“We need to strengthen our research capacity, especially at a time when there is significant health system change underway,” said Dr. Patty Thille, one of the event’s organizers. “Research capacity, in simple terms, is the ability to carry out research. It involves a range of actions, like enhancing skills and confidence at the individual, teams and community levels.”

In late 2019, Thille, assistant professor of physical therapy in the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, and Dr. Gayle Halas, chair of interprofessional collaborative practice for the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, co-facilitated a meeting, which was funded and supported by the Manitoba Primary & Integrated Healthcare Innovation Network (MPN). The two-day event that brought together 49 researchers, clinicians, policymakers and community partners from across the province to begin identifying priority actions to build research capacity.

Top priorities identified were a commitment to equity, the creation of a “centre of excellence” that would serve as a one-stop resource for primary health-care research, and establishing a cross-Manitoba network that brings patients, policymakers and community partners together with researchers.

“It is important to develop a health-care system that meets the needs of people wherever they are, as opposed to building models and systems that tend work best for people who already have a lot of resources,” Thille said. “It’s a really relevant topic in Manitoba, where we still have the legacies of colonial oppression and some pretty notable disparities.”

The original planning committee for the initiative that  includes Dr. Jamie Falk, assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Alan Katz, director of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, and Dr. Roberta Woodgate, professor in the College of Nursing, has expanded to include MPN’s Policy Lead, Janie Peterson Watt, policy analyst with Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living, and MPN’s Clinical Lead, Tamara Buchel, director of postgraduate medical education at the Max Rady College of Medicine.

Going forward, the committee has included two patient partners, Dennis Maione and Mpho Begin, who were part of a group of five that took part in the November workshop.

“Dennis and Mpho were equal members in the discussion with research, clinicians and policymakers,” said Alanna Baldwin, MPN research and operations officer. “They were fully integrated into every aspect of the event as ‘lived-experience-experts.’ They were widely accepted by the other attendees, their opinions were embraced, and they really enjoyed the experience.”

A second conference will be held in the coming months, with exact location and date to be announced soon. There will also be a series of one-hour online discussions, the first of which will take place March 31 and is open to anyone who is interested. Because the discussion is online, it will not be affected by the closures related to the COVID-19 social distancing measures, Baldwin said.

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians 65 years of age and older are receiving five or more different prescription drugs, which can increase the risk of side effects and interactions, leading to patient burden, morbidity and hospitalizations.

Join us on Oct. 29 to learn about the latest research on the use of medication and potential harm, while we discuss how research can drive advancement of clinical knowledge and improve patient care of older adults.

Café Scientifique – Polypharmacy: Are we overmedicating older Canadians?

Oct. 29  – 7 p.m.
McNally Robinson Booksellers, 1120 Grant Avenue, Winnipeg

Moderator: Dr. I fan Kuo
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba

Panelists:

Dr. Silvia Alessi-Severini
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba

Dr. Jamie Falk
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy; Family Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba

Dr. Christine Leong
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy; Psychiatry, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba; Clinical Pharmacist, Family Medical Centre

To assist in planning seating, RSVP to: Research_Communications@umanitoba.ca or call 204-474-6689.

Just hand him a white coat and ask him to stand behind a counter, maybe with a selection of medications, right?

Wrong.

“First, no one at my clinic wears those coats,” says Falk, who works two days a week at a family practice clinic inside Seven Oaks General Hospital. “Second, I’m not behind a counter. Most of the time I’m seeing patients in my office.”

The U of M alumnus, an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, spends the remainder of his week teaching – and for the record, he doesn’t wear a white coat for that, either.

All this to say that Falk’s career isn’t easy to capture in one snapshot, and that’s just how he likes it.

“I’d never want to give up my clinical practice,” says the personable Falk, who grew up in Steinbach, Man., and thrives on interacting with patients. He’s equally happy in the classroom.

“Of course, it’s always exciting to see how clinical ideas come into my research,” he adds, “and then to see how that research plays out in a clinical setting. All the pieces work together.”

Falk has published research on topics such as the prescribing of inhalers for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the treatment of shingles with antiviral medications and the self-monitoring of blood glucose by patients with diabetes.

He has done a service for family doctors and patients as a lead compiler of Price Comparison of Commonly Prescribed Medications in Manitoba, now in its third edition. Many doctors rely on the reference work to help patients get the best value for their health-care dollar.

Manitobans with chronic illnesses make up the bulk of Falk’s caseload. He says that in a busy practice, it can be easy to start seeing people as their illnesses, not as individuals.

