As our residency program evolves, so too do our administrative needs. In order to remain efficient while creating a positive and enriching environment for learners, the Project Management Office has evolved to provide improved and innovative support services to the learners, faculty members and support staff of the Department of Family Medicine (DFM).

Aligned with the DFM’s focus on providing excellence in education by leveraging tools for a digital age, these projects will strengthen the ability of the DFM to share and access information internally and enhance the development of innovative medical educational content to external audiences.

Media Lab

The DFM Media Lab is a shared multimedia production space that provides equipment and software to staff, faculty, and residents to enable content creation.

Access & Booking

Regular access is available Monday to Friday, 9:00 – 4:00 (except on statutory holidays).
Access outside of regular hour may be provided, contact [email protected].

Use Policies

  • Food and Drinks are not allowed in the Media Lab.

  • Upon entering the lab space, quickly perform a visual inspection. If there are any issues, please notify [email protected].

  • Wipe down equipment with disinfecting wipes, pre and post usage.

  • Equipment is not to be relocated, borrowed, or removed, without preapproval.

  • Save your work on your external key or hard drive and remove any material you may have temporarily saved on the desktop.

  • Computers will be restored from time to time. For this reason, the hard drives on these computers should not be considered as a safe place to store your files. Save your material on an external portable key or hard drive.

Content Validation Prior To Distribution

All materials produced should be in compliance with University of Ottawa policies (e.g. copyright, use of logos and colours, branding, bilingualism, etc.).
Academic materials should be submitted for content validation by the appropriate committee:

Educational / Clinical Content to be reviewed by Curriculum Committee
Chair: Dr. Denise Lewis – PGME [email protected]
Chair: Dr. Lina Shoppoff – UGME [email protected]
Education Manager: Kim Rozon – [email protected]

Research Content to be reviewed by Research Executive Committee
Chair: Dr. Douglas Archibald - [email protected]
Manager: Sylvie Forgues-Martel – [email protected]

Faculty Development Content to be reviewed by Faculty Development Committee
Chair: Dr. Eric Wooltorton - [email protected]
Manager: Asiya Rolston – [email protected]

Administration / Generic Content to be reviewed by Senior Management Team
Chair: Jeff Puncher – [email protected]
Manager: Marisa Duval – [email protected]

For any questions on the Media Lab, please contact Ryan Morrison at [email protected]

Picture of the Department of Family Medicine's Media Lab

Femoral 2.0

Femoral is the Department of Family Medicine’s database designed to manage the academic and administrative records that connect our learners, faculty, preceptors, and staff members. This database has been developed by DFM software developers to meet our unique needs and will be undergoing a review process over the coming months to replace the existing capacities of the database with enhanced features to meet the needs of our department, now and in the future.  

If you are interested in learning more about the development process for Femoral 2.0, check out our Information Session and Working Group recordings for the Femoral project.  

For any questions on Femoral 2.0, please contact Kendra Stapleton at [email protected]

Femoral database logo

DFM's Dragons’ Den

The Department of Family Medicine is looking for innovative individuals or teams to participate in our annual “change” contest. Each year the contest will address a different primary care or education-based issue that three selected finalists will have their chance to present their ideas to our VIP panel.

The contest was proposed by Dr. Clare Liddy, department Chair, in the interest of crowdsourcing ideas that could innovate or address common issues facing the Family Medicine community. The winning team from each event will take home a monetary prize and receive publication financial support from the DFM.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can enter?

The contest is open to all faculty, staff, learners and alumni of the University of Ottawa (note that only one team member must have a connection to the University of Ottawa). You may enter the contest as an individual or as a group.

Is there any fee to enter the contest?

There is no fee to participate, and the cost of the materials for the proposal will not be reimbursed.

Format of submission is optional:

  • Word Document (no more than 15 pages)

  • PowerPoint (no more than 15 minutes for in-person presentation)

  • Video or Zoom presentation (no more than 15 minutes)

How many ideas or designs can I submit?

There is no limit to the number of entries you can submit, but each entry must be a substantially different design idea. Identical or very similar ideas from the same entrant or entry team will be disqualified.

Will I receive notification that my work has been received?

You will be sent a notice of receipt via email regarding your entry.

After entering, is it possible to cancel my entry and resubmit another work?

Yes, it is. During the entry period, you may cancel entries and resubmit unlimited times. However, please note that cancellation requests received after the submission deadline will not be accepted.

Judging criteria will be based on:

  • Quality

  • Creativity (Originality)

  • Impact

  • Logic

Have an idea for a primary care or education-based issue that should be addressed in a future DFM’s Dragons’ Den? Submit your topics here: [email protected].

DFM Dragons' Den poster

Clinic Goes Green

In April 2022, three finalists presented their ideas to address planetary health in Family Medicine during our second annual Dragons’ Den!

According to a policy brief in The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, Canada's health care system is among the largest polluters and greenhouse gas emitters in the world. It is responsible for approximately 5% of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions and more than 200,000 tons of other pollutants, which result in 23,000 years of life lost each year due to disability or premature death. To help mitigate the toll health care is taking on the population and the environment, The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) Conceptual Framework for Integrating Planetary Health in Family Medicine lays out four areas of focus: Planetary health advocacy; Environmental health literacy; Patient empowerment, and Sustainable practice. With an urgent need to develop sustainable solutions in Canada’s health care system, the Dragons’ Den the Clinic Goes Green contest was launched!

