Word by the author Annick Vincent

Word as a physician...

I work as a psychiatrist with patients who have ADHD ( 16 y.o and older) in the Quebec City (Canada) area. After many years of working in a hospital setting, I moved to work in a community setting where I started the Clinique FOCUS with other colleagues, at the Centre médical L'Hêtrière. I also work as a clinical professor at Laval University.

I am very implicated in teaching health professionals about ADHD as well as with the people suffering from this neurobiological disorder and their family members. An access to good and valuable information on ADHD is essential. There are excellent Canadian initiatives made towards this direction. For example, in 2006-2007, the Collège des médecins du Québec created a program consisting of workshops on ADHD intended for the physicians of this province.

Since 2006, I have joined the executive committee of the Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA) who produce the Canadian guidelines on ADHD. I also act as consulting physician on the following support organizations: Center for ADHD/ADD Advocacy (CADDAC), Canada, Parents Aptes à Négocier avec le Déficit d'Attention (PANDA) eand Learning Disabilities Association of Quebec (LDAQ), in addition to being on various committees for the pharmaceutical industry as an advisor.

I am also the proud mother of four boys. Two of them have ADHD. I can speak about ADHD as a clinician as well as a mother. Like many parents, I want to be able to educate my child and people around us about ADHD. There are several very good reference works and assistance books on the subject.

However, the majority of them can be difficult to read because of the language used or by their impressive number of pages. Very little is in French. This is why this website is bilingual and why I published my books initially in French and why, with the Insitut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, we produced the first DVD on ADHD in French called Portrait du Trouble Déficitaire de l'Attention avec/sans Hyperactivité, now also available in English.

I would like to share with you what we know on ADHD, perhaps even to dispel some associated prejudices, to teach how to recognize the symptoms and which type of help can be brought if needed.

In Quebec, with the reorganization of the mental health services, it is necessary to meet initially with your family physician. The access to mental health services is often with the health and social services center or, in French 'Centre de Santé et de Services Sociaux (CSSS)' of each given territory. They have service agreements with specialists when a consultation is required. If you believe you need to consult a physician, I invite you to inquire what resources are available in your given area.

Please note that this website is not intended to advertizefor our services. DO NOT use this website to contact us for an appointment. The objective of this site is to give general information. This site cannot, in any way, be used to exchange personal information with the aim of obtaining a diagnostic or therapeutic opinion. What I actively offer is to train physicians and other health professionals on ADHD, while working to develop tools to help those diagnosed with ADHD, their family members and the general public.

Good browsing!