St. Martha’s Physicians: Who We Are & What We Do

Medical Services

We have about 20 family physicians providing primary care-- some in collaborative practices, other working in some specialty areas –school health clinics, women’s resource center, First Nations clinics, and many more.

In specialty service, we provide through St. Martha’s Regional Hospital, the following services:  Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Anesthesiology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Radiology, Emergency Medicine, Public Health, Plastic Surgery, Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology and Geriatrics.

Please click here for a full list of physician leads for each service and their contact information.

There are also a number of visiting specialist clinicians who come regularly for consultation and care-- in Oncology, Neurology etc. Other special services include pain clinics, palliative care, geriatric care, diabetes clinics, asthma clinics, wound care clinics, substance abuse treatment clinics, etc.

continuous Education and Learning

CME for Physicians: We have an active CME program for our physicians -- which is open to those working
in the surrounding areas as well. Weekly Grand rounds are accredited through Dalhousie University for Category 1 credits-- presented by our own staff as well as many visiting physicians/ and faculty. All our physicians are BCLS certified each year- and regular programs are offered in NRP, PALs and ACLS. Other programs and certifications are organized as needed.
An Annual Emergency Medicine day- is also accredited and very well attended.

We go to a lot of effort to have our programs—special CME events accredited. Many of our physician groups run their own Journal Clubs and other learning programs as well ---so there are lots of options to keep up with your CME needs and to
share learnings with colleagues.

Simulation Lab: In October 2014, Dr. Tania Sullivan, Emergency Medicine Physician Lead at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital and four emergency room nurses (Ivan Cozzi, Shauna Grant, Patricia MacPherson and Chris Wilson) officially committed to bringing simulation-based education to St. Martha’s Regional Hospital. Since then Dr. Sullivan has been so fortunate to complete multiple extensive courses in medical simulation and advanced debriefing.

At St. Martha’s we believe that simulation-based learning is not just about practice and repetition. It is about deliberate practice and conscious learning. It’s about making people feel comfortable to give and receive feedback and shifting the mindset from judgement or mistake to productive self-reflection and opportunities for improvement.

To learn more about the simulation program, click here.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery: Over the past year, members of the St. Martha’s peri-operative and surgical teams have been excited to explore a new program that looks to highlight surgical best practices across the country and how they can be implemented at St. Martha’s. With support from the St. Martha’s Regional Hospital Foundation, staff members have attended training and educational sessions put on by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute that focused on a new program called the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Program.

The program consists of a number of evidence-based principals that support better outcomes for surgical patients including: an improved patient experience, reduced length of stay, decreased complications and fewer hospital re-admissions.

MORE-OB: Our Children’s' and Women's Service Team has been engaged with the  MORE-OB group education and quality improvement program for many years. This has  been extremely well received - and resulted in significantly improved levels of  confidence and team performance in difficult situations. We continue to engage  with  this  CMPA approved program--and currently are the only hospital in NS to  provide, this.

Teaching & mentorship

Many of our physicians are members of Dalhousie's faculty of medicine and are actively engaged in teaching students and residents. Core clinical rotations for medical students are offered in family practice and pediatrics-- and electives in numerous other areas. The Northern Nova Scotia Family Practice Residency Training Program which has just begun in 2019, will extend to St. Martha's and Antigonish in 2020.

St. Martha's is also the main clinical teaching site for students in Nursing at St. Francis Xavier University, as well as for other health service students at Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC).

Music Therapy

Music Therapy is an invaluable program offered at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital.

Physicians at Play

We have wonderful recreational opportunities in Antigonish. The extraordinary facilities at the Millennium centre at St. FX University – with two ice surfaces, squash courts, swimming pool, gym, dance studio and outdoor track and field space provide unlimited access to community members.  A full slate of varsity games and competitions, as well as local junior hockey attracts many supporters from afar.  The County has other ice surfaces, and one curling rink as well as private gyms, Cross-Fit clinics, yoga studios, and lots of outdoor venues such as our highly renowned Keppoch Mountain facility, provincial parks, biking, skiing, snowshoeing, skidooing trails and wonderful beaches-- all available for year-round fitness and recreation activities. There is a small sailing club and a very competitive rowing club. An 18-hole golf club adjacent to town and many world class golf links in Cape Breton—just an hour or two away. Many of our doctors are actively engaged in a great variety of sporting activities.

We have lots of community theatre –many choral groups, all of the Scottish arts—fiddling, piping, drums, highland dancing and many other opportunities for learning or just enjoying the Arts. At St.FX University – one can take a course (or just audit—no exams) – in music, languages, world religions, art history or anything that strikes your fancy-- just for the fun of it.  Many of us do so. We also have a garden club, a very active Antigonish Highland Society and many interest groups in the area. Opportunities to volunteer are many fold in areas of sports, the arts, and a variety of community groups.