Yarmouth area attracts MDs

An article published in the January 3rd edition of The Chronicle Herald:

By Brian Medel, Yarmouth Bureau

YARMOUTH — Several physicians, including a number of psychiatrists, began practising in southwestern Nova Scotia during the summer and fall of 2011.

Three psychiatrists joined Southwest Health recently, bringing the number of psychiatrists to six in Nova Scotia’s westernmost health district.

All psychiatrist vacancies for the district are filled for the first time in more than 10 years, Southwest Health said in a news release.

Dr. Olufemi Banjo came in August, followed by Dr. Razi Hemani in September and Dr. Lourdes Soto-Moreno (pictured) in October.

"It certainly is good news, and hopefully we’ll hold on to them; there’s certainly the need," said John Roswell, a Digby Clare Mental Health Volunteers co-ordinator, on Sunday.

"It’s terrific if we have the full complement. Hopefully, it will mean that people get to see a psychiatrist and eliminate the lengthy wait process.

"It has been practically impossible to get to see a psychiatrist within six months, and it’s very heartening to hope that wait times may be decreased somewhat because of this."

The common wisdom is that 20 per cent of people will require psychiatric services or will experience a mental illness at some point during their lifetime, said Roswell.

The reporting of mental illness and the number of people seeking help has increased, he said.

Dr. Faten Germanus began working at a family medical practice in Barrington Passage in December. She is not yet accepting patients but an announcement will be made soon when she is ready to take on new patients, according to a news release.

Dr. Navdeep Mangat also began working in Digby General Hospital’s emergency department in December and will provide services at the Digby Well Womens Clinic starting this month.

And southwestern Nova Scotia residents with no family doctor but who have high blood pressure may take advantage of a new cardiovascular program at Yarmouth Regional Hospital, to be based in the facility’s wellness centre.

(bmedel@herald.ca)

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Teens to learn about mental health

An article published in today's edition of The Chronicle Herald:

Pilot project could be coming to Digby County high schools in new year

By Brian Medel, Yarmouth Bureau

High school curriculum designed to teach students about mental illness may be coming to Digby County classrooms in January as a pilot project.

"This is new," said John Roswell, one of the program co-ordinators with the Digby-Clare Mental Health Volunteers Association.

"We hope to do it during the 2009-2010 school year, hopefully beginning in January," Mr. Roswell said about the project that will be conducted in four local high schools.

He hopes the curriculum will someday be included in all Nova Scotia high schools.

The curriculum was prepared by Dr. Stan Kutcher [pictured] in co-operation with the Canadian Mental Health Association.

"This is really a wonderful opportunity," said Dr. Kutcher, an adolescent mental health expert at Dalhousie University’s school of medicine.

The course will give students information on how the brain works and tell them how to maintain good mental health. Suicide prevention and depression will also be discussed, Dr. Kutcher said Tuesday.

He’ll help teachers better understand mental illness and the new curriculum in special workshops that will be held before the start of the course.

"They’ve been very enthusiastic about this," said Dr. Kutcher.

Next week, staff from the Education and Health departments, along with representatives from local school boards and health authority, will gather in Digby to talk about the new high school course and how it will be implemented.

"We’re not quite sure where it will fit . . . that’s part of what this discussion is going to be about," said Mr. Roswell. "We hope to make (it) a larger project . . . an overall approach to addressing adolescent mental health.

"We’re trying to create a dialogue around this issue in the community and make it OK for people to talk about mental health and mental illness."

Mr. Roswell said 80 per cent of all psychiatric disorders emerge in adolescence. He had mental illness as a young person but was undiagnosed until the age of 40.

"My life would have been so much different had I been diagnosed as a teenager," he said.