Scale Up Your Practice by Obesity Canada

🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada
Metabolic bariatric surgery is often misunderstood as a last resort, or dismissed as “the easy way out.” In this episode, Dr. Boris Zevin joins Dr. Roshan Abraham and Michelle McMillan to discuss where surgery fits in obesity care, how it affects the biology of obesity, and how clinicians can talk about it with less stigma and more clarity.

In this episode
Where metabolic bariatric surgery fits in obesity care

Why surgery is more than “weight loss surgery”

How surgery can affect hormones, metabolism and diabetes control

Why timing and shared decision-making matter

How stigma can shape a patient’s willingness to consider surgery

What long-term follow-up can look like after surgery

How to talk about weight recurrence with patients without blame

Additional resources
Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines

Chapter: Bariatric Surgery: Selection & Pre-operative Work Up: https://utm.guru/uscNZ 

Chapter: Bariatric Surgery: Surgical Options & Outcomes: https://utm.guru/uscN1  

Chapter: Bariatric Surgery: Post-Operative Management: https://utm.guru/uscN2  

Free course: A Comprehensive Overview of Bariatric Surgery for Obesity Management: https://utm.guru/uscN3 

Calibre: Practical Clinical Strategies for Obesity Management
If this episode leaves you thinking about how to strengthen your own approach to obesity care, Obesity Canada’s Calibre course is designed to help.
Calibre is an accredited course for healthcare professionals who want practical, evidence-based tools they can apply in real clinical settings. The course combines self-paced learning with live, interactive sessions, helping learners build confidence in obesity assessment, treatment, communication, and patient-centred care.
The next cohort runs September 3 through October .
Learn more & register: https://utm.guru/uscN4 

Learning objectives
Apply evidence-based criteria to collaborate with patients in assessing the role of metabolic and bariatric surgery within a comprehensive obesity management plan 
Analyze the physiological and hormonal changes following metabolic surgery to better manage long-term patient outcomes and establish realistic clinical expectations.
Evaluate how the stigma framing surgery as the "easy way out" creates systemic barriers to care, and implement communication strategies to dismantle this internalized bias during shared decision-making.

Support Scale Up Your Practice by:
Sharing this episode with a colleague or team member
Subscribing on your favourite podcast platform
Leaving a review to help more listeners find the show

Have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover?
Email us at scaleuppod@obesitycanada.ca
Disclosures
This episode script was developed using NotebookLM to synthesize complex source materials into a structured educational format. The tool was used to analyze the Canadian Obesity Education Competencies (COECs), the Obesity Canada Strategic Plan, and guest-specific research. Specific prompts were utilized to extract relevant learning objectives, map them to CanMEDS roles, and generate competency-based interview questions.

While NotebookLM assisted in drafting the narrative arc and educational framework, all content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and refined by the podcast hosts and Obesity Canada's clinical experts. This ensures the script aligns with current Clinical Practice Guidelines and authentically represents the lived experience perspective.

🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada
Obesity treatments are creating new opportunities for nutrition support that focuses on meeting nutritional needs rather than simply eating less.

Dr. Michelle Cardel joins us on the podcast to explain how GLP-1 medications are changing nutrition conversations in obesity care, and why the focus must shift from eating less to helping patients stay nourished, supporting their health and healing their relationship with food.

In this episode
How GLP-1 medications can change appetite, food noise and nutritional needs

Why nutritional adequacy matters during obesity treatment

What clinicians should consider when discussing protein, fibre, hydration and eating patterns

How weight bias can shape nutrition advice and patient experiences

Why obesity is not a nutrition knowledge gap

How to make nutrition conversations more individualized, respectful and collaborative

Additional resources
Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guideline https://utm.guru/urA1X 

Chapter: Medical Nutrition Therapy: https://utm.guru/urA1Y

Free Course: A Deep Dive into Medical Nutrition Therapy & Physical Activity: https://utm.guru/urA1Z 

Harvard Implicit Bias Test: https://utm.guru/urA10 

Food Noise Questionnaire: https://utm.guru/urA11

Calibre: Practical Clinical Strategies for Obesity Management
If this episode leaves you thinking about how to strengthen your own approach to obesity care, Obesity Canada’s Calibre course is designed to help.
Calibre is an accredited course for healthcare professionals who want practical, evidence-based tools they can apply in real clinical settings. The course combines self-paced learning with live, interactive sessions, helping learners build confidence in obesity assessment, treatment, communication, and patient-centred care.
The next cohort runs September 3 through October .
Learn more & register: https://utm.guru/urA12 

Learning objectives
Apply patient-centered communication to co-construct individualized medical nutrition therapy plans that respect a patient's lived experience and biological realities.
Analyze the role of medical nutrition therapy when combined with obesity medications, focusing on strategies to ensure nutritional adequacy and preserve lean muscle mass.
Evaluate how the traditional nutrition narrative perpetuates systemic weight bias, and implement strengths-based strategies to dismantle this stigma in dietary counseling.

