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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱

@drotte.medsky.social
3K followers 884 following 279 posts

Palliative care/family doc in Nanaimo, BC. Clinical Associate Prof, UBC Medicine Focus: the intersection of Palliative Care + sustainability. Was @lessismoremedicine.❤️quaternary prevention, preventing overdiagnosis, goal-concordant EBM, choosing wisely.

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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 19/02/2026
More is not always better. This patient clearly explains why and how patients can/should say “hey, could I take fewer medications?” Sometimes a prescriber just needs a nudge to reconsider how adding more and more pills is not the only answer to help people feel well again.
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 18/01/2026
www.cbc.ca/player/play/... A balanced piece on #chroniclyme from @cbcnews.ca The symptoms are real. The tests, diagnosis, and treatments… unfortunately are usually full of snake oil.
cbc.ca
Why do so many celebrities have Lyme disease?
Celebrity claims are fuelling confusion about the risks of Lyme disease. For The National, CBC’s senior health reporter Christine Birak investigates what’s really behind the boom in high-profile cases...
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 18/11/2025
“While you are on chemotherapy …” Myths: - Avoid large social gatherings - Wash clothes w body fluids STAT - Use a separate toilet - Avoid all EtOH - Avoid certain foods, coffee --> lack evidence, cause harm academic.oup.com/jnci/article... great article from @csoncol.bsky.social #oncology
academic.oup.com
“While you are on chemotherapy …”: common recommendations that lack evidence and may cause harm
Abstract. Patients on chemotherapy often use multiple resources to obtain information on wide-ranging issues, including prognosis, treatments, diet, exerci
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 13/11/2025
This is a huge challenge for patients. Proprietary parts for their means of mobility and very few vendors, lots of rules about who can fix them, etc and it means many simply can’t be mobile. That is not ok!
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 13/11/2025
As it turns out, escitalopram is just a marketing parachute for citalopram. Oops! /undoes escitalopram Rxs that could have just been cheaper and equalky safe/effectivr citalopram… 😬👀
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Therapeutics Initiative (TI) @drug-evidence.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
🧵 TI Annual Course - REGISTER NOW! ti.ubc.ca/annual-cours... 1/ Featuring expert speakers including the TI's Dr. Jessica Otte @drotte.medsky.social "Drugs and edema: A not so ‘swell’ effect" #DrugEvidence25 #CME #MedEd #BetterPrescribing
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 27/10/2025
this makes no sense. Clearly investing in exercise and social programs for vulnerable elders would be a much better use of resources.
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 20/10/2025
Check it: - low cost ($49 for students/etc, $99 for MDs by Oct 31st) - virtual - we dissect the evidence so you don't have to - free of financial COIs (no industry funding), - full of practice changing pearls and no BS Please join us in your pyjamas from home Nov 28/29. #cme #ebm #familymed
ti.ubc.ca
Therapeutics Initiative | Bringing Best Evidence to Clinicians Annual Course 2025
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 07/10/2025
another TI @drug-evidence.bsky.social + collaborators publication: It is possible to reduce the unnecessary over-use of TSH and related #thyroid tests!!! But it can be a challenge! (DM me to ask how I know!) qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/qhc/... #choosingwisely #overtesting
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 03/10/2025
One + of covid-era delays: learned Rx like rituximab for MS in lower/less frequent doses are still effective = lower cost & easier for patient! Opposite, nefarious: drug companies pushing higher doses of #cancer drugs than are needed, just for profit 🤮💰 #cancercapitalism #palliativecare #pallmed
bloomberg.com
Pharma Is Pushing $200,000 Cancer Drugs When Cheaper Doses May Work
Doctors are experimenting with using lower doses of blockbuster cancer drugs. It could help hundreds of thousands of lives — if pharmaceutical companies would allow it.
