list.
Sep 2021
08 Sep
Neurologists making housecalls in blizzards
What drives you crazy about depictions of doctors on-screen? I'll start.
Aug 2021
21 Aug
Getting off the fee-for-service hamster wheel
One way to improve patient care, cure Canada's family doctor shortage and keep family physicians and taxpayers very happy, is with capitation.
08 Aug
Remembering the Great Doctor Strike of 1973
In 1973, the interns and residents of Ontario went on strike and won a huge increase in wages and cut their on-call duties from the bone-crushing one-in-two nights to a maximum of one in three.
July 2021
19 Jul
Lighten up! Tips to declutter at home or at work
Knowing that many doctors can use help getting organized, I recently interviewed the co-owner of In Order Co., a professional organizing company.
14 Jul
Doctors with boundaries
When you’re a doctor, everyone wants a piece of you around the clock and every day. This includes patients, staff, administrators, nurses, pharmacists and paramedical personnel.
Only you can control this onslaught by setting firm boundaries.
June 2021
29 Jun
Saving time and headaches: a toolkit
Communicating efficiently and setting limits saves us time and energy and ultimately improves patient care. This toolkit consists of letters you can edit, print off, sign and give to your clinic staff.
May 2021
26 May
Why doctors are late and how to fix it
Why are so many doctors late so often? We are teased about this almost as much as for our bad handwriting. Sometimes it’s impossible to be on time with emergencies and flu epidemics or pandemics. Or if someone breaks down sobbing in your office.
Apr 2021
22 Apr
How to love being on general surgical call (or hate it less)
I recently had a phone chat with Dr. Duncan Rozario, Chief of Surgery in Oakville, Ont.
Mar 2021
25 Mar
Do you need a scribe?
I recently had a phone chat with Dr. Vandana Ahluwalia. She has been a rheumatologist in Brampton for 25 years and is past-president of the Canadian and Ontario Rheumatology Association and also a Peer Leader for OntarioMD.
08 Mar
Is money stressing you out?
I recently spoke on the phone with Dr. Vu Kiet Tran, a Toronto emergency, family and long-term care physician about doctors and money.
Feb 2021
23 Feb
Strategies for ER physician burnout
Any astonishing 87% of Canadian emergency physicians are burned out vs. 25% of all physicians. That is because they are trying to hold together our healthcare non-system.
Jan 2021
31 Jan
How to avoid malpractice
I have been an expert in over 100 cases involving physician malpractice. I have been sued once in 48 years during which time I have been involved in over 500,000 patient interactions. Am I smart? Not particularly. Am I lucky? Yes.
19 Jan
I am bored
I am 73 and have been doctoring for 48 years. I semi-retired four months ago. With all due respect to the many physicians who are working long and stressful hours right now—I am bored.
09 Jan
Should we be studying melatonin for prevention or treatment of COVID-19?
Should we be studying melatonin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19? I say yes and so does Dr. Harold Pupko, a North Toronto GP psychotherapist. Dr. Pupko is president of the 500-strong North York Branson Medical Society of physicians.
07 Jan
Could this tiny jab stop millions from dying, billions from economic ruin, loneliness and boredom?
This is what it was like to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
03 Jan
Resolutions 2019 and 2021
My track record is pretty good when it comes to New Year's resolutions.
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