Enjoying the podcast?
Support Scale Up Your Practice by:
Sharing this episode with a colleague or team member
Subscribing on your favourite podcast platform
Leaving a review to help more listeners find the show

Have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover?
Email us at scaleuppod@obesitycanada.ca

Disclosures
This episode script was developed using NotebookLM to synthesize complex source materials into a structured educational format. The tool was used to analyze the Canadian Obesity Education Competencies (COECs), the Obesity Canada Strategic Plan, and guest-specific research. Specific prompts were utilized to extract relevant learning objectives, map them to CanMEDS roles, and generate competency-based interview questions.
While NotebookLM assisted in drafting the narrative arc and educational framework, all content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and refined by the podcast hosts and Obesity Canada's clinical experts. This ensures the script aligns with current Clinical Practice Guidelines and authentically represents the lived experience perspective.

🎙️This episode is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Eli Lilly Canada

What happens when a symptom is explained away too quickly?
For people living with obesity, concerns like fatigue, shortness of breath, poor sleep, or pain are too often viewed through the lens of weight first. That can delay the right questions, the right tests, and the right care.
In this episode, Dr. James Kim joins the podcast for a practical conversation about screening for obesity-related complications without letting weight bias narrow the clinical picture. We explore how healthcare professionals can recognize diagnostic overshadowing, build more consistent screening workflows, and make care safer, more respectful, and more evidence-based for people living with obesity.

In this episode
Why diagnostic overshadowing can lead to missed or delayed diagnoses for people living with obesity

How to build practical screening workflows for obesity complications in primary care

What clinicians should know about MASLD, sleep apnea, insomnia, and cardiometabolic risk

How equipment and testing limitations can affect the reliability of screening results

How to talk about obesity complications without blame, shame, or stigma

Additional resources
Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guideline: https://utm.guru/uq74A 

Chapter: Assessment of People Living With Obesity: https://utm.guru/uq74B 

Free course: Obesity Assessment Essentials: https://utm.guru/uq74C 

Calibre: Practical Clinical Strategies for Obesity Management
If this episode leaves you thinking about how to strengthen your own approach to obesity care, Obesity Canada’s Calibre course is designed to help.
Calibre is an accredited course for healthcare professionals who want practical, evidence-based tools they can apply in real clinical settings. The course combines self-paced learning with live, interactive sessions, helping learners build confidence in obesity assessment, treatment, communication, and patient-centred care.
The next cohort runs September 3 through October 7 .
Learn more & register: https://utm.guru/upbeo 

Learning objectives
Apply evidence-based resources from the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines to select and interpret appropriate screening tests for obesity-related complications.

Analyze cardiovascular, metabolic, and mechanical diagnostic results to address knowledge gaps and guide individualized obesity management.

Evaluate how diagnostic overshadowing and systemic weight bias lead to under-screening or the misinterpretation of symptoms in patients living with obesity.

Enjoying the podcast?
Support Scale Up Your Practice by:
Sharing this episode with a colleague or team member

Subscribing on your favourite podcast platform

Leaving a review to help more listeners find the show

Have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover?
Email us at scaleuppod@obesitycanada.ca

Disclosures
This episode script was developed using NotebookLM to synthesize complex source materials into a structured educational format. The tool was used to analyze the Canadian Obesity Education Competencies (COECs), the Obesity Canada Strategic Plan, and guest-specific research. Specific prompts were utilized to extract relevant learning objectives, map them to CanMEDS roles, and generate competency-based interview questions.
While NotebookLM assisted in drafting the narrative arc and educational framework, all content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and refined by the podcast hosts and Obesity Canada's clinical experts. This ensures the script aligns with current Clinical Practice Guidelines and authentically represents the lived experience perspective.

🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada.
When obesity assessment starts and ends with BMI, important parts of the patient story can disappear.
In this episode, Dr. Roshan Abraham and Michelle McMillan speak with Dr. Denise Campbell-Scherer about what it takes to assess obesity with more clarity, more context, and more respect for the person seeking care using the Edmonton Obesity Staging System  and the 5A’s Framework.
In this episode
Why BMI can be part of the clinical assessment, but should never stand in for the whole person

How the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) helps clinicians understand clinical severity, not just body size

What the 4Ms can reveal about mental, mechanical, metabolic, and monetary drivers of obesity

How a patient’s story can uncover barriers that a checklist may miss

Why strength-based counselling can change the experience of care for both patients and clinicians

How the 5As Team Tools can make obesity assessment more practical in primary care

What it sounds like to speak with patients about weight concerns without blame, assumptions, or shame

Additional resources
Free course: Obesity Assessment Essentials https://utm.guru/uqG2K 

Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines https://utm.guru/uqG2M  

Chapter: Primary Care and Primary Healthcare in Obesity Management https://utm.guru/uqG2N 

Edmonton Obesity Staging System https://utm.guru/uqG27 

Dr. Campbell-Scherer’s 5As Team Tools https://utm.guru/uqG3j 

Calibre: Practical Clinical Strategies for Obesity Management
If this episode leaves you thinking about how to strengthen your own approach to obesity care, Obesity Canada’s Calibre course is designed to help.
Calibre is an accredited course for healthcare professionals who want practical, evidence-based tools they can apply in real clinical settings. The course combines self-paced learning with live, interactive sessions, helping learners build confidence in obesity assessment, treatment, communication, and patient-centred care.
The next cohort runs September 3 through October 7.
Learn more & register: https://utm.guru/uqG4F 
Learning Objectives
Apply the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) to determine the clinical severity of obesity and prioritize individualized management strategies.

