Division of Emergency Medicine

Jim Ducharme

MD, CM, FRCP(c), DABEM

Clinical Professor, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine

 

 

Education and Professional Standing

Dr. Ducharme entered medical school at McGill University in 1973, directly from CEGEP. He took a year’s leave of absence to participate in the Montreal Olympics in 1976. Dr. Ducharme graduated in 1978, interned at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and trained in Emergency Medicine at the University of Southern California through the Los Angeles County Hospital. He was the Chief Resident of the residency during his final year.

Dr. Ducharme was an assistant professor at Université de Laval and then at McGill University. He was the Residency Program Director for the McGill Royal College Program as well as the director of the ED at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

In 1995, he moved to Saint John, where by 2000 Dr. Ducharme was a full Professor in Emergency Medicine. He also was the original program director for the Royal College Program in Emergency Medicine at Dalhousie University. Dr. Ducharme moved to the GTA in 2006 and became a Clinical Professor at McMaster in early 2007.

Research Interests

Dr. Ducharme's major research interest has been acute pain, and that has been his focus for 20 years. He initiated the 1st Symposium in acute pain research in Emergency Medicine in 1995. He has authored or co-authored 3 pain-related guidelines for CAEP related to pain. He has co-edited a book on pain and procedural sedation in Emergency Medicine, first published in 2005. Dr. Ducharme has worked with the American Society of Law Medicine and Ethics to better define pain management in emergency medicine in the USA.

His clinical interest includes integration of alternate care providers into Emergency Departments as well as human health resource issues and ED administration. He truly enjoys all aspects of patient care in emergency medicine, and is also becoming involved in patient care related to chronic pain.

Selected Publications

Dr. Ducharme is currently the Editor in Chief of the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. He is also the Vice President of Medical Services for MedEmerg. He established the ED Primer for Family Physicians, a 2 day CME course about clinical emergency medicine, and collaborate with the OCFP and the MOHLOTC to produce that course.

Dr. Ducharme is the primary physician involved in the PA Demonstration Project currently underway across Ontario, a project studying the integration of PAs into multiple services within hospitals. He has set up a 12 month CCFP-EM exam prep course, and does quality assurance for clinical practice of all physicians working for MedEmerg. He is also currently involved in 4 research projects related to pain and PA integration. Dr. Ducharme is an External Examiner in Emergency Medicine for the University of the West Indies, and haslectured for Emergency Medical Abstracts since 1989.

  1. Ducharme J, Neilson S, Ginn J, UTI in elderly patients without focal urinary symptoms. Can J Emerg Med 2007;9:87-92
  2. Todd KH, Ducharme J, Choiniere M, Crandall CS, Fosnocht DE, Homel P, Tanabe P, Pain in the Emergency Department: Results of the Pain and Emergency Medicine Initiative Multicenter Study. J Pain. 2007;8:460-6
  3. James Ducharme, Paula Tanabe, Peter Homel, James R. Miner, Andrew Chang, Jacques Lee, Knox H. Todd. Influence of Triage Systems and Scores on Timeliness of ED Analgesic Administration," American Journal of Emergency Medicine (in press).
  4. Ducharme J, Clinical guidelines and policies: can they improve emergency department pain management? J Law Medicine & Ethics 2005;33:783-790
  5. Ducharme J, The future of pain management in emergency medicine. Emerg Med Clin of North Am, May 2005;23:467-475
  6. Mace S, Ducharme J, Murphy M, eds Pain Management and Sedation: Emergency Department Management. New York: McGraw Hill, 2005. Ducharme J, author for the following chapters:
    • Neurobiology of Pain
    • Ischemic Pain
    • Myofascial Pain
    • Sickle Cell Pain
    • Future of Pain Management and Sedation in Emergency Medicine