In this issue :

A Unique Chair at UdeM | Do no harm... When Counselling Patients
  | Change Your Habits: Use a Pedometer! | MPÀC: An Impact on Prevention |

A Unique Chair at UdeM

From left to right: Louise Lefort, 
Brigitte Maheux,
Alice de Forges 
(missing: Andrée Gilbert)

The first and only one of its kind, the Lucie and André Chagnon Chair in education at Université de Montréal's faculty of medicine aims to promote the teaching of an integrated approach to prevention to all future physicians. To attain this goal, four areas of focus have been identified.
 


The Chair has developed educational tools to provide pedagogical support to heads of clinical training programs at Université de Montréal. It also shares its expertise in medical education related to prevention in Québec.
 


Since its inception in 2007, the Chair has published "De l’enfance à la vieillesse – Soigner pour prévenir", a textbook used to teach prevention to medical students in the province.  Working with clinical professors from various disciplines, the Chair is currently developing an E-learning portal accessible to students over the Internet. It includes formative testing on the course to follow in response to clinical scenarios pertaining to prevention that commonly occur in medical practice.
 


The Chair is funded by the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, whose goal is to contribute to developing and improving health by preventing poverty and illness. Dr. Brigitte Maheux, professor  in the Département de médecine sociale et préventive at Université de Montréal, is the chairholder.

Do No Harm… When Counselling Patients

Motivational interviewing

Primun non nocere ! This principle also applies when health professionals give their patients advice concerning the adoption of healthier behaviours. It has been shown that the attitude of a professional during a medical visit can slow down or speed up an individual's process of change.
 


The Chair in Medical Education has contributed to training future physicians in motivational interviewing. This approach, developed by Miller and Rollnick, is both directive and focused on the individual; it also aims to increase motivation which is intrinsic to change. Such training has been integrated into the clerkship in community medicine. After taking a theory course on the principles of motivational interviewing, each student is invited to put into practice what has been learnt by conducting an interview with a patient-actor.
 


Simulated interviews are set up to emphasize a specific aspect of counselling; for instance, avoid provoking resistance or spotting ambivalence in a patient. They concern current clinical situations such as smoking cessation, physical activity, alcohol abuse, adherence to medications and vaccination refusal. Small group discussions composed of the student who conducted the interview, three extern observers and the supervisor reinforce the theoretical aspects.

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Change Your Habits: Use a Pedometer!

Did you know that an adult should take about 10,000 steps a day? To find out how you fare in terms of this recommendation, a pedometer is the ideal tool.
 


At the beginning of the clerkship in community medicine at Université de Montréal, each extern is given a pedometer, a useful clinical tool that helps reduce sedentariness and promote walking as a physical activity.
 


The pedometer not only allows students to challenge themselves personally, but it also enables them to become familiar with this tool so that they can recommend its use to their future patients. It is simple to use and is particularly useful for someone who wants to set achievable objectives and measure the progress made.

MPÀC: An Impact on Prevention

 

The MPÀC study (Doctors Taking Prevention to Heart) of medicine graduates at Université de Montréal and Université Laval is the main component of the program, and is carried out periodically.
 


The study is an information and awareness-raising tool designed to document the importance given to teaching a care approach that integrates prevention and interprofessional collaboration into clinical training.
 


A pilot study conducted in 2009 helped validate the study questionnaire and lay the groundwork for discussions with clerkship supervisors on challenges related to prevention education.
 
In 2010, graduates from the MD program and the family medicine residency were interviewed. Results will be published in the coming months.