Research News

UBC emergency medicine graduate Dr. Matt Douglas-Vail leads study on the association of forest fires with emergency department visits in BC

There is a probable association between air quality during forest fire season and emergency department visits for respiratory chief complaints, according to a new study led by UBC Department of Emergency Medicine (DEM) RCPSC-EM graduate Dr. Matt Douglas-Vail.

UBC emergency medicine researchers find virtual physician calls safely reduce in-person visits to the emergency department

UBC Department of Emergency Medicine researchers published a new study in CMAJ Open, showing that the addition of virtual physicians to British Columbia’s existing health information telephone service safely reduces the number of urgent in-person visits to provincial emergency departments.

Digital Emergency Medicine among consortium to commence project on the use of innovative digital health technologies to transform After-Hours Urgent Primary Care services delivery

Digital Emergency Medicine, a unit within the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine, will be among a consortium of national partners and international supporters to develop a project that aims to continue the advancement of digital After-Hours Urgent Primary Care.

Emergency medicine resident Dr. Aidan McParland leads study on the impact of cannabinoids in patients with chronic neuropathic pain

UBC Department of Emergency Medicine RCPSC-EM resident Dr. Aidan McParland led a study evaluating the impact of cannabinoids on sleep health and pain in patients with chronic neuropathic pain.

DEM clinical instructor Niresha Velmurugiah leads national survey on collection of sociodemographic data in emergency departments

Dr. Niresha Velmurugiah published new research in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, which found that the majority of Canadian emergency departments do not collect patient race, ethnicity and language data

Department of Emergency Medicine faculty among research team to commence study on impact of emergency care workforce policy on health equity

Learn more about the research study underway by DEM faculty on the impact of emergency care workforce policy on health equity.

UBC Emergency Medicine Researcher Dr. Jeffrey Brubacher Attracts CIHR Fall 2021 Funding to Study Inequality in Road Trauma Outcomes

Congratulations to UBC Department of Emergency Medicine Associate Professor Dr. Jeffrey Brubacher. Dr. Brubacher was among the 417 successful applicants for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grants Fall 2021 competition who were awarded a total of $325 million in research grants.

More Canadians may be driving high since cannabis legalization: UBC study

THC is being detected in twice as many injured drivers since cannabis was legalized in Canada, according to new UBC Department of Emergency Medicine research published in the New England Journal of Medicine. UBC Emergency Medicine Associate Professor, Dr. Jeffrey Brubacher, and colleagues analyzed blood samples from 4,339 moderately injured drivers who were treated at four BC trauma centres between 2013 and 2020. The largest increase in blood THC concentrations was among drivers over the age of 50.

UBC study reveals link between medically prescribed opioids and injection drug use

Patients receiving chronic prescription opioid treatments for non-cancer pain are about eight times more likely to start injection drug use, according to a new study from Department of Emergency Medicine researchers at the UBC Faculty of Medicine and BC Centre for Disease Control published in The BMJ.

Emergency physicians need further education to improve care for suicidal patients

UBC Department of Emergency Medicine Clinical Associate Professor, Dr. Frank Scheuermeyer, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Dr. David Barbic, joined colleagues from UBC Department of Psychiatry and the UBC Faculty of Medicine in analyzing the attitudes of emergency physicians towards suicidal patients and measuring the skills and training of emergency physicians to care for these patients.