Physicians and researchers from 11 countries came together for the 2024 International Conference on Physician Health (ICPH) — this year drawing more than 500 abstract submissions and selling out within days.
“The interest in this event reflects a changing culture of medicine,” says Dr. Joss Reimer, the president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). “There’s a growing recognition that physician health is critical if we’re going to help anyone else.”
In Canada, the CMA tracks physician wellness through a national survey and is working towards a national framework for physical, psychological and cultural safety in health care. In partnership with MD Financial Inc. and Scotiabank, the CMA has also contributed $80 million to initiatives such as WellDoc and the Healthcare Unburdened Grant program for innovative solutions to the administrative burden contributing to physician burnout.
The ICPH — a bi-annual event jointly hosted by the CMA, the British Medical Association and the American Medical Association — is a unique opportunity for physicians and academics to share experiences and solutions from around the world.
Canadian Olympian Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser opened the conference with personal reflections from two very competitive careers. As she told the audience, she had two dreams growing up in the small town of Shaunavon, Sask. — to play hockey and to become a doctor. Although she’s joined the profession at a time of unprecedented challenges, she said, “Our system is broken, but the people inside our system don’t have to be.”
Here are some other highlights from the conference, held in Halifax, N.S., from Oct. 17 to 19, 2024:
AI and technology in health care: The impact on physician and patient health
With AI advancing at lightning speed, Drs. Margaret Lozovatsky and Tina Shah talked about its potential to reduce physicians’ workload and burnout in health care. Both emphasized the importance of creating tools with clinician input, ensuring robust governance structures and prioritizing patient care.
“What excites me most about AI, and I think about the future, is it has the potential to truly decrease some of the cognitive burdens we experience on a daily basis.”
“I think this could really transform all of our visions of achieving true health equity … finally rightsizing the workload to where we feel we can work at our optimum, and actually shift the needle on patient safety.”
Related resources
Our focus | Administrative burden
Unnecessary administrative tasks take time away from patient care and significantly impact physicians’ mental health.
Connecting allyship to action: Enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion in health care
Four panelists discussed the common barriers they’ve faced advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in medical culture, and how those efforts can benefit all of us.
“As a leader, look around the tables you’re at and ask, ‘Whose voice is missing?’ If every person around the table looks and speaks like you, then you have a problem in your organization.”
“One of the most effective ways to silence an advocate or an ally is to isolate them … if you don’t have a community of people around you to support you … it can be overwhelming.”
“We can leverage the voice of the collective community to move forward.”
“There is a wide spectrum of disabilities, but there are a lot of common themes in people’s experiences … There are cultural barriers in terms of lack of safety and feeling safe coming forward, disclosing your health condition or disability.”
Related resources
Physician Wellness Hub | Equity and diversity in medicine
Resources, tools and information to help health care leaders eliminate gender bias and promote equity and diversity in health care settings.
A psychologically safe health care system — how do we get there?
Dr. Ananta Dave spoke with Dr. Jillian Horton about the importance of creating networks of openness, connection and belonging to empower health care providers at work.
“The type of leadership we have, the culture and the tone that we set is incredibly important … what is permitted [at the top level trickles] downwards and becomes part of business as usual at every level of the organization.”
“The learning environment, the teaching environment and the work environment are an ecosystem, so when we talk about creating psychological safety, we need to talk about creating it for everyone.”
Related resources
Our focus | A framework for physicians’ physical, psychological and cultural safety
We need to address unsafe work environments in health care and advance a more inclusive, supportive culture of medicine.
Physician wellness is a priority. Discover the wellness tools and resources to empower physicians, medical learners, leaders and educators to create change in the culture of medicine.