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 16/09/2025
@cfpjournal.bsky.social ah! you do have a Bluesky account! Couldn't find it the other day, sorry about that, would have @'d you otherwise :)
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 15/09/2025
Our @drug-evidence.bsky.social team has worked so hard on Portraits www.ti.ubc.ca/portrait/ and we have RCT evidence that it improves prescribing patterns. How excited, grateful, & proud we feel to be recognized by @ubcmedicine.bsky.social for our innovation in #CME www.med.ubc.ca/news/faculty...
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 13/09/2025
Took a few years... but we got it done and in print thanks to @cfpc-cmfc.bsky.social's CFP. Tramadol (with or without acetaminophen) efficacy and harm: Systematic review and meta-analysis. www.cfp.ca/content/71/9... #tramadol #pain #palliativecare #opioids
cfp.ca
Tramadol (with or without acetaminophen) efficacy and harm
Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tramadol (with or without acetaminophen) in adult pain management compared with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opioids, and acetaminoph...
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 23/08/2025
I also have questions!
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 19/08/2025
oh #academictwitter where you at?! When you get the abstract accepted but it says "you can do it as a poster" x 2 in my case. But... no..... I really need to TALK to youuuuuuuuu #academic #conference #palliative #ohwell
media.tenor.com
a man and two women are standing next to each other in a room .
ALT: a man and two women are standing next to each other in a room .
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
David Juurlink @davidjuurlink.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Toronto-area MDs and pharmacists: Join us for Therapeutics Day 2025 - Relevant topics - Great speakers (but also me) - You will be fed - You will get CE credits Register here: tinyurl.com/mr447y5n
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 31/07/2025
🎆It's here!!!!! 🎆 10+ TEN years in the making!!! Choosing Wisely BC! We are the LAST but not LEAST province/territory. healthqualitybc.ca/choosing-wis... I'm so so so happy! @healthqualitybc.ca @choosingwiselyca.bsky.social #lessismore #quaternaryprevention #choosingwisely
announcement form HQBC about Appropriate Care / Choosing Wisely hub in British Columbia
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Raywat Deonandan 🍁🇨🇦 @deonandan.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Just wait. The comments after the post will confirm this post's truth.
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 19/07/2025
a reasonably accessible explanation of overdiagnosis and why it matters in cancer screening: iai.tv/articles/50-...
iai.tv
We are overcounting cancer cases by vast amounts | H. Gilbert Welch
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 15/07/2025
If it’s on purpose, that’s just good legacy planning 😉
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Nature @nature.com · 02/07/2025
This is how to have difficult conversations with vaccine sceptics
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Timothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
The sheer volume of harmful & exploitive BS? Study finds 81% of cancer cures touted by TikTok videos are fake medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11... From study: "...draw on a conspiratorial worldview to present various miracle cures..." "...the app provides accessible avenues for monetization..."
medicalxpress.com
Study finds 81% of cancer cures touted by TikTok videos are fake
As many as 81% of cancer cures touted by content creators on TikTok are fake, according to new research from City St George's, University of London.
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 28/06/2025
Don't eat THIS. Opened up the mozzarella and it was the same shade of violet as PUBS (purple urine bag syndrome). Had to wonder: "What in the fresh !$%#^* got in there?!" No it isn't a UTI. It's pseudomonas fluorescens! www.pagepressjournals.org/ijfs/article... #medsky #purpleurine #purplecheese
a container of fresh mozzarella that turned purple!
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
#Disability tax credits are critical for some Canadians. But applying for them can cost thousands. Experts raise alarm that DTC companies are bilking applicants, by @thatemfagan.bsky.social www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... via @cbcnews.ca
cbc.ca
Disability tax credits are critical for some Canadians. But applying for them can cost thousands | CBC News
As Canada launches its new disability benefit payments in July, medical and disability experts are raising alarms over barriers to obtaining the main eligibility requirement, the disability tax credit...
