Choosing Wisely Canada

I thank the College of Family Physicians of Canada President, Dr David White, for his thoughtful message in the February 2017 issue.¹ In discussing the “delicate art” of deprescribing, he touched on an important expectation around professionalism, as described in CanMEDS–Family Medicine: to “demonstrate a commitment to reflective practice.”² There is true humility required to stop ordering tests, treatments, or procedures that offer more harm than good.

Implementing Choosing Wisely Canada recommendations can be challenging, as in the case of the recommendation to avoid using benzodiazepines and other sedative-hypnotic medications in the elderly.^3–5 When we endeavour to tackle these kinds of recommendations, we draw on 5 CanMEDS–Family Medicine areas: scholar, family medicine expert, communicator, manager, and professional. The support we give each other around this work is therefore essential. Choosing Wisely Canada can connect family physicians and teams who are working on similar implementation projects—e-mail info{at}choosingwiselycanada.org.

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