Analyze the mental, mechanical, metabolic, and monetary (4Ms) drivers of a patient's obesity to move beyond BMI-centric assessments.

Evaluate how utilizing the EOSS framework reduces systemic weight bias by shifting clinical focus from weight loss to meaningful health outcomes and functional stewardship.

Apply a patient-centered approach to establish values-based goals and assess obesity classification (BMI/waist circumference), while respecting patient readiness and comfort during the initial clinical encounter.

Analyze the mental, mechanical, metabolic, and monetary (4Ms) framework to comprehensively evaluate adiposity-related complications and root causes of weight gain.

Evaluate disease severity using the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) to prioritize patient-centered management for patients living with obesity
Have a topic you’d like us to cover?

Email us at scaleuppod@obesitycanada.ca

Disclosures:
This episode script was developed using NotebookLM to synthesize complex source materials into a structured educational format. The tool was used to analyze the Canadian Obesity Education Competencies (COECs), the Obesity Canada Strategic Plan, and guest-specific research. Specific prompts were utilized to extract relevant learning objectives, map them to CanMEDS roles, and generate competency-based interview questions.
While NotebookLM assisted in drafting the narrative arc and educational framework, all content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and refined by the podcast hosts and Obesity Canada's clinical experts. This ensures the script aligns with current Clinical Practice Guidelines and authentically represents the lived experience perspective.

This special live episode of Scale Up Your Practice was recorded at the 2026 Canadian Obesity Summit in Montreal this past March.

Dr. Roshan Abraham is joined by guest host Dr. Taniya Nagpal and special guest Dr. Rishi Handa for a case-based conversation about what obesity care can look like when healthcare professionals move beyond standardized answers and build care around the person in front of them.
Through three common clinical cases, the episode explores how culture, patient goals, medication side effects, language used in referrals, weight bias, and clinical humility can shape the care experience. The conversation also asks a deeper question: what happens when standard practice stops being helpful and starts becoming a barrier?

In this episode
- Why evidence-based obesity assessment must look beyond standard BMI cut-offs, especially when caring for diverse populations
- How weight bias and anticipatory stigma can shape clinical encounters before the appointment even begins
- What healthcare professionals can include in referrals to make obesity care more specific, respectful, and collaborative
- Why patient goals, function, culture, heritage, and lived experience need to be part of the care plan
- How interprofessional care can support people starting obesity pharmacotherapy, including side effect management and nutrition support
- Why culturally safe care means asking better questions instead of relying on one-size-fits-all advice
Additional resources
Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines: https://utm.guru/up0gz 
Free course: Obesity Assessment Essentials: https://utm.guru/up0gA  
Free course: Words Matter: The Consequences of Weight Bias & Stigmatizing Language: https://utm.guru/up0gB  

Weight bias and stigma research from Dr. Nagpal
- Widespread misconceptions about pregnancy for women living with obesity https://utm.guru/up0gG 
- Women’s Suggestions for How to Reduce Weight Stigma in Prenatal Clinical Settings: https://utm.guru/up0gH 

Calibre: Practical Clinical Strategies for Obesity Management
If this episode leaves you thinking about how to strengthen your own approach to obesity care, Obesity Canada’s Calibre course is designed to help.
Calibre is an accredited course for healthcare professionals who want practical, evidence-based tools they can apply in real clinical settings. The course combines self-paced learning with live, interactive sessions, helping learners build confidence in obesity assessment, treatment, communication, and patient-centred care.
The next cohort runs September 3 through October 7.
Learn more & register: https://utm.guru/up0gC 

Learning objectives
Apply evidence-based obesity assessment principles to common patient presentations in clinical practice (Medical Expert).
Develop an individualized, guideline-informed obesity management plan using case-based scenarios, incorporating behavioural, surgical, pharmacological, and referral-based interventions as appropriate (Medical Expert, Leader).
Identify and address common clinical barriers in order to support patient-centred, collaborative obesity care (Communicator, Collaborator, Professional).
Disclosures
This episode script was developed using NotebookLM to synthesize complex source materials into a structured educational format. The tool was used to analyze the Canadian Obesity Education Competencies (COECs), the Obesity Canada Strategic Plan, and guest-specific research. Specific prompts were utilized to extract relevant learning objectives, map them to CanMEDS roles, and generate competency-based interview questions.
While NotebookLM assisted in drafting the narrative arc and educational framework, all content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and refined by the podcast hosts and Obesity Canada's clinical experts. This ensures the script aligns with current Clinical Practice Guidelines and authentically represents the lived experience perspective.