Find clinician FAQs and an infographic overview of the recent thyroid guideline.

Need more guideline tools? We offer a range of tools to support discussions between physicians and patients on:

As part of outreach to primary care practitioners, the Task Force exhibited and presented at several conferences this fall, meeting health care professionals from across the country.

A steady stream of primary care practitioners, residents, medical students, nurse practitioners and more visited the Task Force booth at FMF in Vancouver. Staff distributed about 6000 clinician tools, including tools on screening for breast cancer in women aged 40–74 years not at increased risk for breast cancer. Visit us at next year’s event.

The annual Médecins francophones du Canada conference in Montreal was a great opportunity to connect with hundreds of French-speaking physicians and health care professionals, including many working in family medicine. Task Force staff had interesting conversations with attendees and distributed more than 1500 French tools. See you next year.

A recent presentation, “How Thick is the Evidence for Dense Breasts?” Breast Cancer Screening, by Task Force member Dr. Scott Klarenbach was well-received by attendees at the Practical Evidence for Informed Practice conference in Edmonton. Evidence-based with a sprinkling of humour, delegates found it both informative and entertaining.

Comments included “Great to hear about this topic as the concept of doing extra tests for these women with dense breast is relatively new to me” to “Good presentation. I was pretty aware of this, but this just reminded me of how muddy the waters of breast cancer screening have become. Good presenter who really is an expert on this.”

News

The Task Force welcomes new member, Dr. Ahmed Abou-Setta from the University of Manitoba who brings extensive knowledge and experience in patient-oriented research, methods and systematic reviews to the Task Force. It bids farewell to Dr. Stéphane Groulx, a key champion in Quebec and with francophone physicians, who moves on from the Task Force after four years. He has been a valuable member of the team and has helped elevate Task Force clinical guidelines in the province. Read the full article.

Congratulations to Dr. David Moher, who leads the Evidence Review and Synthesis Centre at the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital, on his recent induction into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences for his contributions to health research. This is well-deserved recognition for one of Canada’s experts in methods, and a member of the Task Force’s scientific team.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) rated all major international colorectal cancer screening guidelines on rigour and usability in a recent article, and the Task Force’s guideline was at the top of the list in both categories.

 

Where do you go to find the most useful and reliable guidelines?” Family physicians said the Task Force is their number one go-to source for clinical guidelines, according to the 2019 College of Family Physicians of Canada Medical Readership Information Study.

Nobel-winners-shine-light-on-experiment-based-policy-making Policy Options November 13, 2019

New Guideline Calls for End to Routine Screening for Thyroid Disorders
University of Toronto Department of Medicine

Dépistage du dysfonctionnement thyroïdien chez les patients asymptomatiques : ne cochez plus cette case machinalement Le Bulletel de la Faculté de médecine, numéro de novembre 2019

Thyroid screening unnecessary when symptoms not present: Canadian task force
HealioEndocrine Today November 19, 201

Canadian guideline slams broad thyroid function screening
LabPulse November 20, 2019

Related Reading

Want more information on thyroid dysfunction? Helping physicians fatigued by TSH Screening and Subclinical Hypothyroidism, the latest article in the Tools for Practice series sponsored by the Alberta College of Family Physicians, is a handy resource. It summarizes the latest evidence and guidelines on the topic.

An article in Canadian Family Physician on screening in primary care by Task Force members and alumni discusses screening performance measures, which should consider shared decision-making, patient values and preferences as well as factors related to individual practices.

GET INVOLVED

Trainees and early career professionals

The Task Force Internship Program offers mentored training opportunities to Canadian health care trainees and early career professionals.Learn more.

 

 

 

Patients and Public Engagement

Patients and members of the public can help identify important harms and benefits of preventive health care, and give feedback on guideline communication tools.Interested? Email KTteam@canadiantaskforce.ca. Compensation is provided.

 

 

Clinicians

Clinical Prevention Leaders Network promotes the use of clinical practice guidelines through local educational outreach and peer-to-peer learning. Interested in joining the network? Visit CPL Network webpage.Healthcare Practitioner Tool Usability Testing – Clinicians can provide feedback on content, layout, navigation and look of guideline decision tools. Interested? Email KTteam@canadiantaskforce.ca.

 

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The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care is composed of experts who develop evidence-based recommendations for clinical preventive health services delivered by primary care practitioners. The Task Force is supported by the Global Health and Guidelines Division of the Public Health Agency of Canada, Evidence Review and Synthesis Centres from the University of Ottawa and the University of Alberta, and the Knowledge Translation Team from St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto.

 

 

Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care

e: info@canadiantaskforce.ca

w: www.canadiantaskforce.ca