Testimonials
I am a rheumatologist and I work collaboratively with an ACPAC-trained physiotherapist (Marie-Andrée Brosseau) on the consultation service at Trillium Health Partners. Her work on the consult service has been crucial for rapid clinical assessments and continuity of care for our inpatients. This model of inter-professional care is important for rheumatology practice in our community as it leads to improved experiences and outcomes for patients and their families as well as the healthcare team.
Stephanie Tom, MD, FRCPC
Division Head of Rheumatology
Trillium Health Partners
(Mississauga Hospital/Credit Valley Hospital/Queensway Health Centre)
“The ACPAC-trained advanced practice practitioners at Toronto Western Hospital UHN are professional, organized, knowledgeable and forward thinking. They are to be commended for enabling our (Orthopaedic Surgery) health team to achieve our goals of appropriate diagnosis and prognosis, timely access and patient-centered care.”
Rajiv Gandhi, MD, FRCSC, MSc
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Division of Orthopedic Surgery
University Health Network
“I have been very impressed with the ACPAC-trained ERPs (Marsha Alvares; Leslie Soever; Emily May; Lisa Caldana) with whom I work at the TWH hip and knee assessment clinics in terms of their knowledge, physical examinations, presentations and high quality medical dictations. Our patients often compliment us on our ACPAC-trained Practitioners and how professional they are. Having an ACPAC workforce is a step forward in delivering high quality and timely care to our patients at UHN.”
J. Rod Davey, MD, FRCSC
Head Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, UHN
“The education provided through the ACPAC program has had a profound and beneficial impact on patient care and our ability to establish the NEJAC (North East Joint Assessment Centre) at Sault Area Hospital. Our ACPAC-trained practitioner (Rhonda Matthews) provides outstanding care for potential joint replacement patients both pre- and post-op, alleviating patient pre-operative stress and achieving post-operative compliance. Her appropriate triaging has increased our efficiency, allowing us to focus on patients who most require surgery.”
Graham Elder, BSc, PT, MDCM, FRCS(C)
Assistant Professor, Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Chief Orthopaedic Surgery, Sault Area Hospital
“I have worked with an ACPAC-trained therapist (Lynn Richards) for a decade delivering rheumatology care to our patients. Lynn Richards practices at an extremely high level and is highly regarded by our patients and the rest of the team. Her rheumatology expertise is considerable and she is able to assess and manage the majority of our patients. She adds quality, knowledge, collegiality and fun. I would find it hard to imagine practicing without her.”
Henry Averns MB, ChB, FRCP (Lond), FRCPC
President Ontario Rheumatology Association
Having an ACPAC performing pre-surgical orthopaedic screenings at our institution has been invaluable. It allows us to deliver far more efficient care to our regional joint replacement, and now spine patients. Without our exceptionally competent and capable ACPAC-trained practitioner, we would not be able to meet provincially imposed wait list deadlines for surgical interventions such as hip and knee arthroplasty. I would fully endorse expansion of this outstanding training program across the country.
Adrienne M. Kelly MD FRCSC CIME
General Orthopaedic and Adult Spine Surgeon
Sault Area Hospital
Assistant Professor
Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Eight years ago, Anne MacLeod (PT, ACPAC) joined my busy rheumatology practice and immediately had a positive impact. My practice serves a large area, and waiting lists are long. Anne has vast expertise in assessing rheumatologic disorders, and has increased the number of new consults seen by 50 percent since joining my practice. She is able to follow a stable patient load and has reduced my burden immensely. I have come to rely on her keen clinical insight and advice. In addition, Anne is gifted in system management. She implemented a consult intake system of paper and ACPAC program-trained practitioner triage for patients needing rheumatology services. Without the help of Anne and other ACPAC program-trained practitioners, Noel Heath (OT) and Shana Magee (PT), managing the demand for rheumatology services in Northwestern Ontario would be impossible.
Wes Fidler MD FRCPC/small
Rheumatologist, Thunder Bay
The advanced practitioner role is an important and vital component of managing children with rheumatic diseases especially in the setting of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The ACPAC program serves to unify skills related to clinical and rehabilitation medicine fostering the development of independent and qualified advanced care practitioners. With current limited health care resources, advanced practitioners are necessary and complement rheumatologists in ensuring all children with rheumatic diseases are receiving excellent and timely clinical care translating to better long-term outcomes.
Shirley Tse MD FRCPC/small>
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Program Director, Division of Rheumatology
The Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto, ON
The ACPAC program provides the experienced MSK therapist with an opportunity to build on, and expand their knowledge, skill set and confidence, and return to their Institution as a more valued member of the Arthritis/MSK Team. I emphatically endorse the process.
J. Carter Thorne MD FRCP FACP
Internal Medicine & Rheumatology
We have had the opportunity to send a Physical Therapist-APP (Tiffany Larsen) from the Headwaters Health Center (Orangeville) to the ACPAC programme. For over 2 years, this allowed us to extend our Brampton Practices to a rural setting where there was no existing rheumatology coverage. The APP triages all the referrals to this site and one of us runs an EIA (Early Inflammatory Arthritis) clinic once per week. The therapist works together with the rheumatologist and can also work in parallel to see stable patients and report to the rheumatologist. The training programme has escalated the advanced practitioner’s level of expertise in evaluating rheumatologic conditions along with doing accurate joint counts. In addition, she has been the coordinator for ERA clinical trials run through the programme. This has been an excellent opportunity to deliver arthritis care for patients in their local setting, which would not otherwise have been possible. We are in the process of educating [more] Physical Therapists through the ACPAC programme, who will be an additional asset for orthopedics and rheumatology.
Vandana Ahluwalia MD FRCPC
Raman Joshi MD FRCPC
Sangeeta Bajaj MD FRCPC
Rheumatologists
William Osler Health Centre
Brampton, Ontario
-Canadian Medical Association, 2011
Leslie Soever (an ACPAC program trained APP-2008) has been a tremendous asset to the patients seen by the rheumatology group at Mt Sinai Hospital. She combines her ability to perform an exemplary history and physical examination with her advanced knowledge of rheumatologic disease, orthopaedic medicine and her initial training as a physiotherapist. This is done in a flawless manner and as such, she provides each patient with a multifaceted and detailed assessment. These assessments allow her to evaluate and plan treatment and she does this effectively. When needed, She is an outstanding advocate for her patients. She has been able to identify those individuals needing additional levels of care and facilitate their movement through the sometimes complex system in an expeditious manner. This has been particularly demonstrated with the linkages that Leslie has established with our orthopedic colleagues. Leslie is a trusted member of our group at the present time. Her contributions to the rheumatology division have allowed us to provide more timely care but perhaps more importantly, Her input has helped to improve the level of care which we can provide to our patient by adding her skills and perspectives.
Heather McDonald-Blumer MD MSc FRCPC
Program Director, Division of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Program Director, Core Internal Medicine, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto.