Keynotes
Monday, April 1st, 2019
Dr. Brian Goldman
Emergency Room Physician, Bestselling Author & Medical Watchdog
9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
THE POWER OF KINDNESS
Human beings are hard wired to be kind and empathic to others. But situational stress, burnout and compassion fatigue make it challenging for mental health care providers to be empathic on an everyday basis. Dr. Brian Goldman knows from personal and professional experience why that happens. He takes us on a journey through his brain, his personality and around the world to learn what gets in the way of kindness and how to bring it to mental health clients and their family members.
Dr. Brian Goldman’s style on stage is earnest, heartfelt and sincere. On stage it becomes clear that he has a passion for compassion. Dr. Goldman makes complex medical issues digestible for audiences. He personalizes medicine and the human frailties of his profession. He is unafraid to address tough or controversial issues head on in a comprehensive way.
Dr. Goldman is one of those rare individuals with great success in not one but several adrenaline-pumping careers. He is a highly regarded emergency physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. A veteran medical broadcaster, he is also the host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s award-winning radio show “White Coat, Black Art”, where he takes listeners behind the scenes of hospitals and doctor’s offices. Dr. Goldman unpacks and demystifies what goes on inside medicine’s sliding doors – with topics that include burnout among health professionals, racism in health care and meeting the challenge of providing care for kids with complex medical needs when they age out of the system.
His inspiring yet bracingly honest TEDx talk about medical errors—which has been viewed on the Internet almost one million times—has cemented his reputation as one of his generation’s keenest observers of the culture of modern medicine.
A bestselling author of the book The Night Shift: Real Life in the ER, Dr. Goldman takes readers through giddying heights and crashing lows as he works through a typical night shift in one of Canada’s busiest ERs. His second book The Secret Language of Doctors is a biting look at medical slang, and what it reveals of what the doctor really thinks about your mother’s obesity, your grandfather’s dementia or her colleague’s competence.
And, he’s not afraid to take a hard look at himself. In his latest book – The Power of Kindness: Why Empathy is Essential in Everyday Life – Goldman searches for his own capacity for caring around the world, through his own brain circuitry and inside his heart.
Françoise Mathieu, M.Ed., RP., CCC
Compassion Fatigue Specialist, Co-Executive Director, TEND
2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
THE EDGE OF COMPASSION: STAYING WELL WHILE WORKING IN HIGH STRESS, TRAUMA-EXPOSED ENVIRONMENTS
Chronic Stress and heavy workloads can have an enormous impact on the health of an organization. When the added element of secondary trauma exposure is present, ensuring workplace wellness becomes far more complicated, and research shows, even more critical. How can we ensure the delivery of high-quality care while working in intensely pressured, complex work environments? This workshop will present the resulting work of experts in high stress, trauma exposed environments and offer concrete tools to understand, assess and map out strategies to addressing the vitally important issue of team wellbeing.
Participants will learn:
- Key Factors that increase risks of compassion fatigue, burnout and secondary trauma
- Workplace friction – why does it occur more often in our fields of work and what to do about it.
- The broken kettle parable – understanding strong emotional reactions to change and uncertainty among your team.
- Current recommendations from the Secondary Traumatic Stress think tank
- Future directions for our field
Françoise Mathieu is a Registered Psychotherapist and a compassion fatigue specialist. Her experience stems from over 20+ years as a mental health professional, working as a crisis counsellor and trauma specialist in university counselling, military, law enforcement and other community mental health environments. Françoise is co-executive director of TEND, whose aim is to offer consulting and training to helpers on topics related to secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, burnout, self-care, wellness and organizational health.
Since 2001, Françoise has given hundreds of seminars on compassion fatigue and secondary trauma across North America to thousands of helping professionals in the fields of health care, child welfare, the criminal justice system and other similar high stress, trauma exposed professions. Françoise is an engaging and dynamic speaker and is the author of “The Compassion Fatigue Workbook” which was published by Routledge in 2012 as well as several articles and publications.
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019
André Picard
Award-Winning National Health Writer
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
RESTRUCTURING: WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE MENTAL HEALTH?
Ontario is undertaking a massive structural reform of the health system. A veteran journalist examines what that means to patients and providers, with particular emphasis on the mental health sector.
André Picard is the health columnist at The Globe and Mail and the author of five books, including Matters of Life and Death: Public Health Issues in Canada, and The Path to Health Care Reform: Policies and Politics. He also has a large Twitter following at @picardonhealth.
André has received much acclaim for his writing, including the Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service Journalism and the Centennial Prize of the Pan-American Health Association, awarded to the top health journalist in the Americas. He is also an eight-time finalist for the National Newspaper Awards – Canada’s version of the Pulitzer Prize.
He is a seasoned communicator who employs a conversational style to reach his audience. He enlivens his research and commentary with personal stories to provide context for his audience, including anecdotes from patients and health professionals on the front lines.
André will enlighten and peak a sense of curiosity of audience members from all educational backgrounds. His work as one of North America’s top health journalists reflects his personality: Behind the placid exterior lies an inquisitive, perceptive and industrious scribe for whom the work only begins with the official story.
André is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, and has received honourary doctorates from six universities, including the University of Toronto, UBC and the University of Manitoba.
Dr. Joshua Tepper, MD, FCFP, MPH, MBA
President and CEO of North York General Hospital
3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Dr. Tepper is a family physician and the President and Chief Executive Officer of North York General Hospital. Previously he was the President and CEO of Health Quality Ontario (HQO, an arm’s length agency of the provincial government).
Prior to HQO, Dr. Tepper was the inaugural Vice President of Education at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. As Vice President, he was responsible for Sunnybrook’s educational strategy and programming for learners, physicians and staff, patients and their families and the community. Prior to joining Sunnybrook, Dr. Tepper was Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) in the Health Human Resources Strategy Division of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. As the ADM he led the HealthForceOntario health human resources strategy to ensure that Ontarians have access to the right number and mix of qualified health care providers, now and in the future.
In addition to his involvement in health policy and research at the provincial level, Dr. Tepper has also been active on a national scale as the senior medical officer for Health Canada, an adjunct scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), and a research consultant for the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI). He has received several provincial and national awards for his leadership in these positions.
Dr. Tepper has always remained in active practice serving marginalized populations and taking on clinical leadership roles. He has served as the Medical Director for the Inner City Health Associates and President of the Inner City Family Health Team. He was also previously the Vice-President of the Society of Rural Physicians.
He completed Medical School at McMaster University and his residency in Family Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Tepper holds a degree in Public Policy from Duke University, a Masters of Public Health from Harvard, and then completed his executive Master’s of Business Administration at the Richard Ivey School of Business where he was the Valedictorian.