“You could just apply labels, like diabetes, COPD and hypertension,” he says. “But those labels are being placed on patients who have to live with those conditions.”

That’s where sitting down in his office comes in. It’s a place to really engage with the people in his care and hear how they’re managing.

Falk teaches and supervises both pharmacy students and medical residents. He impresses on learners the importance of critical thinking, which means not just filling prescriptions, but watching closely to see what’s working and what isn’t.

“Just the other day, my student saw a patient who was on high blood pressure medication,” he says. “She was well managed, but maybe too well managed.” They decided to de-prescribe – that is, eliminate one of her drugs. Afterward, the patient reported feeling much more energetic.

That kind of personalized approach was what Falk wanted from his career when he graduated from the U of M in 1997 and started as a community pharmacist in his hometown of Steinbach. After about five years, he began to crave a deeper experience. “I wanted to expand my knowledge base and become a teacher,” he says.

He completed a doctor of pharmacy degree at the University of British Columbia in 2004, then practised at Victoria hospitals as a clinical pharmacy specialist in intensive care. Returning to Winnipeg in 2007, he started working with the U of M department of family medicine as an adjunct professor. In 2013, he joined the College of Pharmacy.

Falk describes his teaching style as a “You can do this!” approach. “As professors, we sometimes forget that as things get heavier and heavier, students can lose confidence in themselves,” he says.

When he was an undergraduate himself, the U of M professors he appreciated most were the ones who were approachable and encouraging. “You try to emulate that style,” he says. “You don’t forget the ones who help you keep going.”

The one that costs over $100 to fill? Or the one that costs $10?

For the typical patient, there’s really no contest. But there’s just one catch. How do you even know you have a choice?

That’s where College of Pharmacy researchers Shawn Bugden and Jamie Falk come in. Now in its third edition, their publication “Price Comparision of Commonly Prescribed Medications in Manitoba (2018)” helps arm doctors and their patients with the information they need to get the best value for their health-care dollar.

“When you look at the hierarchy of decision making, we always look at ‘is it effective and safe’ first,” said Falk, a pharmacist who works with a family practice two days a week. “If there’s a difference in price but there’s no difference otherwise, why wouldn’t we choose something that is the least expensive?”

Spurred on by their work running the annual MEDS continuing professional development conference, a collaboration between the Max Rady College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy, Bugden, Falk, and two students Cody Magnusson (U of T, PharmD) and Jared Fridfinnson (fourth year) took on the task of pricing and cataloguing major classes of drugs that family physicians see every day.

“Physicians really struggle with knowing what medications cost,” said Bugden. “Even for the pharmacist who fills the prescription, unless you see the prices all lined up in a table, it’s hard to make a comparison.”

Even an educated guess doesn’t always help, admits Bugden. “One of our big surprises last year was a category of drugs for migraine,” he said. It’s a topic that hits close to home, as his wife takes medication for this type of severe headache on a regular basis.

“Sumatriptan is one of the oldest drugs in this group. It’s been generic for a while; you would think it would be the cheapest. It turns out to be the most expensive.”

At roughly $10 per tablet, some patients may think twice about how often they’re able to refill their prescription, even for a condition that can be debilitating. But if they can choose a comparable drug for a third of the price? “That can make all the difference for some people,” says Falk.

Bugden says response to the reference publication, first released in 2016, has been overwhelmingly positive. “We hear all the time about physician groups who have placed the PDF right on the desktop of their clinic computers,” he said.  “That’s evidence in action.”

Each year, the College of Pharmacy’s graduating class acknowledges the contributions of their preceptors by nominating exceptional educators for special recognition.

“You have always been supported and nurtured by a dedicated and diligent team of professors who have not only given you knowledge and skills in pharmacy, but how have also demonstrated their dedication to education and scholarly activities at the university of Manitoba,” said Dr. Xiaochen Gu, professor and Acting Dean of the College of Pharmacy. “We are pleased to honour them today.”

The preceptors listed below were recognized at the college’s Welcome to the Profession ceremony on June 8, 2017, for their outstanding service. Congratulations to all!

Community Preceptor of the Year
Erika Simpson (Shoppers Drug Mart, Tuxedo)

Hospital Preceptor of the Year
Jamie Falk (Kildonan Medical Center)

Pharmacy Team of the Year
Intensive Care (Medical-Surgical) Team, comprised of:

Giuseppe Aletta

Rob Ariano

Samantha Kendall

Meghan McKechnie

Travis Warner

Monica Wong