Canadian Medical Association

Ottawa – January 22, 2018 - We seize National Resident Awareness Week (Feb. 5-9) to recognize and thank Canada’s 12,000 residents for their significant contribution to the health of Canadians. In addition to pursuing excellence in medical care as learners, residents also provide care to patients and serve as advocates for critical policy matters. This leadership sets an inspiring example for the future of medical care in our country.

Working closely with Resident Doctors of Canada (RDoC), we’re committed to addressing the challenges confronting residents and the medical profession. We recognize the importance of creating additional residency spaces, and the CMA Board of Directors approved a resolution in December 2017 on this  issue. Specifically, we’ll be advocating to allocate additional funding on an urgent basis to enable Canada's 17 faculties of medicine to offer additional postgraduate training positions in 2018.

The stress imposed on residents must be addressed. Most recently, the CMA has released a new health policy that acknowledges the challenges medical learners face and calls for action. Supporting physician health is a CMA priority and we recognize everyone has a role to play in finding solutions. In addition, we’ll soon have findings from our National Physician Health Survey, which will provide an up-to-date picture of the challenges we’re facing. Together, we can use this data to tackle the root causes affecting physician health in Canada. 

As we look to the future, we’ll continue to explore how medicine is changing, and how we can best support physicians and medical learners across the country. This work includes upcoming revisions to our Code of Ethics, including a new section on medical professionalism — a first on the international scene. As a profession, we must also define the kind of medical culture we want, including how we treat one another as colleagues. Our new Charter of Shared Values will be a resource to guide us as we strengthen our intra-professionalism.

The CMA is proud to represent you, our next generation of medical professionals. Once again, thank you for all you do — not just during resident awareness week, but 365 days a year.

Dr. Laurent Marcoux
CMA President

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