Two things on this page. First, a short list of validated clinical screening tools and questionnaires that patients and other clinicians may find useful. Second, a personal shelf of books, podcasts, websites and organisations I rate and support.
All validated instruments in widespread clinical use, linked to the organisation that publishes or hosts the current version. These are tools, not diagnoses — see the note at the bottom of this section.
Validated self-report questionnaires widely used in Canadian and UK primary care.
Nine-item screen for depression and symptom-severity monitoring.
phqscreeners.com ↗Seven-item screen for anxiety severity. Pairs with the PHQ-9.
phqscreeners.com ↗Ten-item screen for perinatal depression. Validated for use antenatally and postnatally.
Access tool ↗Three-item alcohol-risk screen. Short enough to use in a routine consultation.
Access tool ↗Thirty-point screen for mild cognitive impairment. Requires brief training to administer.
mocacognition.com ↗Structured screen for suicide ideation and behaviour, with pathways for clinical response.
cssrs.columbia.edu ↗Tools for estimating ten-year cardiovascular risk and informing shared decisions.
Ten-year CVD risk calculator used across the UK. Validated against UK primary-care data.
qrisk.org ↗Classic ten-year cardiovascular-risk calculator; still widely referenced in Canadian guidelines.
Access tool ↗US-origin pooled-cohort calculator; often used alongside statin-initiation decisions.
tools.acc.org ↗Scoring system for stroke-risk stratification in non-valvular AF, guiding anticoagulation decisions.
Access tool ↗Companion score to CHA₂DS₂-VASc, estimating major-bleeding risk on anticoagulant therapy.
Access tool ↗Hypertension Canada thresholds and categories for office and home blood-pressure measurement.
hypertension.ca ↗Screening and risk-stratification tools for prediabetes, diabetes and related conditions.
Public Health Agency of Canada's twelve-item self-screen for Type 2 diabetes risk.
canada.ca ↗Alternative eight-item self-screen for ten-year Type 2 diabetes risk.
Access tool ↗Converts an HbA1c reading to estimated average blood glucose (mmol/L and mg/dL).
Access tool ↗Seven-item score for lower-urinary-tract symptoms in men, with quality-of-life item.
Access tool ↗Five-item screen for erectile dysfunction and symptom severity.
Access tool ↗Eleven-item self-report of menopausal symptom severity across somatic, psychological and urogenital domains.
Access tool ↗Ten-year probability of major osteoporotic and hip fracture, calibrated per country.
frax.shef.ac.uk ↗These tools are provided for general information. They support — they do not replace — clinical assessment, and no clinical decision should be based on a questionnaire score alone. If you have used a tool and are concerned by the result, speak to your own family physician.
Books, podcasts, websites and organisations I return to, and in some cases support directly. These are personal recommendations, not endorsements by any professional body. Where I have a connection — co-founder, trustee, personal involvement — it is noted alongside.
A short selection of books I return to on medicine, communication and the practice of care.
The clearest contemporary writing on the limits of medicine, and on what we owe patients at the end of life. Essential for any family physician.
On the cognitive habits — and traps — of clinicians. The chapter on anchoring bias alone has stayed with me for years.
Where I send patients when they want to read more, and where I check my own thinking.
Organisations I am personally involved with, or whose work I follow and recommend. Involvements are disclosed below each entry.
The Congolese Doctors and Dentists Association UK — supporting health education, professional development and healthcare initiatives involving Congolese communities in Britain and the DRC.
Co-founder · Visit ↗[ A short description of the organisation and the work it does. ]
Supporter · Visit ↗Recommendations on this page are Dr Tampa-Sahum's personal selections and not endorsements by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the General Medical Council, or any employer or professional body. Any personal involvement with an organisation listed is stated alongside it. No commercial affiliate relationships exist with any book retailer, podcast platform or website linked above.
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