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Dr. Mary-Frances Scully, a hematologist
and faculty member in the Discipline of Medicine, is a founding
member of the Thrombosis Interest Group of Canada (TGIC), an
organization which gives physicians looking to upgrade their
knowledge of thrombosis a made-in-Canada solution.
Since 1991, a group of Canadian experts
has been working to improve the prevention and treatment of
thromboembolic disease, through developing practical guides, patient
information and a research fellowship. TIGC has 40 members across
Canada, including hematologists, internists, respirologists,
cardiologists, neurologists, a radiologist, family physicians,
pharmacists and lab technologists.
That diversity is the special strength
of the organization, according to Dr. Scully. The clinical guides,
for example, have a multidisciplinary flavour and are aimed at the
family physician or general internist rather than the specialist.
"That is pretty unique," said Dr.
Scully, who initially set up a web site to publish the clinical
guides in 1995. Eugene Ryan of Memorial University’s Health Sciences
and Information Media Service is currently the webmaster and has
redesigned the site, which is located at
www.tigc.org. These
clinical guides can be downloaded to a PDA.
Dr. Scully said the web site offers
guides so that in two or three pages you can get a clear, simple,
Canadian overview of problems. More than two dozen topics are
covered including warfarin therapy, diagnosis of DVT (deep vein
thrombosis), DVT prophylaxis in orthopedics, anticoagulation in
stroke patients, stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation,
investigation of hypercoaguable states and anti-thrombotic therapy
in valve replacement.
The clinical guides are available in
English and are revised annually. The patient information section is
available in English and French.
Dr. Scully said in some cases the
information is more up-to-date than guidelines from south of the
border. For example, Canada is more advanced than the U.S. in the
use of low molecular weight heparin for prevention and treatment of
DVT and pulmonary embolism in orthopedic surgery.
TICG is supported by a yearly
unrestricted grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb. The grant funds an
annual one-year $60,000 fellowship for a Canadian physician or
doctor of pharmacy to conduct research related to thromboembolism.
Dr. Scully said a major goal for the
TIGC is to expand the patient information on the group’s web site.
The section already has information on oral anticoagulants and will
in future include links to relevant sites that TIGC members have
reviewed. The group is also considering a registry for rare clotting
disorders and is hoping to liaise with rural medicine organizations
in adapting clinical guides for rural practice.
Sharon Gray is editor of MUNMED
News, a publication of the Faculty of Medicine. This article is
reprinted with permission.
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