When Ashley Williams’ brother left the military in 2015 after nine years of service, she witnessed the challenges he encountered with the transition to civilian life. Her brother, Shane, had been in the military since graduating high school. He left voluntarily to return home to Newfoundland. At the time, Ashley was working in Ontario as an occupational therapist with a family health team.

The Himalayan country of Nepal has a population of 33 million. And yet there are  less than 20 medical oncologists in the country to treat the rising rates of cancer among the Nepalese people. If you compare that to Canada, there is quite a difference.

By far, the thing I am looking forward to most over the holidays is that Cheryl and I get to babysit Saul.

Here is the plan – and we think it’s a pretty fair trade. Joanna and Jordan are coming to Kingston to use our house as a bed and breakfast so that they can get a break from their demanding jobs as a civil litigator and immunologist. With our bed and breakfast comes a dinner at Chez Piggy and a hair appointment with the best hair stylist in the world, Fletcher Nelson at Chic.

One of the things I really look forward to at this time of year is releasing the annual Dean’s Report. This report has come to be a tradition for the Faculty of Health Sciences, and it serves as reminder to pause and recognize all of the fantastic things we’ve achieved in the past year.

New report shows the disease has reached an all-time high within Canada’s First Nations communities, impact on children is concerning.

A first-of-its-kind, First Nations-specific report, co-authored by Queen’s University professor Michael Green, shows the number of First Nations people in Ontario living with diabetes is at an all-time high at 14.1 per cent.

According to the report, developed jointly by the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and ICES, the increase is particularly concerning as there is a rising, disproportionate number of First Nations children affected by diabetes.

Low back pain is a common experience. An estimated 75-85% of people will experience some form of back pain during their lifetime. For the majority, it will improve quickly, but about half will experience recurrences within a year. For many, low back pain can lead to suffering and disability that interferes with participation in usual life roles and activities. In fact, Global burden of disease studies provide evidence that low back pain is the leading contributor to years lived with disability worldwide.