It’ll be hard to top a year like 2017 – not only did we celebrate our 150th anniversary as an association, we also made our mark on some big issues, like seniors care, cannabis, opioids and tax fairness. These achievements are the direct result of your continued engagement in our advocacy work. Our collective voice came through loud and clear throughout the past twelve months.
While 2017 was definitely a year to remember, I’m excited about the year ahead, and planning for the future with our new strategic plan, CMA 2020, as our roadmap. We’ve already received some great feedback — and some great questions! We’ll continue to work with you to shape our path as we put CMA 2020 into action throughout 2018. One of the most visible examples will be our inaugural Health Summit in August. We’ll be sharing more information soon, so stay tuned.
Where are we headed next?
My goal throughout my year as president is to meet with each and every one of the provincial and territorial medical associations, and to talk to more of our members about our future. This month, we’re off to a busy start. My first stop was in Manitoba on January 10, and I will be crossing the country — jumping from Dartmouth to Yellowknife — to close out the month.
Issues to tackle
One of the biggest issues affecting our profession today is physician health. The work we do as physicians is not easy. We take care of others every day, yet often fail to do the same for ourselves. In recognition of this growing concern, the CMA has released a new policy on physician health, which outlines some of the ways we can make a difference at the individual and system level. We’re also getting ready to release the results of our first-ever national survey on physician health, which will give us a better idea how to tackle this issue collectively.
Together, we must also define the kind of medical culture we want. How physicians support and treat their colleagues is more important than ever. That’s why we’re launching a new Charter of Shared Values that will act as a resource to guide our interactions with one another. By the end of this year, we’ll also have achieved an international first: adding a brand new section on medical professionalism to our Code of Ethics.
And, as always, we’ll continue to press for improvements to Canadians’ health and to our health care system. Whether it be presenting to the House of Commons, speaking out on social media, or partnering with like-minded organizations to strengthen our voice, we’ll be pushing on the issues that matter, and making 2018 another year to remember.
Take care and till next time,
Laurent