As doctors leave, rural nurses struggle

When the last full-time doctor left the small town of Carberry, Manitoba in 2023, the responsibility of providing healthcare was left on the shoulders of nurses. In our second show from Carberry, Dr. Brian Goldman learns from a retired nurse just how robust rural healthcare once was. And when Brian witnesses a health emergency first hand, he sees the toll a town without doctors is taking on one nurse practitioner.

Like many Canadian small towns, Carberry, MB had become a healthcare desert. In 2023, the small ER closed and the last doctor left. Carberry embarked on the fight of its life to get healthcare back. And now, just days before the first of two new MDs starts work, Dr. Brian Goldman visits Carberry to learn about the Herculean efforts it takes for one town to reinstate healthcare, and make sure they don't lose it again. 

When Mary Jarratt's brother, Billy, had a debilitating stroke at the age of 58, she was thrown into the role of power of attorney. That meant making significant decisions on Billy's behalf, including his personal care, the care of his high school-aged son, and whether to sell the family home. It has taken a physical and emotional toll on her and she wants people to know what they’re getting into when they sign up to be a POA.

When he's not working in the ER, Dr. Nicholas Sparrow spends his spare time in a surprising way. He responds to critical threat-to-life calls as a volunteer through the Kootenay Emergency Response Physicians Association (KERPA), a charity he created. Dr. Brian Goldman rides along on one of Dr. Sparrow's shifts to learn how - and why - he does it.  

Companies are spending big bucks advertising weight-loss drugs like Rybelsus and Ozempic. But in Canada, "reminder ads" can give only the medication's name, not what it's for, telling people to ask their doctor for more. Special guest Terry O'Reilly, host of CBC's Under the Influence, says it can result in bad ads that turn people off, while pharmaceutical policy expert Barbara Mintzes says reminder ads can do more harm than good.

A first-of-its-kind medical school, part of Queen's University in Ontario, is recruiting and training students with the sole intention of graduating family doctors. But can it prepare them for the daily realities of the job?

Every two weeks, tenants of a Toronto Community Housing high-rise benefit from an on-site food bank. It's run by an embedded healthcare team, to build trust and get people the help they desperately need.

A behind-the-scenes chat about the making of the CBC collaboration "Overheated" where White Coat, Black Art, What on Earth, and Quirks and Quarks explore how heat is affecting our health, our communities and our ecosystems.

How far would you go to test your body in extreme heat? Ironworker apprentice Britnee Miazek travels hundreds of kilometres to Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario for a gruelling experiment to see how her body deals with high temperatures. She wants to find out why she stopped getting her period while working in sweltering conditions on a coke oven. Researchers are hoping to find answers for Britnee, and understand more about the long-term health effects of working in an increasingly hot environment.This episode is part of a CBC collaboration called "Overheated" where White Coat, Black Art, What on Earth, and Quirks and Quarks explore how heat is affecting our health, our cities and our ecosystems.

Pediatrician and vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez warns the anti-vaccine movement has morphed into a dangerous anti-science force. In The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist's Warning, Hotez says failing to act now will threaten governments’ ability to fight serious infectious diseases.