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 26/06/2025
Well, it happened folks: I received a “mild update.” ‼️ And they also request that I submit my manuscript, even if it’s by accident. How should I proceed?! PS is this low rent AI or a maltreated ESL laborer generating these emails?! #scamjournals #academia #medacademia #predatorypublishing
A threatening nonsensical email from a scam or predatory journal
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 24/06/2025
Autism remains both under and over diagnosed RFKJ remains one of a handful of current leaders who will no doubt make the health status worse for all autistic people and probably all Americans.
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 17/06/2025
Palliative care seeks neither to shorten or lengthen life but in a study of lung cancer patients on chemo, those randomized to palliative care lived 2.7 months longer on average, had better quality of life, and had fewer invasive/costly treatments near end of life pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20818875/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Early palliative care for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer - PubMed
Among patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, early palliative care led to significant improvements in both quality of life and mood. As compared with patients receiving standard care, pa...
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 14/06/2025
I had to look up the 3.5% thing to understand this www.bbc.com/future/artic...
bbc.com
The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world
Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 05/06/2025
Dr Mohamad Hamadeh identified unique tensions for Muslim #palliativecare pts #ALPM - truth telling is valued but so is protecting loved ones, especially elders from painful news as a kindness and sign of respect CONT'D
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Dr Kathryn Mannix @drkathrynmannix.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
#PalliativeCare pals, I am planning my trip to speak at #EndWell2025. LA is a far from home, so I want to make the most of being there. To whom should I reach out? Who are our palliative pals over there? Advise me so I can learn from them & offer my support to them. Join us: bit.ly/EndWellTix
A poster for End Well 2025 showing beautiful Tembi Locke on stage as last year's co-host. 
She is wearing a gorgeous green dress, and she is smiling.

My captions read:
'I'm coming to LA in November!' and 'Who should I visit while I'm in the area?'A photograph of me from the End Well website, with the caption 'Dr Kathryn Mannix, Palliative Care Physician, Author.'
I'm smiling.
Even though I hate having my photo taken.
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 05/06/2025
Superb #ALPM2025 by @drjrubenstein.bsky.social about "PR" in #palliativecare TAKE AWAY: Palliative care doesn't need to change what we're called or what we do; we should help our non-pall peers understand our awesomeness Watch his Fire Department & other vids: www.jaredrubensteinmd.com/videos
palliative care is the fire department, not the fire:
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 04/06/2025
@shelaghor.bsky.social guess I can't DM you haha! In case you missed it, we did a handout on the PO vs IV antibiotics topic: www.ti.ubc.ca/wordpress/wp...
ti.ubc.ca
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 02/06/2025
bcmj.org/articles/ant... It's all in the title: Antibiotic treatment durations are not based on scientific reasoning; they stem from an artificially created number system #AMR @drug-evidence.bsky.social #antibiotics #lessismore @choosingwiselyca.bsky.social
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 02/06/2025
The more you know! Hart was a pioneering physician in so many ways. Countless lives were saved because of his work; I wonder what else he could have accomplished, were he surrounded by acceptance!?
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Emily McDonald @dremilymcd.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Yes, we can #deprescribe in long term care t.co/WUixHyYmYo Cluster randomized RCT we ran with MedSafer in New Brunswick
t.co
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2834657
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 01/06/2025
I have def said some of these things to caregivers 😳: learning now the importance to pair it with helpful action. Yes, some ppl need ‘permission’ to handover some of the tasks - a dear friend, nurse, OT, MD can support/empower (not “tell”) them to do so. www.familycaregiversbc.ca can help too!
familycaregiversbc.ca
Family Caregivers of British Columbia | Support and Resources for You
Supporting unpaid caregivers with tools, connection and education so you can show up strongly for yourself and those you care for.
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Give A Mile @giveamile.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Thanks to @torontopearson.bsky.social’s sponsorship, Give A Mile was able to grant Tabatha the flight she so desperately needed. She made it to Victoria, ready to stand by her father, to offer love, support, and comfort when it mattered most. giveamile.org/flight-stori... #Charity #EndOfLife
giveamile.org
Tabatha’s Last Hug for Her Dad | Give A Mile
Flight Story #1275 Kelowna, BC > Victoria, BC - $562.61 CADThanks to a generous donation from Toronto Pearson Airport, Tabatha was able to fly from Kelow ...
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 31/05/2025
Looking for Canadian Women in Medicine #cwim #cwim2025 ?
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Melissa Lem @drmelissalem.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Multiple wildfires are burning out of control in Canada. #Climatechange made the early-season heatwave driving them 5x more likely. Watch my interview with @vancolour.bsky.social @cheknews.ca about why people still deeply care about #climateaction here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt_6...
Melissa speaking in studio with This is VANCOLOUR host Mo Amir
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 29/05/2025
Oh! It’s me! #cough #cme
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 26/05/2025
Part of the LifeLabs strike @bcgeu.bsky.social has been drawing attention to this in BC. Affects care, and also working conditions, adversely. We know this. So why do we keep selling “public healthcare”?
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 22/05/2025
no surprise, this is just like MRI of the spine: - people with symptoms often have normal MRI - people with no symptoms often have abnormal MRI
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 20/05/2025
Myth that IV #antibiotics > PO is powerful. Yet, evidence: 🤜PO = IV efficacy almost always (prob'ly not in sepsis)🫸PO =🥇line for stable pts 👌IV: best if can't take PO or infxn has no effective PO Tx PO: ⬆️ pt exprnc, ⬇️ 🏥 resources, ⬇️🌎 impact www.ti.ubc.ca/2025/05/20/1... @drug-evidence.bsky.social
Person on IV antibiotics is stuck in the hospital. Another, with the same infection (leg cellulitis) is leaving with oral antibiotics
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
CADeN | ReCAD @caden-recad.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
SR: emergency department initiatives to improve med. safety in older adults. Interprofessional teams (pharmacist-led med reviews, geriatrician teleconsultations), clinician education and decision-support tools contribute to increased #deprescribing & reduce PIM use: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
Emergency Department Programs to Support Medication Safety in Older Adults
This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates whether any emergency department–based medication programs for adults aged 65 years and older are associated with lower adverse process or clinical o...
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
Jan Kirsch, M.D., M.P.H. @drjanicekirsch.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
HONEST ABE REACHES OUT 😂 Next to Trump's 50-foot banner at the Department of Agriculture, 3 more banners appeared, connecting a banner of Abraham Lincoln to Trump's
Image of Donald Trump's large banner at the USDA building.
To the Lincoln banner on the right, three more have been added so that Lincoln's hand is flipping Trump off.
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 15/05/2025
Top studies of 2024 for #primarycare www.cfp.ca/content/71/5... Bottom line: #Screening for depression or respiratory dz did not change patient-important outcomes and were resource intensive. While interventions can improve guideline adherence, pt outcomes were unchanged and a few worsened.
cfp.ca
Top studies of 2024 relevant to primary care
Objective To identify and summarize the most impactful medical articles published in 2024 relevant to primary care. Selecting the evidence Randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses relevant to p...
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 15/05/2025
Thanking the universe I live in Canada 🇨🇦 This is all because old white male fucking asshats can feel righteous: Picture the family mourning the loss of their daughter, having to watch her suffer and trying to explain to her young son that mommy’s body is alive but she isn’t….
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Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱 @drotte.medsky.social · 15/05/2025
Also (most obvious) … Theresa Tam would never have said that BS, in that way!
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Reposted by Dr Jessica Otte, 🇨🇦 MD, CCFP, FCFP 🩺🌍🌱
The Ubyssey @ubyssey.ca · 15/05/2025
Do you have experience with long waitlists to see a speech-language pathologist in BC? We'd like to hear from families who’ve experienced challenges accessing SLP services for children — whether it’s due to high demand, location or other obstacles. Email v.nguyen@ubyssey.ca to set up an interview.
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