In March 2024, the Terrace Continuing Medical Education (CME) Committee hosted its first medical conference. This event was supported by Jayleen Emery, Coordinator, and Diane Sarmiento, Program Assistant, both from the Rural Continuing Medical Education (RCME) program. The RCME program supports physicians and medical staff and their teams in rural communities to learn together and participate in activities that will contribute to the well-being and capacity of local health teams, and address the health care service needs of the community.
The goal of the conference was to bring together medical staff from the region to share strategies focused on better patient outcomes. The one-day event was hosted by Dr. Andrew Versolatto, General Surgeon and Chair of the Terrace CME Committee.
Attendees included physicians, specialists, residents, and nurse practitioners from throughout the Northwest. After a full day of presentations, there was an evening of dinner and social events.
“It was a great opportunity to meet, network, and put faces to names to learn about colleagues’ interests,” said one attendee.
“The conference was packed with valuable learning sessions,” said Dr. Versolatto. “The presentation by Dr. Denise Jaworsky on obesity medicine and evidence on medical management of excess weight was insightful. The presentation on legal considerations when caring for older adults by Rai Read, Program Lead, Northwest Region Special Service received overwhelming positive feedback. It’s good to know these resources are available to the community in challenging situations.”
Other topics covered at the conference:
- Emergency department onboarding – drivers and solutions
- Benign perianal disease
- Management of angioedema
- Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)
- End-of-life discussions
- Improving care to patients who present with agitation
- An update on pap/cervical cancer screening
“We were very proud to showcase the expertise and passion for collaborative education of our local medical staff,” said Dr. Versolatto in his summary of the event. “I’m excited to see where this goes and make this an annual event. Thank you to everyone that helped make this a success.”
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