Justin Koh

Biography

Justin Jek-Kahn Koh is an Addiction Medicine Fellow with the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use and a Royal College Emergency Medicine resident at the University of Saskatchewan. He studied medicine at McMaster University and recently completed a Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He is passionate about improving addiction care and harm reduction services in the emergency department setting.

Node Funded Project (April 2018)

Title: Naloxone in Saskatoon Emergency Departments

Principal Investigator: Justin Koh, University of Saskatchewan

Co-investigators/collaborators:

Dr. Luke Terrett, Dr. Peter Butt, Dr. Colleen Dell

Description

This project will implement and evaluate a pilot take-home naloxone (THN) program in the emergency department (ED) of St. Paul’s Hospital, Saskatoon, SK. More research is needed to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing ED-THN, particularly within the geopolitical context of the Prairie provinces. Healthcare provider (HCP) challenges, behaviours and attitudes towards drug users need to be further explored. It is unclear what additional challenges may arise after ED-THN program implementation. This project has the support of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and will implement the first ED-THN program in the province.

Project Abstract: Improving Naloxone Distribution in the Emergency Department

Publications:

Koh J, Paterson QS, Ong M, Martin LJ, Woods RA, Dong K. (2019). Addressing the opioid crisis in the era of competency-based medical education: recommendations for emergency department interventions. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. 21(4): 452-454.