The dragons’ responsible for scoring and evaluation were:

  • Dr. Bernard Leduc, President and CEO Hôpital Montfort;

  • Melanie Holek, Director at Primacy Management Inc.

  • Dr. Edward Seale, University of Ottawa's Department of Family Medicine's Postgraduate Education Director

The teams selected to present at the Clinic Goes Green, the DFM’s Dragons’ Den were:

  • The Deep Roots Food Hub (DRFH) and ExerFarm team proposed a plan to replace the current dominant food system (insecure, has unhealthy dietary outcomes, and is responsible for 31 % of GHG emissions) with a pilot project of a scalable local food system based on regenerative agriculture, off-grid food storage, a simplified distribution system, and consumer knowledge enhancement.

  • The Developing a sustainable healthcare mentorship program to transform Family Medicine Clinics team proposed a comprehensive sustainable healthcare assessment and mentorship program targeted to Family Medicine Clinics with the aim of reducing barriers and the time required to implement changes for individual clinics. 

  • The winning team, Let’s cut the paper: A Novel, Safe, and Sustainable Way to Clean Examination Tables, pitched a pilot project to replace the use of exam table paper (ETP) in Family Medicine practices with the use of low-level disinfectants to clean exam tables between patients. Advocating for a holistic approach to replacing the use of ETP, the winning team proposed a threefold plan including an awareness and advocacy campaign, the elimination of ETP from the majority of routine visits in Family Medicine clinics and the development of a ‘net-zero’ disinfectant that would be supplied to clinics in re-usable bottles. 

The judges liked that the solution, proposing to remove ETP - a product long though to be synonymous with Family Medicine, would have economic and environmental benefits to clinics. This solution also aligns well with current Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare Settings (Public Health Ontario, 2018), which recommends that examination tables should be cleaned with low-level disinfectants between patients rather than using ETP. In addition to winning the $5000 prize money, the Let’s cut the paper team will also be receiving support on project implementation from the DFM while team lead Nathan Chiarlitti begins his Family Medicine residency at the Winchester District Memorial Hospital!

Watch the 2022 Department of Family Medicine’s Dragons’ Den the Clinic Goes Green video!
 

DFM's Dragon's Den the Clinic Goes Green Dragon Poster

Clinic of the Future: The DFM's Dragons' Den

In October 2021, three shortlisted teams presented their proposal for their envisioned "Clinic of the Future”. As proposed by Dr. Clare Liddy, department Chair, the content was initiated in response to the increasing difficulty patients face trying to find a family doctor. With thousands of patients in the region who don't have access to primary care providers, the Dragons’ Den contest was launched with the aim of finding innovative solutions to this problem. The competition, set up like a Dragon's Den-style contest, had the three finalists pitch their innovative ideas to a panel of judges.

The dragons’ responsible for scoring and evaluation were:

  • Dr. Lisa Calder, CEO, Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) and Affiliate Investigator for the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Associate Professor at uOttawa; 

  • Dr. Bernard Leduc, President and CEO Hôpital Montfort;

  • Dr. Sarah Minwanimad Funnell, Founding Director for the Indigenous Health Research and Education (CIHRE) and Assistant Professor at uOttawa in the Department of Family Medicine;

  • Kevin Turner, patient advocacy expert.

The teams selected to present at the Clinic of the Future, the DFM’s Dragons’ Den were: 

  • The Best Medical Primary Care Centre team, led by the University of Ottawa and Institut du Savoir Montfort Chair in Family Medicine, proposed artificial intelligence to improve healthcare delivery. A virtual clinic would be developed, in which patients' health is monitored through apps and wearable technology. 

  • The An Innovative Program Combining Research and Care: The Cognitive Health Clinic team suggested merging primary care and mental health research to better address a large number of patients with cognitive difficulties.

  • The winning team, Responding to Unattached Patients & Siloed Care in Ontario with Health Informatics Solutions, pitched an app, the Continuity Health Attachment Technology (CHAT), that would match patients with family doctors in their area. Users would create a profile and enter their criteria for a primary care provider, then the app would match them with local resources. This submission was inspired by the format of mobile dating apps. Dr. Maddie Venables and her team members, Amanda Larocque, Elisa Hoare, and Jessica Murray took home the $3500 prize money to help fund their proposal.  

The judges liked that the software could be used as a national solution, and it would also help in quantifying the number of people looking for help and what sort of help they felt they needed. Along with the prize money and development support, the Department of Family Medicine will also support the team with publication financial support. Dr. Liddy will also be contributing to the development by attempting to get family doctors to participate in the app's directory.

Since the DFM's Dragons' Den Clinic of the Future Contest, Dr. Venables team's CHAT app has garnered much attention within academia and the media.

To learn more about the Clinic of the Future Dragons’ Den Contest and Dr. Venables winning submission, please see our external media coverage and video highlights below!

CBC.ca - 'Tinder' to find family doctor wins U of O pitch competition
iHeartRadio.ca - A new 'tinder-like' app to find a family doctor wows judges
Watch highlights from the 2021 Clinic of the Future Dragons’ Den competition, hosted by the Department of Family Medicine! 

Two people sitting on chairs on a stage, giving a presentation